Deep Depression from the media A Life of Just Being
A man, who has suffered from depression and has felt suicidal for a very long time, is still seeking help for his suffering. Rupert asks if he has a job, to which he responds that he hasn't been able to work. Rupert recommends he change his therapist, probably to someone not from the non-duality community. Get up every morning, take a cold shower and do a seven-minute workout. And an apprenticeship in cooking is a good idea.
- Duration: 8 minutes and 58 seconds
- Recorded on: Nov 13, 2023
- Event: Seven-Day Retreat at The Vedanta – 11 to 18 November
A woman asks for clarification about the statement 'God doesn't know about the world,' and as a concession, 'God loves everyone.' Rupert elaborates that God's nature is love, so the primary relationship with God is love, which is not absolutely true, but is a legitimate concession. Infinite consciousness, or God, cannot stand outside of itself, so cannot know an object, so it knows nothing, but it is everything.
A short discussion on the three states – waking, dreaming and deep sleep – to illustrate the point of consciousness always knowing itself throughout all three states. Rupert recites William Wordsworth.
A woman asks for clarification about the idea of God not knowing the world. 'Then how do we create or manifest?' Rupert clarifies that it's from an infinite realm of potential. To make real, to make form from formless, through the subject–object relationship. It never actually happens, it only appears to happen, this creation of form.
A man asks how to reconcile the idea that God doesn't know the world, yet God knows itself as the world. Rupert elaborates that God only knows itself, and it's the only knowing that is outside the mind, or absolute knowledge, whereby the subject and the object are the same.
A man tries to understand the experience he had of deep peace during the morning meditation. Rupert responds that what we are doing here should blow our minds. We are pushing the boundaries of language to evoke the wordless reality.
A woman, who is a Christian, says she is struggling with the teaching, and asks if 'the Father and I are one' is the pinnacle, or the same understanding that God Is all there is? Rupert suggests that the image of Christ on the cross is the image of transcendence and complete love.
A woman describes having had a creepy-crawlies experience, which engendered a sense of sadness. She also notices more happening in the body at a very visceral level. Rupert responds that, in relation to the morning's meditation, this is a marketplace question, and he is more interested in expanding her mind beyond that, to the top of the mountain.
A man, who has suffered from depression and has felt suicidal for a very long time, is still seeking help for his suffering. Rupert asks if he has a job, to which he responds that he hasn't been able to work. Rupert recommends he change his therapist, probably to someone not from the non-duality community. Get up every morning, take a cold shower and do a seven-minute workout. And an apprenticeship in cooking is a good idea.
A woman recounts her suffering during meditations – the words had no power. She feels the more the understanding is talked about, the farther away she feels. She asks if there is something she can do. Rupert responds that when he comes in in the morning, he sits in silence and turns his mind towards God. There's nothing to do. The words come unbidden. Maybe what she is experiencing, is as he mentioned, the teacher is the final disappointment.
The question is asked, 'What love is without an other?' Rupert responds that it is natural for love to be expressed towards another person, but what's actually being expressed is the recognition of shared being, the absence of separation. Rupert elaborates on the idea of loving and liking another.
A woman shares a history of depression and a sense of not wanting to live. She reminds Rupert of a conversation they had, where she had asked if it was truly okay just to be. She took his affirmation to heart. She leans into simply being, every day. She has found joy, peace, lightness and being. A layer of trauma had emerged, which terrified her, and through sinking in being, all the frozenness dissipated and she was able to stay just being. Rupert responds by quoting Meister Eckhart with respect to a life of just being.
Referencing a previous participant's despair, a man describes suffering he's been through. He explains that cold showers and yoga actually stop the mind and settle the nervous system. He asks about this yogic understanding. Rupert speaks of going from the progressive path through to the Pathless Path. What he had recommended to the previous participant was the progressive path. When we're lost in our mind, it's too big a step to step back into our being, hence the yogic technique he recommended of taking a cold shower, which gives some relief from suffering. He goes on to describe the various paths.
A question is asked about remaining in being and being in the world at the same time. Rupert responds that, in meditation, we are turning our attention away from the content of experience, whereas it is normally exclusively focused on the content of experience. Retreats allow us to live without the demands of the world, but when you go back into the world, the aim is to remain in touch with being.
A question is asked about karma and reincarnation, and about a newborn infant that only has the experience of being, and little by little, becomes aware. How does that relate to karma? Rupert responds that a newborn infant has no awareness of being, which eventually becomes clothed in layers of experience and being is mixed with, and veiled by, the content of experience. Rupert says he doesn't believe in karma for the only being it is. He elaborates further on karma, incarnation and reincarnation, using the analogy of the space in the building.
A woman asks for clarification about the statement 'God doesn't know about the world,' and as a concession, 'God loves everyone.' Rupert elaborates that God's nature is love, so the primary relationship with God is love, which is not absolutely true, but is a legitimate concession. Infinite consciousness, or God, cannot stand outside of itself, so cannot know an object, so it knows nothing, but it is everything.
A short discussion on the three states – waking, dreaming and deep sleep – to illustrate the point of consciousness always knowing itself throughout all three states. Rupert recites William Wordsworth.
A woman asks for clarification about the idea of God not knowing the world. 'Then how do we create or manifest?' Rupert clarifies that it's from an infinite realm of potential. To make real, to make form from formless, through the subject–object relationship. It never actually happens, it only appears to happen, this creation of form.
A man asks how to reconcile the idea that God doesn't know the world, yet God knows itself as the world. Rupert elaborates that God only knows itself, and it's the only knowing that is outside the mind, or absolute knowledge, whereby the subject and the object are the same.
A man tries to understand the experience he had of deep peace during the morning meditation. Rupert responds that what we are doing here should blow our minds. We are pushing the boundaries of language to evoke the wordless reality.
A woman, who is a Christian, says she is struggling with the teaching, and asks if 'the Father and I are one' is the pinnacle, or the same understanding that God Is all there is? Rupert suggests that the image of Christ on the cross is the image of transcendence and complete love.
A woman describes having had a creepy-crawlies experience, which engendered a sense of sadness. She also notices more happening in the body at a very visceral level. Rupert responds that, in relation to the morning's meditation, this is a marketplace question, and he is more interested in expanding her mind beyond that, to the top of the mountain.
A man, who has suffered from depression and has felt suicidal for a very long time, is still seeking help for his suffering. Rupert asks if he has a job, to which he responds that he hasn't been able to work. Rupert recommends he change his therapist, probably to someone not from the non-duality community. Get up every morning, take a cold shower and do a seven-minute workout. And an apprenticeship in cooking is a good idea.
A woman recounts her suffering during meditations – the words had no power. She feels the more the understanding is talked about, the farther away she feels. She asks if there is something she can do. Rupert responds that when he comes in in the morning, he sits in silence and turns his mind towards God. There's nothing to do. The words come unbidden. Maybe what she is experiencing, is as he mentioned, the teacher is the final disappointment.
The question is asked, 'What love is without an other?' Rupert responds that it is natural for love to be expressed towards another person, but what's actually being expressed is the recognition of shared being, the absence of separation. Rupert elaborates on the idea of loving and liking another.
A woman shares a history of depression and a sense of not wanting to live. She reminds Rupert of a conversation they had, where she had asked if it was truly okay just to be. She took his affirmation to heart. She leans into simply being, every day. She has found joy, peace, lightness and being. A layer of trauma had emerged, which terrified her, and through sinking in being, all the frozenness dissipated and she was able to stay just being. Rupert responds by quoting Meister Eckhart with respect to a life of just being.
Referencing a previous participant's despair, a man describes suffering he's been through. He explains that cold showers and yoga actually stop the mind and settle the nervous system. He asks about this yogic understanding. Rupert speaks of going from the progressive path through to the Pathless Path. What he had recommended to the previous participant was the progressive path. When we're lost in our mind, it's too big a step to step back into our being, hence the yogic technique he recommended of taking a cold shower, which gives some relief from suffering. He goes on to describe the various paths.
A question is asked about remaining in being and being in the world at the same time. Rupert responds that, in meditation, we are turning our attention away from the content of experience, whereas it is normally exclusively focused on the content of experience. Retreats allow us to live without the demands of the world, but when you go back into the world, the aim is to remain in touch with being.
A question is asked about karma and reincarnation, and about a newborn infant that only has the experience of being, and little by little, becomes aware. How does that relate to karma? Rupert responds that a newborn infant has no awareness of being, which eventually becomes clothed in layers of experience and being is mixed with, and veiled by, the content of experience. Rupert says he doesn't believe in karma for the only being it is. He elaborates further on karma, incarnation and reincarnation, using the analogy of the space in the building.