Is This the Dark Night? from the media It’s Not Possible to Divide Being
A man, who has pain, shares that meditation is the only way he can live with it and asks, ‘Is this a dark night of the soul?’ Rupert suggests that it could be considered that – everything in which we had previously invested is taken away. But he’s had this beautiful recognition that there is one element of his experience that is changeless.
- Duration: 7 minutes and 33 seconds
- Recorded on: Jun 7, 2023
- Event: Seven Day Retreat at The Vedanta – 3rd to 10th June 2023
A woman asks about the distinctions between various experiences of being. Rupert suggests that we are always being led to our being and remarks that her childhood experiences were of being. However, she need not go back there in memory, but back to her being, here and now.
A woman asks if it is possible for children to experience moments of being. Rupert suggests that children have easy access to their being, but it’s often not cultivated.
A woman asks when decisions are made, who is making the choice. Rupert responds that our mind makes the choice, but does it make it on behalf of the understanding or on behalf of the fears and concerns of the separate self. That is the important aspect of choice.
A woman asks for guidance when making a decision, Rupert suggests that she think of herself as a best friend and decide on behalf of that friend.
A woman shares her experience of resting in being and asks for Rupert’s insight on what she has read. Rupert suggests that when someone says that there is no seer or seeing, it does not relate to resting in being. It’s a different pathway.
A question is asked about fear and distraction in regard to a traumatic childhood experience, which resulted in dissociation. Rupert suggests that while some experiences are so intense that we tend to remove ourselves from the situation, our being is always wherever we go. The 'I am' is always there. Cultivate the habit of 'returning' to your naked being. Keep going back, and experience will lose its capacity to veil your being.
A woman speaks of Rupert's 'stumbling with words' which she says has a deeper effect. She encourages him to progress in stumbling. She expresses gratitude for Rupert's presence, which is more than she could imagine in her life.
A woman, who has no question, expresses her gratitude for the retreatants and for Rupert.
A woman asks about ‘putting on a mask’ when her attention moves to activities from resting in being. Rupert suggests that she is creating a conflict for herself by splitting her attention into two – half into being and half into the world. Think of it more as giving attention to the world but keeping the heart in being. It’s not possible to divide attention.
A woman asks about the statement 'go to the place before being'. Rupert clarifies to make the statement 'Be what you were before you were born’.
A woman asks how to be a loving and compassionate being. Rupert suggests she recognises that she shares her being with everyone and everything. Love is the felt sense of of our being, and what we do to others we do to ourself. We are the same self.
A man, who has pain, shares that meditation is the only way he can live with it and asks, ‘Is this a dark night of the soul?’ Rupert suggests that it could be considered that – everything in which we had previously invested is taken away. But he’s had this beautiful recognition that there is one element of his experience that is changeless.
A man asks if there is anything besides meditation that he can do in response to pain and loss. Rupert suggests that he gradually make the transition from understanding that meditation is something he does for hours every day to the understanding that meditation is what he is.
A woman asks how to bring Rupert’s teaching to her eight-year-old son. Rupert suggests that the best thing is to be in touch with being herself and to abide as that. Her son will feel that.
A woman asks about the distinctions between various experiences of being. Rupert suggests that we are always being led to our being and remarks that her childhood experiences were of being. However, she need not go back there in memory, but back to her being, here and now.
A woman asks if it is possible for children to experience moments of being. Rupert suggests that children have easy access to their being, but it’s often not cultivated.
A woman asks when decisions are made, who is making the choice. Rupert responds that our mind makes the choice, but does it make it on behalf of the understanding or on behalf of the fears and concerns of the separate self. That is the important aspect of choice.
A woman asks for guidance when making a decision, Rupert suggests that she think of herself as a best friend and decide on behalf of that friend.
A woman shares her experience of resting in being and asks for Rupert’s insight on what she has read. Rupert suggests that when someone says that there is no seer or seeing, it does not relate to resting in being. It’s a different pathway.
A question is asked about fear and distraction in regard to a traumatic childhood experience, which resulted in dissociation. Rupert suggests that while some experiences are so intense that we tend to remove ourselves from the situation, our being is always wherever we go. The 'I am' is always there. Cultivate the habit of 'returning' to your naked being. Keep going back, and experience will lose its capacity to veil your being.
A woman speaks of Rupert's 'stumbling with words' which she says has a deeper effect. She encourages him to progress in stumbling. She expresses gratitude for Rupert's presence, which is more than she could imagine in her life.
A woman, who has no question, expresses her gratitude for the retreatants and for Rupert.
A woman asks about ‘putting on a mask’ when her attention moves to activities from resting in being. Rupert suggests that she is creating a conflict for herself by splitting her attention into two – half into being and half into the world. Think of it more as giving attention to the world but keeping the heart in being. It’s not possible to divide attention.
A woman asks about the statement 'go to the place before being'. Rupert clarifies to make the statement 'Be what you were before you were born’.
A woman asks how to be a loving and compassionate being. Rupert suggests she recognises that she shares her being with everyone and everything. Love is the felt sense of of our being, and what we do to others we do to ourself. We are the same self.
A man, who has pain, shares that meditation is the only way he can live with it and asks, ‘Is this a dark night of the soul?’ Rupert suggests that it could be considered that – everything in which we had previously invested is taken away. But he’s had this beautiful recognition that there is one element of his experience that is changeless.
A man asks if there is anything besides meditation that he can do in response to pain and loss. Rupert suggests that he gradually make the transition from understanding that meditation is something he does for hours every day to the understanding that meditation is what he is.
A woman asks how to bring Rupert’s teaching to her eight-year-old son. Rupert suggests that the best thing is to be in touch with being herself and to abide as that. Her son will feel that.