Various Practices and Traditions Regarding Death from the media Living as One in Difficult Times
A question is asked about the practices from various traditions around death and the means of disposing of the body. Rupert responds that he would leave the body for a while, in a coffin, open for people to see, which is important both for the dead and the living who are left behind. Rupert also says he has a personal preference for cremation.
- Duration: 11 minutes and 6 seconds
- Recorded on: Mar 20, 2022
- Event: Seven Day Retreat at Mercy Center, CA – 18th to 25th March
A woman says she was obsessed with enlightenment and was happy about the simplicity of it all until she got into romantic relationships with difficult men and suffering returned. She asks for help in breaking this habitual pattern which is like her parents’ relationship. Rupert suggests she be very clear about what she wants in a relationship and explore an association between love and being treated in a certain way which may have come from your relationship with your parents.
A woman says it feels like she picks up on other people's thoughts and energy and asks if she is deluded in this perception. Rupert responds that she is more likely passing off her own discomfort onto others, rather than dealing with her own uncomfortable thoughts and emotions.
A question is asked about awareness's experience of physical pain, and asks does God suffer? Rupert uses the John Smith and King Lear analogy to describe that John Smith, who is consciousness, only feels suffering in the form of King Lear, who is the separate self. God only suffers through us; our job is to make God's dream a happy dream through our own happiness, which is the greatest gift we can give, above devotion and prayer, as there is no separation between us and God.
A question is asked about the practices from various traditions around death and the means of disposing of the body. Rupert responds that he would leave the body for a while, in a coffin, open for people to see, which is important both for the dead and the living who are left behind. Rupert also says he has a personal preference for cremation.
A woman asks how to be with what is going on in Ukraine, both the suffering and the acts of courage. What is the greatest service we can provide in these events in the world? Rupert replies that the ultimate cause of these events is not realising our shared being. We believe that others are others so they can be treated badly. We must extend this understanding of shared being and love to all beings rather than just to those closest to us, so that we no longer contribute to the cause of such difficult world events.
A question is asked about how to break the habit of suffering, and what is the best practice to deal with suffering. Rupert suggests investigating, rather than practicing; self-enquiry, looking for and seeing if you can find the one who suffers. The desire for happiness is the same as seeking truth.
A woman who intends to donate her body to science asks, ‘Why is the body valued at death?’ Isn't it a shell? Rupert replies that the body is not separate from God's being as God is everything, including the body. Therefore, it must be treated with the same sanctity as any appearance of the one reality both in life and in death. Donating your body to science is a beautiful gesture.
A woman asks how to abide in oneness even during difficult world affairs like the Ukraine war or politicians like Trump. Rupert suggests that we judge the behaviour and not the person. The behaviour violates the truth of our shared being and is rightly condemned, but the essential being is what we share with all and can be loved. Otherwise, we are behaving like those we judge and contributing the prevailing sense of separation.
A question is asked about the meaning of friendship in regard to reducing the language of the teachings down to 'abidance and friendship' as Rupert had previously mentioned. Rupert responds that friendship is one of the best ways to share the understanding of the teaching, and as this is realised, fewer and fewer words of reasoning will be needed to explain the understanding, which leads to self-abidance. Friendship is a field of love that can wash us clean of our sense of separation.
A man, who describes his energetic experiences, asks if awareness has an agenda through its experience of us. Rupert responds that we are a channel for sense perception, but there is no agenda or desire to have that experience; it is its nature to express, as it is the sun's nature to shine.
A man who struggles with insomnia asks for suggestions about how to deal with it. Rupert responds that lack of sleep is detrimental to your body and your mind, but does not affect awareness, your true being. He makes a distinction between clarity of perception and clarity of awareness using the analogy of looking through a dirty window. Seeing is not affected, but what is seen is distorted. Yoga meditations may or may not help depending on whether the origin of the insomnia is with the mind or in body. They might help if it arises in the body, but may not if it's a disturbance in the mind.
A man asks how evolution fits into the non-dual perspective. Rupert responds that awareness, or consciousness, does not evolve, but the mind does in the sense of mind that evolves towards expression of truth. From the matter model, the universe appears to have evolved, which is the limited perspective of the finite mind.
A woman says she was obsessed with enlightenment and was happy about the simplicity of it all until she got into romantic relationships with difficult men and suffering returned. She asks for help in breaking this habitual pattern which is like her parents’ relationship. Rupert suggests she be very clear about what she wants in a relationship and explore an association between love and being treated in a certain way which may have come from your relationship with your parents.
A woman says it feels like she picks up on other people's thoughts and energy and asks if she is deluded in this perception. Rupert responds that she is more likely passing off her own discomfort onto others, rather than dealing with her own uncomfortable thoughts and emotions.
A question is asked about awareness's experience of physical pain, and asks does God suffer? Rupert uses the John Smith and King Lear analogy to describe that John Smith, who is consciousness, only feels suffering in the form of King Lear, who is the separate self. God only suffers through us; our job is to make God's dream a happy dream through our own happiness, which is the greatest gift we can give, above devotion and prayer, as there is no separation between us and God.
A question is asked about the practices from various traditions around death and the means of disposing of the body. Rupert responds that he would leave the body for a while, in a coffin, open for people to see, which is important both for the dead and the living who are left behind. Rupert also says he has a personal preference for cremation.
A woman asks how to be with what is going on in Ukraine, both the suffering and the acts of courage. What is the greatest service we can provide in these events in the world? Rupert replies that the ultimate cause of these events is not realising our shared being. We believe that others are others so they can be treated badly. We must extend this understanding of shared being and love to all beings rather than just to those closest to us, so that we no longer contribute to the cause of such difficult world events.
A question is asked about how to break the habit of suffering, and what is the best practice to deal with suffering. Rupert suggests investigating, rather than practicing; self-enquiry, looking for and seeing if you can find the one who suffers. The desire for happiness is the same as seeking truth.
A woman who intends to donate her body to science asks, ‘Why is the body valued at death?’ Isn't it a shell? Rupert replies that the body is not separate from God's being as God is everything, including the body. Therefore, it must be treated with the same sanctity as any appearance of the one reality both in life and in death. Donating your body to science is a beautiful gesture.
A woman asks how to abide in oneness even during difficult world affairs like the Ukraine war or politicians like Trump. Rupert suggests that we judge the behaviour and not the person. The behaviour violates the truth of our shared being and is rightly condemned, but the essential being is what we share with all and can be loved. Otherwise, we are behaving like those we judge and contributing the prevailing sense of separation.
A question is asked about the meaning of friendship in regard to reducing the language of the teachings down to 'abidance and friendship' as Rupert had previously mentioned. Rupert responds that friendship is one of the best ways to share the understanding of the teaching, and as this is realised, fewer and fewer words of reasoning will be needed to explain the understanding, which leads to self-abidance. Friendship is a field of love that can wash us clean of our sense of separation.
A man, who describes his energetic experiences, asks if awareness has an agenda through its experience of us. Rupert responds that we are a channel for sense perception, but there is no agenda or desire to have that experience; it is its nature to express, as it is the sun's nature to shine.
A man who struggles with insomnia asks for suggestions about how to deal with it. Rupert responds that lack of sleep is detrimental to your body and your mind, but does not affect awareness, your true being. He makes a distinction between clarity of perception and clarity of awareness using the analogy of looking through a dirty window. Seeing is not affected, but what is seen is distorted. Yoga meditations may or may not help depending on whether the origin of the insomnia is with the mind or in body. They might help if it arises in the body, but may not if it's a disturbance in the mind.
A man asks how evolution fits into the non-dual perspective. Rupert responds that awareness, or consciousness, does not evolve, but the mind does in the sense of mind that evolves towards expression of truth. From the matter model, the universe appears to have evolved, which is the limited perspective of the finite mind.