The Purpose of Life Is to Be Happy from the media We Are Already Being
A man asks if the purpose of life is to be happy and how that relates to infinite being having no purpose. Rupert suggests there are two purposes – being happy and expressing that happiness. Recognise happiness as your true nature, and express that in whatever you do in life. Infinite being creates the impulse to go back to its original state of equilibrium, that is, to seek happiness. It is its nature to go back, not a purpose, which only pertains to the apparent separate self.
- Duration: 4 minutes and 0 seconds
- Recorded on: Feb 16, 2023
- Event: Webinar – Thursday 16th February
Meditation has nothing to do with doing and everything to do with being. It is simply being, and as all of us are already being. When I say ‘go to the experience of simply being’ what I really mean is just let go of the content of experience and just come back to your self. Whatever I am experiencing, I am. Our being stands in the same relationship to all experience as does a screen to all movies – utterly, intimately one with it, and yet at the same time free and independent of it. See that whatever we encounter – either in our imagination or in real life – it is, it exists. Just as amness is the common factor in all selves, so isness is the common factor in all things. When we look inside, we experience being as peace; when we look outside we experience being as love.
A woman talks about a long term estrangement from her father and wonders about reaching out to him, now that she has given up wanting an apology. Rupert suggests that if she has really let go of the need to get anything from him then that puts her in a good position to reach out, and he will feel that. Rupert suggests reaching out to him with no expectation for how he’ll respond.
A woman asks about the relationship between 'I am' and being in her body. Rupert responds that we are in the body and the body is in us. He uses the analogy of the space in the room which is the same in your room as it is everywhere. Being completely pervades the body, but extends beyond the limitations of the body.
A woman asks about why the one being appears as many different forms. Rupert responds that the infinite knows itself directly. Manifestation can only be known from the perspective of a separate subject of experience, similar to the analogy of Mary in London dreaming she is Jane in Paris. There is no purpose other than it is its nature is to create, to manifest.
A man shares that he is aware of awareness much of the time, and asks if it is normal when he loses that awareness. Rupert suggests that it is normal, but in time, fewer and fewer experiences will have the power to take you away from your self.
A woman, who was raised Hindu, speaks of going through an intense purification process to abide as awareness permanently. She said she's recently been seeing crosses everywhere, and asks, 'Who is Jesus?' Rupert responds that Jesus was a man in whom God's being shone as his very own being. When Jesus said 'I am' he was speaking of his being; I am is the name for God's being. He speaks of the Christian names we are given as derived from this 'I am.'
A woman, who recently started therapy, is wondering whether it is compatible with seeking freedom. Rupert suggests that there are certainly therapists whose work would coincide with this understanding, at least to a degree. However, most of us don’t go to therapy to recognise our true nature, so sometimes therapy is about working on issues at a relative level.
A woman asks what the difference is between psychotherapy and non-duality. Rupert suggests that the main difference is that therapy generally starts with the presumption of separation, and its intention is to make that separate self more functional and relational. In non-duality, we do not presume the separate self; we investigate the nature and reality of that separate self.
A man asks if the purpose of life is to be happy and how that relates to infinite being having no purpose. Rupert suggests there are two purposes – being happy and expressing that happiness. Recognise happiness as your true nature, and express that in whatever you do in life. Infinite being creates the impulse to go back to its original state of equilibrium, that is, to seek happiness. It is its nature to go back, not a purpose, which only pertains to the apparent separate self.
A man asks if he has recognised his true nature and infinite consciousness is without purpose, then why do anything. Rupert suggests that the desire to be whole creates the need to be whole in all aspects of our life, such as in our relationships, job and actions. This is how the recognition goes out into the world.
A man shares that there has been a rapid unfolding recently, and asks if there is a way to go out and in at the same time and operate in the world. Rupert talks about closing our eyes in the dark, and how the darkness behind closed eyes is the same as with eyes open. It’s the same with being. It appears that there are objects on the outside and thoughts and feelings on the inside, but it’s all being.
A man asks if intuition is an appearance in consciousness. Rupert replies yes, but something that we intuit is not normally available to us in the waking state mind. It comes from outside our waking state mind but is still a form in consciousness. Except for the intuition of our true nature, which doesn’t appear in the mind.
A woman shares her suffering because of a disappointment in love. Ruperts suggests that she takes all her failed relationships as evidence that no relationship can ever be the source of happiness. He speaks of his own young-adult experience that brought him to this understanding. Relationship is available every moment of your life. Feel the freedom of realising you don't need anyone else to be happy.
A man asks if there are any points of disagreement that Rupert has with other teachings. Rupert suggests that it is inevitable that there will be differences at the level of mind and expression, but there is never any difference between the deep recognition of true nature. The space in my room and the space in your room is the same. The only difference is in form.
Meditation has nothing to do with doing and everything to do with being. It is simply being, and as all of us are already being. When I say ‘go to the experience of simply being’ what I really mean is just let go of the content of experience and just come back to your self. Whatever I am experiencing, I am. Our being stands in the same relationship to all experience as does a screen to all movies – utterly, intimately one with it, and yet at the same time free and independent of it. See that whatever we encounter – either in our imagination or in real life – it is, it exists. Just as amness is the common factor in all selves, so isness is the common factor in all things. When we look inside, we experience being as peace; when we look outside we experience being as love.
A woman talks about a long term estrangement from her father and wonders about reaching out to him, now that she has given up wanting an apology. Rupert suggests that if she has really let go of the need to get anything from him then that puts her in a good position to reach out, and he will feel that. Rupert suggests reaching out to him with no expectation for how he’ll respond.
A woman asks about the relationship between 'I am' and being in her body. Rupert responds that we are in the body and the body is in us. He uses the analogy of the space in the room which is the same in your room as it is everywhere. Being completely pervades the body, but extends beyond the limitations of the body.
A woman asks about why the one being appears as many different forms. Rupert responds that the infinite knows itself directly. Manifestation can only be known from the perspective of a separate subject of experience, similar to the analogy of Mary in London dreaming she is Jane in Paris. There is no purpose other than it is its nature is to create, to manifest.
A man shares that he is aware of awareness much of the time, and asks if it is normal when he loses that awareness. Rupert suggests that it is normal, but in time, fewer and fewer experiences will have the power to take you away from your self.
A woman, who was raised Hindu, speaks of going through an intense purification process to abide as awareness permanently. She said she's recently been seeing crosses everywhere, and asks, 'Who is Jesus?' Rupert responds that Jesus was a man in whom God's being shone as his very own being. When Jesus said 'I am' he was speaking of his being; I am is the name for God's being. He speaks of the Christian names we are given as derived from this 'I am.'
A woman, who recently started therapy, is wondering whether it is compatible with seeking freedom. Rupert suggests that there are certainly therapists whose work would coincide with this understanding, at least to a degree. However, most of us don’t go to therapy to recognise our true nature, so sometimes therapy is about working on issues at a relative level.
A woman asks what the difference is between psychotherapy and non-duality. Rupert suggests that the main difference is that therapy generally starts with the presumption of separation, and its intention is to make that separate self more functional and relational. In non-duality, we do not presume the separate self; we investigate the nature and reality of that separate self.
A man asks if the purpose of life is to be happy and how that relates to infinite being having no purpose. Rupert suggests there are two purposes – being happy and expressing that happiness. Recognise happiness as your true nature, and express that in whatever you do in life. Infinite being creates the impulse to go back to its original state of equilibrium, that is, to seek happiness. It is its nature to go back, not a purpose, which only pertains to the apparent separate self.
A man asks if he has recognised his true nature and infinite consciousness is without purpose, then why do anything. Rupert suggests that the desire to be whole creates the need to be whole in all aspects of our life, such as in our relationships, job and actions. This is how the recognition goes out into the world.
A man shares that there has been a rapid unfolding recently, and asks if there is a way to go out and in at the same time and operate in the world. Rupert talks about closing our eyes in the dark, and how the darkness behind closed eyes is the same as with eyes open. It’s the same with being. It appears that there are objects on the outside and thoughts and feelings on the inside, but it’s all being.
A man asks if intuition is an appearance in consciousness. Rupert replies yes, but something that we intuit is not normally available to us in the waking state mind. It comes from outside our waking state mind but is still a form in consciousness. Except for the intuition of our true nature, which doesn’t appear in the mind.
A woman shares her suffering because of a disappointment in love. Ruperts suggests that she takes all her failed relationships as evidence that no relationship can ever be the source of happiness. He speaks of his own young-adult experience that brought him to this understanding. Relationship is available every moment of your life. Feel the freedom of realising you don't need anyone else to be happy.
A man asks if there are any points of disagreement that Rupert has with other teachings. Rupert suggests that it is inevitable that there will be differences at the level of mind and expression, but there is never any difference between the deep recognition of true nature. The space in my room and the space in your room is the same. The only difference is in form.