An Interpretation of the Tao-te-Ching from the media Consciousness Pregnant with Infinite Potential
A woman enquires about Rupert’s interpretation of verse 42 from the Tao-te-Ching: ‘Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things.’ Rupert explains that infinite being seems to divide itself into two – subject and object – and there must be something linking the two: the knowing. The triad of knower, knowing, and known is the means by which manifestation occurs.
- Duration: 6 minutes and 39 seconds
- Recorded on: May 12, 2024
- Event: The Divine Presence Within – Online Weekend Retreat at Home – 10 to 12 May
A man enquires about Rupert’s insights on the yoga of perception as discussed in his video ‘I Never Go Anywhere’. Rupert clarifies that he wasn’t describing an extraordinary experience; it was the ordinary experience we are all having now. He explains being ‘the character in the movie’ and observing as the space of awareness are simply different perspectives of the same experience.
A woman shares her struggles with constant thinking and meditation, noting that your videos have resonated with her. She wonders if surrendering to God might help manage her incessant thoughts. Rupert confirms that surrendering to God can be beneficial if it resonates with her, suggesting that recognising the presence of an infinite being could ease life’s burdens. He compares life’s struggles to a suitcase, advising that one can trust their burdens to a higher power, akin to a traveller letting go of unnecessary luggage. Rupert encourages letting go of control and allowing the divine presence to take over, symbolised by putting the suitcase down.
A woman, grappling with focus and procrastination when alone, seeks advice on overcoming this challenge. Rupert suggests that she and her companion could support each other with small habits. He advises that when she finds herself mindlessly scrolling her device, she could pause and notice the uncomfortable feeling underlying the impulse to engage in an activity, muster courage, postpone the activity for ten minutes, and befriend the discomfort.
A woman sensitive to the energetics of people around her, feeling them in her body, and working with boundaries, asks how to relate non-duality to psychic abilities or being an empath. Rupert responds by suggesting that as our understanding deepens, we become more empathetic because our minds are less cluttered with personal feelings, creating room to consider other people’s feelings as though they were our own.
A woman expresses her gratitude for the teachings. Sometimes, she gets confused, and her mind gets in the way, seemingly causing her to lose her understanding. She asks how she can let the divine do its work and set her free. Rupert replies that she doesn’t need to worry about what she cannot understand and advises her to delve deeply into what she does understand.
A woman asks for guidance on how to ‘find the intensity’ within herself to go deeply into being. Rupert replies that by expressing it that way, going to being must be intense for, and that she is putting a limitation on it. He guides her to go deeper into being than her sensations, and he says she needs no intensity to go to her being.
A man questions the apparent ability of consciousness to veil itself from itself in order to have a human experience, asking if this concept is merely a human understanding. Rupert agrees, explaining that in consciousness’s experience of itself, there is no veiling, because it encompasses nothing other than itself. For the person, there is veiling, but for infinite consciousness, there is none.
A conversation explores the idea that ‘I am’ is the beginning and end of all knowledge and awareness, even in the absence of experience. Rupert explains that when there is nothing to be aware of, there is simply awareness without an object. If the contents of awareness disappear, awareness itself remains. In deep sleep, there is no mind to declare ‘I am’, but this does not mean that the experience we refer to when we say ‘I am’, the experience of being is absent there.
A man discusses the paradox he faces between his love for art and nature and his desire for unmanifest being, asking how to reconcile these two impulses. Rupert explains that in his meditation, he tries to express truths that words cannot fully capture, acknowledging that all his expressions except ‘I am’ fall short of absolute truth. Despite the limitations of language, he continues to convey the indescribable, driven purely by his love for it. Similarly, Rupert suggests that the man’s painting and appreciation of nature are his ways of attempting to express the formless in form.
A woman describes her experience during the meditation earlier that day when Rupert was talking about ‘I am’ being the beginning of all knowledge, declaring she had felt the truth of that. But when he mentioned that it is also the end of all knowledge, the experience seemed to leave her. Rupert explains that by ‘the end of all knowledge’, he meant a culmination, peak, resolution, and pinnacle of all knowledge – that to which all knowledge is tending.
A woman enquires about Rupert’s interpretation of verse 42 from the Tao-te-Ching: ‘Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things.’ Rupert explains that infinite being seems to divide itself into two – subject and object – and there must be something linking the two: the knowing. The triad of knower, knowing, and known is the means by which manifestation occurs.
A woman expresses gratitude for the weekend and recalls meeting Rupert twenty years ago. She asks about a quote from the Quran: ‘I was a hidden treasure, and I loved to be known, so I created the world that I might be known.’ Rupert says that he has often pondered this verse. He believes it means that within consciousness lies infinite potential, which remains unmanifest as the pure ‘I am’. This ‘I am’ contains all knowledge and experience, like consciousness pregnant with infinite potential, awaiting birth.
A conversation about the concept of consciousness infinitely expanding. Rupert clarifies that, strictly speaking, consciousness doesn’t expand. He compares it to the experience in an IMAX theatre, where wearing goggles makes a 2D screen appear to expand into a 3D image. Similarly, consciousness has no dimensions; however, when it interfaces with a human mind, composed of thinking and perceiving, its zero-dimensional nature seems to expand into time and space. In reality, consciousness itself does not expand.
A man enquires about Rupert’s insights on the yoga of perception as discussed in his video ‘I Never Go Anywhere’. Rupert clarifies that he wasn’t describing an extraordinary experience; it was the ordinary experience we are all having now. He explains being ‘the character in the movie’ and observing as the space of awareness are simply different perspectives of the same experience.
A woman shares her struggles with constant thinking and meditation, noting that your videos have resonated with her. She wonders if surrendering to God might help manage her incessant thoughts. Rupert confirms that surrendering to God can be beneficial if it resonates with her, suggesting that recognising the presence of an infinite being could ease life’s burdens. He compares life’s struggles to a suitcase, advising that one can trust their burdens to a higher power, akin to a traveller letting go of unnecessary luggage. Rupert encourages letting go of control and allowing the divine presence to take over, symbolised by putting the suitcase down.
A woman, grappling with focus and procrastination when alone, seeks advice on overcoming this challenge. Rupert suggests that she and her companion could support each other with small habits. He advises that when she finds herself mindlessly scrolling her device, she could pause and notice the uncomfortable feeling underlying the impulse to engage in an activity, muster courage, postpone the activity for ten minutes, and befriend the discomfort.
A woman sensitive to the energetics of people around her, feeling them in her body, and working with boundaries, asks how to relate non-duality to psychic abilities or being an empath. Rupert responds by suggesting that as our understanding deepens, we become more empathetic because our minds are less cluttered with personal feelings, creating room to consider other people’s feelings as though they were our own.
A woman expresses her gratitude for the teachings. Sometimes, she gets confused, and her mind gets in the way, seemingly causing her to lose her understanding. She asks how she can let the divine do its work and set her free. Rupert replies that she doesn’t need to worry about what she cannot understand and advises her to delve deeply into what she does understand.
A woman asks for guidance on how to ‘find the intensity’ within herself to go deeply into being. Rupert replies that by expressing it that way, going to being must be intense for, and that she is putting a limitation on it. He guides her to go deeper into being than her sensations, and he says she needs no intensity to go to her being.
A man questions the apparent ability of consciousness to veil itself from itself in order to have a human experience, asking if this concept is merely a human understanding. Rupert agrees, explaining that in consciousness’s experience of itself, there is no veiling, because it encompasses nothing other than itself. For the person, there is veiling, but for infinite consciousness, there is none.
A conversation explores the idea that ‘I am’ is the beginning and end of all knowledge and awareness, even in the absence of experience. Rupert explains that when there is nothing to be aware of, there is simply awareness without an object. If the contents of awareness disappear, awareness itself remains. In deep sleep, there is no mind to declare ‘I am’, but this does not mean that the experience we refer to when we say ‘I am’, the experience of being is absent there.
A man discusses the paradox he faces between his love for art and nature and his desire for unmanifest being, asking how to reconcile these two impulses. Rupert explains that in his meditation, he tries to express truths that words cannot fully capture, acknowledging that all his expressions except ‘I am’ fall short of absolute truth. Despite the limitations of language, he continues to convey the indescribable, driven purely by his love for it. Similarly, Rupert suggests that the man’s painting and appreciation of nature are his ways of attempting to express the formless in form.
A woman describes her experience during the meditation earlier that day when Rupert was talking about ‘I am’ being the beginning of all knowledge, declaring she had felt the truth of that. But when he mentioned that it is also the end of all knowledge, the experience seemed to leave her. Rupert explains that by ‘the end of all knowledge’, he meant a culmination, peak, resolution, and pinnacle of all knowledge – that to which all knowledge is tending.
A woman enquires about Rupert’s interpretation of verse 42 from the Tao-te-Ching: ‘Tao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things.’ Rupert explains that infinite being seems to divide itself into two – subject and object – and there must be something linking the two: the knowing. The triad of knower, knowing, and known is the means by which manifestation occurs.
A woman expresses gratitude for the weekend and recalls meeting Rupert twenty years ago. She asks about a quote from the Quran: ‘I was a hidden treasure, and I loved to be known, so I created the world that I might be known.’ Rupert says that he has often pondered this verse. He believes it means that within consciousness lies infinite potential, which remains unmanifest as the pure ‘I am’. This ‘I am’ contains all knowledge and experience, like consciousness pregnant with infinite potential, awaiting birth.
A conversation about the concept of consciousness infinitely expanding. Rupert clarifies that, strictly speaking, consciousness doesn’t expand. He compares it to the experience in an IMAX theatre, where wearing goggles makes a 2D screen appear to expand into a 3D image. Similarly, consciousness has no dimensions; however, when it interfaces with a human mind, composed of thinking and perceiving, its zero-dimensional nature seems to expand into time and space. In reality, consciousness itself does not expand.