Silence in the Background of Experience from the media The Place of Refuge
A man says that when he listens to Rupert's voice he hears silence, but he cannot return to the experience of silence on his own.
- Duration: 5 minutes and 30 seconds
- Recorded on: Jun 25, 2020
- Event: Seven Day 'Retreat at Home' – June
Without reference to thought or memory, is there anything problematic about your current experience? Without referring to thought, would you know that anything was missing from your current experience? The only reason we resist our current experience – unless, of course, our resistance rises on behalf of the well-being of the body – is that the current experience does not meet our expectations. How would it be to simply face our current experience without bringing our past or our memory to bear on it, but simply to face it as it is? If we did not refer to our past, we would not know what to expect of the present moment. How would it be to simply face our current experience without bringing our past or our memory to bear on it, but simply to face it as it is? That is how awareness faces all experience. Make the now your home, your refuge, the place where you are no longer assailed by the tyranny of the past or the future.
A woman comments that she has become aware that she is lost in her thoughts and making effort all day long. She asks how to unwind that habit.
A woman who has struggled with over-eating and body-image issues comments that she felt her body was her home but now understands awareness is her true home. Rupert speaks about the sense of lack as the impulse behind the habit of over-eating.
A woman asks if we become bored when we're being aware and without thoughts in the midst of daily activities. Rupert talks about happiness in ordinary experience and boredom as resistance to the now.
A woman describes turning her attention to the computer screen while attending the online retreat, and says she finds it hard to concentrate on Rupert's words while focusing on the screen. She feels she is looking through her eyes, not with her eyes, and that it feels like meditation.
A woman notices resistance arising as a thought and asks Rupert to elaborate on resistance. Rupert distinguishes between the discomfort that is a result of resistance and that which arises as physical pain.
A professor with a materialist background asks Rupert to speak about fear that is the result of threatening external stimuli. Rupert speaks about the echo of fear that arises in the body in response to danger in the environment.
A man says that when he listens to Rupert's voice he hears silence, but he cannot return to the experience of silence on his own.
A man asks who is the real 'doer', and Rupert describes how it is an activity of consciousness.
Without reference to thought or memory, is there anything problematic about your current experience? Without referring to thought, would you know that anything was missing from your current experience? The only reason we resist our current experience – unless, of course, our resistance rises on behalf of the well-being of the body – is that the current experience does not meet our expectations. How would it be to simply face our current experience without bringing our past or our memory to bear on it, but simply to face it as it is? If we did not refer to our past, we would not know what to expect of the present moment. How would it be to simply face our current experience without bringing our past or our memory to bear on it, but simply to face it as it is? That is how awareness faces all experience. Make the now your home, your refuge, the place where you are no longer assailed by the tyranny of the past or the future.
A woman comments that she has become aware that she is lost in her thoughts and making effort all day long. She asks how to unwind that habit.
A woman who has struggled with over-eating and body-image issues comments that she felt her body was her home but now understands awareness is her true home. Rupert speaks about the sense of lack as the impulse behind the habit of over-eating.
A woman asks if we become bored when we're being aware and without thoughts in the midst of daily activities. Rupert talks about happiness in ordinary experience and boredom as resistance to the now.
A woman describes turning her attention to the computer screen while attending the online retreat, and says she finds it hard to concentrate on Rupert's words while focusing on the screen. She feels she is looking through her eyes, not with her eyes, and that it feels like meditation.
A woman notices resistance arising as a thought and asks Rupert to elaborate on resistance. Rupert distinguishes between the discomfort that is a result of resistance and that which arises as physical pain.
A professor with a materialist background asks Rupert to speak about fear that is the result of threatening external stimuli. Rupert speaks about the echo of fear that arises in the body in response to danger in the environment.
A man says that when he listens to Rupert's voice he hears silence, but he cannot return to the experience of silence on his own.
A man asks who is the real 'doer', and Rupert describes how it is an activity of consciousness.