Enlightenment Is Not an Event in Time and Space from the media Radiant with Being
A man references how teachers sometimes say they have had a particular moment of shift and afterward things were different. He asks if Rupert has had such an experience. Rupert responds that enlightenment is not an event that happens in time and space. Ruper uses the Mary and Jane metaphor to clarify this.
- Duration: 6 minutes and 18 seconds
- Recorded on: Oct 29, 2022
- Event: Seven Day Retreat at Mercy Center, CA – 23rd to 30th October
A woman asks about the specificity of localised love, the impulse to act and the paradox of choicelessness. Rupert suggests that we must trust this impulse because inspiration is tailored to the faculties and talents of that individual. That is the unique thing for that individual to do. It is their purpose. This is the impulse of love to act through us. Any mistakes would still be part of this process of expression.
A man asks about enlightenment. Rupert suggests that enlightenment is the recognition of the nature of our being. It is not a special experience or an experience at all. It is not something we become; it is what we already are. Because our being has become mixed up with the content of experience, we don't know ourself clear. Enlightenment is clear self-knowledge.
A man comments on a previous meditation on birth and death. Rupert suggests that from the perspective of being there is no purpose to our life. There is nothing to be achieved or expressed. Its nature is exactly the same from birth to death. It doesn’t evolve. However, at the relative level, there is a purpose. Once the infinite has seemingly limited itself as the finite, the qualities that are innate in the infinite are veiled, so there is an impulse to return to the infinite.
A woman asks if the multiplicity of being has choices or is it all scripted. Rupert suggests that there are choices but no individual chooser of those choices.
A man relays his experience in meditation and wonders if it was a mental construct. Rupert suggests there are two possibilities. We do have the experience of being, and if we are experiencing being then we must be experiencing its nature. However, as soon as the mind begins to formulate it, then at best, it can approximate it. Secondly, we can mistake being for a blank state.
A man references how teachers sometimes say they have had a particular moment of shift and afterward things were different. He asks if Rupert has had such an experience. Rupert responds that enlightenment is not an event that happens in time and space. Ruper uses the Mary and Jane metaphor to clarify this.
A woman relays an experience in meditation as it relates to humanness. Rupert asks her what qualities she admires most in human beings. Rupert suggests that all those qualities are expressions of unity of being in a human being, because we feel that all beings are our being.
A man asks about what happens after the recognition of true nature. Rupert suggests that two things happen. One, we sink deeper and deeper into being. Two, being and its innate qualities gradually permeate our outer lives. There is never really an end to these two processes. Rupert shares that it is his experience that his mind is continually and progressively informed by the understanding.
A man asks about the white hot intensity of relative experience, like illness, sudden death, betrayal. Rupert shares the story of a friend who lost three children in infancy, who was one of the most loving people he’s ever known. It was as if he chose to allow these losses to open his heart more deeply to love. He was radiant with love.
A man shares that he struggles with how he thinks and labels his experience. Rupert suggests that when we try to describe the quality-lessness of awareness we borrow from objective experience to evoke those qualities. We shouldn't speak of these qualities, but we do so to be evocative, not descriptive.
A man wonders about the separate self and asks, ‘What is the nature of our ignorance that keeps us from knowing our own being?’ Rupert suggests that ‘ignorance’ here means the ignoring of our true nature. We lose ourself in thoughts, feelings and perceptions and ignore and overlook our self.
A man asks about why we should work to end suffering in God’s perfect creation. Rupert suggests that we have no option. Searching for happiness, ending suffering, is not what the separate self does; it is what the separate self is. The separate self is the search for happiness.
A woman asks about personal choice and who is choosing. Rupert clarifies that there are personal choices, but no personal chooser. Rupert suggests that being gives itself so thoroughly to every experience that it loses itself in it. It is the sacrifice that being makes in order to manifest. Love is our deepest nature.
A woman shares her experience of the end of her seeking. Rupert suggests that it is natural for the mind to try to make sense of an experience during which it was not present, yet when it arises again it finds itself profoundly affected by it. It is the mind’s way of making sense of it.
Rupert comments on the simplicity and complexity of the teaching. There are two reasons for the complexity. One is the complexity of the minds that are seeking understanding, so it must meet these mind where they are. The other reason is that it has taken him time to find a way to express this clearly and simply.
A woman relays her experience at the end of a meditation when Rupert says ’thank you’.
Rupert comments about personal names. When we hear our name, there is a recognition, and we are taken to our true nature. We have the experience, ‘I am here.’
A woman asks about how hatred is an expression of love. Rupert suggests that all emotions originate in love. Some express themselves directly – kindness and compassion, for instance – in others they are filtered through the sense of separation and is coloured by it.
A woman relays her experience of listening to music during meditation and feeling the love in each note. Rupert affirms that she understands how the universe is an outpouring of love. This music is an outpouring of love and we are witnessing the structure of the universe when we listen to it. I can’t find the words for it; that’s why we have music.
A first time retreatant expresses deep gratitude for this experience.
A man relays an experience of seeing the fictitious self that was seeking, and he expresses gratitude to all for their questions and answers.
A man asks about managing the separate self as it reinforces itself through the spiritual pursuits. Rupert doesn’t recommend paying the separate self any attention at all. Just let it die of neglect. Don’t give your love and attention to a fictitious self; give it all to your true and only self.
A woman asks about the specificity of localised love, the impulse to act and the paradox of choicelessness. Rupert suggests that we must trust this impulse because inspiration is tailored to the faculties and talents of that individual. That is the unique thing for that individual to do. It is their purpose. This is the impulse of love to act through us. Any mistakes would still be part of this process of expression.
A man asks about enlightenment. Rupert suggests that enlightenment is the recognition of the nature of our being. It is not a special experience or an experience at all. It is not something we become; it is what we already are. Because our being has become mixed up with the content of experience, we don't know ourself clear. Enlightenment is clear self-knowledge.
A man comments on a previous meditation on birth and death. Rupert suggests that from the perspective of being there is no purpose to our life. There is nothing to be achieved or expressed. Its nature is exactly the same from birth to death. It doesn’t evolve. However, at the relative level, there is a purpose. Once the infinite has seemingly limited itself as the finite, the qualities that are innate in the infinite are veiled, so there is an impulse to return to the infinite.
A woman asks if the multiplicity of being has choices or is it all scripted. Rupert suggests that there are choices but no individual chooser of those choices.
A man relays his experience in meditation and wonders if it was a mental construct. Rupert suggests there are two possibilities. We do have the experience of being, and if we are experiencing being then we must be experiencing its nature. However, as soon as the mind begins to formulate it, then at best, it can approximate it. Secondly, we can mistake being for a blank state.
A man references how teachers sometimes say they have had a particular moment of shift and afterward things were different. He asks if Rupert has had such an experience. Rupert responds that enlightenment is not an event that happens in time and space. Ruper uses the Mary and Jane metaphor to clarify this.
A woman relays an experience in meditation as it relates to humanness. Rupert asks her what qualities she admires most in human beings. Rupert suggests that all those qualities are expressions of unity of being in a human being, because we feel that all beings are our being.
A man asks about what happens after the recognition of true nature. Rupert suggests that two things happen. One, we sink deeper and deeper into being. Two, being and its innate qualities gradually permeate our outer lives. There is never really an end to these two processes. Rupert shares that it is his experience that his mind is continually and progressively informed by the understanding.
A man asks about the white hot intensity of relative experience, like illness, sudden death, betrayal. Rupert shares the story of a friend who lost three children in infancy, who was one of the most loving people he’s ever known. It was as if he chose to allow these losses to open his heart more deeply to love. He was radiant with love.
A man shares that he struggles with how he thinks and labels his experience. Rupert suggests that when we try to describe the quality-lessness of awareness we borrow from objective experience to evoke those qualities. We shouldn't speak of these qualities, but we do so to be evocative, not descriptive.
A man wonders about the separate self and asks, ‘What is the nature of our ignorance that keeps us from knowing our own being?’ Rupert suggests that ‘ignorance’ here means the ignoring of our true nature. We lose ourself in thoughts, feelings and perceptions and ignore and overlook our self.
A man asks about why we should work to end suffering in God’s perfect creation. Rupert suggests that we have no option. Searching for happiness, ending suffering, is not what the separate self does; it is what the separate self is. The separate self is the search for happiness.
A woman asks about personal choice and who is choosing. Rupert clarifies that there are personal choices, but no personal chooser. Rupert suggests that being gives itself so thoroughly to every experience that it loses itself in it. It is the sacrifice that being makes in order to manifest. Love is our deepest nature.
A woman shares her experience of the end of her seeking. Rupert suggests that it is natural for the mind to try to make sense of an experience during which it was not present, yet when it arises again it finds itself profoundly affected by it. It is the mind’s way of making sense of it.
Rupert comments on the simplicity and complexity of the teaching. There are two reasons for the complexity. One is the complexity of the minds that are seeking understanding, so it must meet these mind where they are. The other reason is that it has taken him time to find a way to express this clearly and simply.
A woman relays her experience at the end of a meditation when Rupert says ’thank you’.
Rupert comments about personal names. When we hear our name, there is a recognition, and we are taken to our true nature. We have the experience, ‘I am here.’
A woman asks about how hatred is an expression of love. Rupert suggests that all emotions originate in love. Some express themselves directly – kindness and compassion, for instance – in others they are filtered through the sense of separation and is coloured by it.
A woman relays her experience of listening to music during meditation and feeling the love in each note. Rupert affirms that she understands how the universe is an outpouring of love. This music is an outpouring of love and we are witnessing the structure of the universe when we listen to it. I can’t find the words for it; that’s why we have music.
A first time retreatant expresses deep gratitude for this experience.
A man relays an experience of seeing the fictitious self that was seeking, and he expresses gratitude to all for their questions and answers.
A man asks about managing the separate self as it reinforces itself through the spiritual pursuits. Rupert doesn’t recommend paying the separate self any attention at all. Just let it die of neglect. Don’t give your love and attention to a fictitious self; give it all to your true and only self.