A Law of Love

A man studying with the current Shankaracharya of the North enquires about the meaning of ‘samskaras’ in the context of knowledge. Rupert elucidates that the essence that knows ‘I am’, that recognises existence, is being itself. Being is self-aware, self-known and self-luminous. Unlike other forms of knowledge, which require a subject–object relationship, the awareness of being is direct. Thus, ‘I am’ is the highest possible knowledge, reality experiencing itself.

A woman who has retreated from professional and social life feels she has lost control and asks for guidance in her current season of life. Rupert tells her that if the retreat into the woods brought her joy and peace, then it might be the right choice. However, due to her confusion, he advises her to re-engage with the world.

A woman experiences a deepening of her sense of being when she is with friends who are also aware of the nature of their being. She asks why this happens. Rupert replies that it is a kind of resonance; something about the other person enables her to soften her attention from the content of experience, and her being is magnified as a result of the interaction.

A conversation arises about the three steps Rupert described in the second meditation earlier that day, specifically how to describe them to someone else. Rupert says that in the meditation was he described the steps of an experiential approach to the one. The primary quality of everything is its isness. It is very easy to explain to someone else that whatever there is, is.

A young woman asks how she can know sensations occurring within herself and not in the body. Rupert suggests she imagine being a newborn infant with only a few sensations and no thoughts. Focusing solely on her current experience, he asks where these sensations take place. She replies, ‘here’, which Rupert explains is not a place in space but a dimensionless presence where ‘I am’.

A young woman describes sensing her father’s physical presence in the same room, asking if this sense of knowing is correct and where it comes from. Rupert replies that this knowledge arises because, in a very close connection with someone, you can feel at certain moments what it is like to be them from the inside.

A woman asks about mentorship in the context of Rupert’s pottery teacher, Michael Cardew. Rupert suggests not idolising her new mentor.

A man asks why appearances in the waking state are strictly dependent on the laws of physics. Rupert replies that he doesn’t know. The dream state is only subject to the superimposition of our minds, but in the waking state, the superimposition of sensing and perceiving might be more restrictive than in the dream.

A man asks about amness and isness. Rupert explains that when we refer to being within ourselves, we say ‘I am’. However, once perception occurs, being divides itself into inside and outside. We are still looking at the same being, but through sense perception, we see a separate world. When we speak about the reality of the world, we say ‘it is’. ‘I am’ is the truest expression because it is being’s experience of itself.

A man asks if there is one law that holds the universe together. Rupert says that the one law is the fact that the universe is one, which makes it impossible for the universe to be fragmented. We could call that law a law of love, a law of oneness.

A conversation about repressed feelings in the context of the previous discussion about intuitive feeling. Rupert says that sometimes our friends know better than we do that we are repressing a feeling. The freer we are from our own feelings, the more accurate we may be about somebody else’s feelings.

A young man describes his sabbatical from working earlier this year and asks how one can best discern about their life choices. Rupert says that, ideally, when one makes a big life decision, if the situation permits, it would be best for the decision to come from deep within oneself without the influence of local temporal issues.

A conversation about art. Rupert says that artists teach us how to see the world. The viewer is taken to the sacred vision of the artist; to, in Cézanne’s words, ‘a taste of nature’s eternity’.

A man who finds these dialogue sessions challenging because he neither understands the questions nor the answers, asks about the meaning of the ‘finite’ and the ‘infinite’. Rupert replies that the ‘finite’ are things that start and stop – thoughts, sensations, perceptions, activities, relationships, and such. In other words, everything we experience through the mind is limited. The only experience that is not limited, or infinite, is the awareness of being.

A man studying with the current Shankaracharya of the North enquires about the meaning of ‘samskaras’ in the context of knowledge. Rupert elucidates that the essence that knows ‘I am’, that recognises existence, is being itself. Being is self-aware, self-known and self-luminous. Unlike other forms of knowledge, which require a subject–object relationship, the awareness of being is direct. Thus, ‘I am’ is the highest possible knowledge, reality experiencing itself.

A woman who has retreated from professional and social life feels she has lost control and asks for guidance in her current season of life. Rupert tells her that if the retreat into the woods brought her joy and peace, then it might be the right choice. However, due to her confusion, he advises her to re-engage with the world.

A woman experiences a deepening of her sense of being when she is with friends who are also aware of the nature of their being. She asks why this happens. Rupert replies that it is a kind of resonance; something about the other person enables her to soften her attention from the content of experience, and her being is magnified as a result of the interaction.

A conversation arises about the three steps Rupert described in the second meditation earlier that day, specifically how to describe them to someone else. Rupert says that in the meditation was he described the steps of an experiential approach to the one. The primary quality of everything is its isness. It is very easy to explain to someone else that whatever there is, is.

A young woman asks how she can know sensations occurring within herself and not in the body. Rupert suggests she imagine being a newborn infant with only a few sensations and no thoughts. Focusing solely on her current experience, he asks where these sensations take place. She replies, ‘here’, which Rupert explains is not a place in space but a dimensionless presence where ‘I am’.

A young woman describes sensing her father’s physical presence in the same room, asking if this sense of knowing is correct and where it comes from. Rupert replies that this knowledge arises because, in a very close connection with someone, you can feel at certain moments what it is like to be them from the inside.

A woman asks about mentorship in the context of Rupert’s pottery teacher, Michael Cardew. Rupert suggests not idolising her new mentor.

A man asks why appearances in the waking state are strictly dependent on the laws of physics. Rupert replies that he doesn’t know. The dream state is only subject to the superimposition of our minds, but in the waking state, the superimposition of sensing and perceiving might be more restrictive than in the dream.

A man asks about amness and isness. Rupert explains that when we refer to being within ourselves, we say ‘I am’. However, once perception occurs, being divides itself into inside and outside. We are still looking at the same being, but through sense perception, we see a separate world. When we speak about the reality of the world, we say ‘it is’. ‘I am’ is the truest expression because it is being’s experience of itself.

A man asks if there is one law that holds the universe together. Rupert says that the one law is the fact that the universe is one, which makes it impossible for the universe to be fragmented. We could call that law a law of love, a law of oneness.

A conversation about repressed feelings in the context of the previous discussion about intuitive feeling. Rupert says that sometimes our friends know better than we do that we are repressing a feeling. The freer we are from our own feelings, the more accurate we may be about somebody else’s feelings.

A young man describes his sabbatical from working earlier this year and asks how one can best discern about their life choices. Rupert says that, ideally, when one makes a big life decision, if the situation permits, it would be best for the decision to come from deep within oneself without the influence of local temporal issues.

A conversation about art. Rupert says that artists teach us how to see the world. The viewer is taken to the sacred vision of the artist; to, in Cézanne’s words, ‘a taste of nature’s eternity’.

A man who finds these dialogue sessions challenging because he neither understands the questions nor the answers, asks about the meaning of the ‘finite’ and the ‘infinite’. Rupert replies that the ‘finite’ are things that start and stop – thoughts, sensations, perceptions, activities, relationships, and such. In other words, everything we experience through the mind is limited. The only experience that is not limited, or infinite, is the awareness of being.