A Reservoir of Peace
- Duration: Video: 1 hour, 36 minutes, and 14 seconds / Audio: 1 hour, 36 minutes, and 14 seconds
- Recorded on: Oct 11, 2022
- Event: Seven Day Retreat at Garrison Institute – 9th to 16th October
A woman shares that she is struggling to progress and sometimes gets so frustrated that she stops doing anything. Rupert says that of all her practices, stopping is her best one. Rupert suggests that she is embarking all over the world looking for herself. You are, of course, always yourself, but when you stop you experience yourself as yourself. Rupert leads her in self-enquiry.
A man asks about the specificity of dialogues and meditations and where they come from in Rupert. Rupert responds that he listens and feels the question and where it comes from, and waits for the answer to appear. It’s always tailored to the place from which the question comes. It's a spontaneous, rather than standard, practice. The meditations just come spontaneously as well.
A man references a previous statement of Rupert’s, which felt like the Old Testament to him. Rupert suggests that he was filtering his reply through his brimstone upbringing. If we take the name ‘I’ and go to that which the name refers to, we die as an individual. Love gives you the courage to do whatever it takes.
A woman, who recounts an awakening experience and her subsequent journey with Buddhism, asks about resting in awareness. Rupert suggests that resting in and as awareness, we build a reservoir of peace. If we find ourself in the heat of the moment, it intervenes unsolicited.
A woman comments on the changes she experiences as she grows older, saying that she is more easily triggered. Rupert suggests that it’s a fragility of your body and mind. It is not a failure of your understanding. We don’t need to impose ‘shoulds’ or compare ourselves to anyone.
A man asks about stabilising as awareness when a shadow of fear and anxiety bubbles to the surface. Rupert suggests that the more you rest in being the more these feelings may surface. Previously you had strategies to repress and avoid them but are no longer engaging in those strategies because that is how the ego maintains itself. The energies want to be invited up, fully seen and, in time, released. Don’t be discouraged.
A man wants to resolve the doubts and questions that come from his past spiritual conditioning, particularly Buddhism, and the ideas of desire, the Four Noble Truths and impermanence. Rupert suggests that the recognition of the impermanence of things doesn't uproot desire. We have to recognise that which is permanent to dissolve desire. This teaching is more interested in reality, as a direct path to the truth. Discover what is true, start with that question.
A woman relays how the image of herself from someone else’s perspective is persistent in her mind, and she says she knows it isn’t real. Rupert suggests that her experience is real, but it is not what it appears to be. It is not who you essentially are. It is not your essential self. Don’t expect to get rid of this image. It is not the image that is a problem; it is when we believe that we are that image. Some thoughts originate from within and some are inherited from without.
If suffering is the price consciousness pays for becoming localised, can we ever be free of suffering or without longing? Rupert responds that our true nature remains in its pristine condition, and we can liberate ourself from the sorrow and conflict that comes from the sense of separation. Everyone knows times of the absence of longing, so we know that it is possible to be liberated from longing and unhappiness. The periods of longing diminish and are replaced by a peace that doesn't disappear but goes into the background. It can be like a death to the apparent separate self. The longing is like the moth to the flame. There is nothing to do, only be.
A woman shares that she is struggling to progress and sometimes gets so frustrated that she stops doing anything. Rupert says that of all her practices, stopping is her best one. Rupert suggests that she is embarking all over the world looking for herself. You are, of course, always yourself, but when you stop you experience yourself as yourself. Rupert leads her in self-enquiry.
A man asks about the specificity of dialogues and meditations and where they come from in Rupert. Rupert responds that he listens and feels the question and where it comes from, and waits for the answer to appear. It’s always tailored to the place from which the question comes. It's a spontaneous, rather than standard, practice. The meditations just come spontaneously as well.
A man references a previous statement of Rupert’s, which felt like the Old Testament to him. Rupert suggests that he was filtering his reply through his brimstone upbringing. If we take the name ‘I’ and go to that which the name refers to, we die as an individual. Love gives you the courage to do whatever it takes.
A woman, who recounts an awakening experience and her subsequent journey with Buddhism, asks about resting in awareness. Rupert suggests that resting in and as awareness, we build a reservoir of peace. If we find ourself in the heat of the moment, it intervenes unsolicited.
A woman comments on the changes she experiences as she grows older, saying that she is more easily triggered. Rupert suggests that it’s a fragility of your body and mind. It is not a failure of your understanding. We don’t need to impose ‘shoulds’ or compare ourselves to anyone.
A man asks about stabilising as awareness when a shadow of fear and anxiety bubbles to the surface. Rupert suggests that the more you rest in being the more these feelings may surface. Previously you had strategies to repress and avoid them but are no longer engaging in those strategies because that is how the ego maintains itself. The energies want to be invited up, fully seen and, in time, released. Don’t be discouraged.
A man wants to resolve the doubts and questions that come from his past spiritual conditioning, particularly Buddhism, and the ideas of desire, the Four Noble Truths and impermanence. Rupert suggests that the recognition of the impermanence of things doesn't uproot desire. We have to recognise that which is permanent to dissolve desire. This teaching is more interested in reality, as a direct path to the truth. Discover what is true, start with that question.
A woman relays how the image of herself from someone else’s perspective is persistent in her mind, and she says she knows it isn’t real. Rupert suggests that her experience is real, but it is not what it appears to be. It is not who you essentially are. It is not your essential self. Don’t expect to get rid of this image. It is not the image that is a problem; it is when we believe that we are that image. Some thoughts originate from within and some are inherited from without.
If suffering is the price consciousness pays for becoming localised, can we ever be free of suffering or without longing? Rupert responds that our true nature remains in its pristine condition, and we can liberate ourself from the sorrow and conflict that comes from the sense of separation. Everyone knows times of the absence of longing, so we know that it is possible to be liberated from longing and unhappiness. The periods of longing diminish and are replaced by a peace that doesn't disappear but goes into the background. It can be like a death to the apparent separate self. The longing is like the moth to the flame. There is nothing to do, only be.