Abide in Being All the Time
- Duration: Video: 1 hour, 57 minutes, and 52 seconds / Audio: 1 hour, 57 minutes, and 52 seconds
- Recorded on: Feb 20, 2024
- Event: Seven-Day Retreat at The Vedanta – 16 to 23 February 2024
A woman enquires about the free will of the apparent character within the movie of life. Rupert replies that the movie of life is like a jazz improvisation, there is no script, no director, no producer. There is no film crew. When we look closely, we don’t find an independently existing agent. Do cells in your body have any volition? Ultimately, there is no mind to have or not have free will.
A young man experiencing an uncomfortable sensation in the chest area, anxiety, panic, fear, and suicidal thoughts asks how to surrender to something so painful. Rupert guides the man in a yoga meditation to feel that his pains are lovingly held by awareness.
A man asks what he can do to realise that everything is one and how to go about being that. Rupert asks him if there is anything he is certain of in his experience. The man replies that there is something that is experiencing something; there is ‘I’. So, there is being and awareness of it. Even if you doubt being, you must be there to doubt that you are.
A man asks about human potential. Rupert replies that most of us don’t reach our fullest potential because we have limiting beliefs about ourselves. We project those limits into the world; we blame the world or other people for not giving us what we wanted. The world reflects back the limits we put on ourselves. One of the greatest things a parent and teacher can give to a child is the sense of their unlimited potential, to help them remove any self-imposed limitation. It is incredibly powerful.
A woman asks Rupert to read his poem ‘Every Time I Open My Eyes’, which he does.
A man describes his compulsive obsession with scheduling his life and his thirst for experiences. Rupert replies that planning your day is not a problem. He suggests not making a schedule for a couple of days until the discomfort dissipates. As for for experiences, when there is a sense of lack, we believe that an object (or a circumstance) will relieve this sense. As we acquire the object, the seeking mind comes to an end and the happiness of being shines because it is not being veiled by the seeking mind.
A woman describes an experience where a veil had been lifted, and she could see that nothing really matters; she experienced love and a desire to help her friends. Rupert advises her toward fulfilling that desire, suggesting that go to her friends and meet them where they are, and then she can take them back to their true nature. This understanding makes us flexible and creative; we have to find new pathways according to the people and situations in which it is being expressed.
A woman asks if there is a difference between awareness itself and being aware of something. Rupert replies that it is the same awareness. It’s like the difference between a screen by itself and a screen with a movie playing. While the experience of being aware is unlocated, when we are aware of something, it is filtered by a point of view.
A woman asks about emptiness; when she feels deeply into an external object, she feels only emptiness. Rupert replies that when we remove all qualities of experience from an object, we are left with luminous, empty, aware being. That’s the fundamental nature of all things. Inside and outside are only for the mind; being knows nothing of inside or outside.
A woman asks how can she abide in being all the time. Rupert advises her to rest in the feeling of being. Just give your attention to that, go there, rest as that.
A man asks about clearing the mind for being to shine. Rupert says being doesn’t need purification to be revealed. He suggests just to go straight to being. As you understand this, the mind’s agitation will subside over time, purifying itself from separation and its supporting thoughts. The mind becomes quieter and other faculties clearer and sharper, no longer clouded by neurosis.
A woman enquires about the free will of the apparent character within the movie of life. Rupert replies that the movie of life is like a jazz improvisation, there is no script, no director, no producer. There is no film crew. When we look closely, we don’t find an independently existing agent. Do cells in your body have any volition? Ultimately, there is no mind to have or not have free will.
A young man experiencing an uncomfortable sensation in the chest area, anxiety, panic, fear, and suicidal thoughts asks how to surrender to something so painful. Rupert guides the man in a yoga meditation to feel that his pains are lovingly held by awareness.
A man asks what he can do to realise that everything is one and how to go about being that. Rupert asks him if there is anything he is certain of in his experience. The man replies that there is something that is experiencing something; there is ‘I’. So, there is being and awareness of it. Even if you doubt being, you must be there to doubt that you are.
A man asks about human potential. Rupert replies that most of us don’t reach our fullest potential because we have limiting beliefs about ourselves. We project those limits into the world; we blame the world or other people for not giving us what we wanted. The world reflects back the limits we put on ourselves. One of the greatest things a parent and teacher can give to a child is the sense of their unlimited potential, to help them remove any self-imposed limitation. It is incredibly powerful.
A woman asks Rupert to read his poem ‘Every Time I Open My Eyes’, which he does.
A man describes his compulsive obsession with scheduling his life and his thirst for experiences. Rupert replies that planning your day is not a problem. He suggests not making a schedule for a couple of days until the discomfort dissipates. As for for experiences, when there is a sense of lack, we believe that an object (or a circumstance) will relieve this sense. As we acquire the object, the seeking mind comes to an end and the happiness of being shines because it is not being veiled by the seeking mind.
A woman describes an experience where a veil had been lifted, and she could see that nothing really matters; she experienced love and a desire to help her friends. Rupert advises her toward fulfilling that desire, suggesting that go to her friends and meet them where they are, and then she can take them back to their true nature. This understanding makes us flexible and creative; we have to find new pathways according to the people and situations in which it is being expressed.
A woman asks if there is a difference between awareness itself and being aware of something. Rupert replies that it is the same awareness. It’s like the difference between a screen by itself and a screen with a movie playing. While the experience of being aware is unlocated, when we are aware of something, it is filtered by a point of view.
A woman asks about emptiness; when she feels deeply into an external object, she feels only emptiness. Rupert replies that when we remove all qualities of experience from an object, we are left with luminous, empty, aware being. That’s the fundamental nature of all things. Inside and outside are only for the mind; being knows nothing of inside or outside.
A woman asks how can she abide in being all the time. Rupert advises her to rest in the feeling of being. Just give your attention to that, go there, rest as that.
A man asks about clearing the mind for being to shine. Rupert says being doesn’t need purification to be revealed. He suggests just to go straight to being. As you understand this, the mind’s agitation will subside over time, purifying itself from separation and its supporting thoughts. The mind becomes quieter and other faculties clearer and sharper, no longer clouded by neurosis.