Courage Comes from Our Love of Truth

If we are seeking to find peace and happiness in the world – in objects, activities or relationships – then we are setting ourself up for disappointment and sorrow. The world is ultimately a manifestation of the peace and joy that is the nature of being. It is we who turn our experience of the world into unhappiness by projecting our expectations and demands onto it. Make a decision once and for all to seek peace and joy where it really lives – in our being. It requires not only clarity, but a great deal of courage, to first of all see the extent to which we have invested our happiness in the content of experience – objects, activities, relationships – and then to withdraw that projection. And the only thing that can give us this courage is our love of truth.

A woman talks about her experience of anxiety. Rupert says that if she thinks her being is something she must get back to, it will sometimes be easy and sometimes, hard. But we don’t have to get back to our self. We are our self; we don’t have to get back. When she says, ‘the fear and anxiety rise in me’, you are that me. Don't turn your true nature into a practice; into something you do.

A man asks if we must knowingly know we are being. Rupert agrees that we have that experiential recognition that what I essentially am, prior to the arising of experience, is simply being. This is the experience we all have every morning when we first wake up. That doesn't go away during the day; it just seems to as experience is added to it. It is what we are now.

A man asks, ‘What is the relationship between surrender and enquiry?’ Rupert suggests that there is no relationship because they are the same thing. Why do they feel different? Because when trusting God’s will, we still stand as a person, albeit separate. It is the highest position of the separate self, but as long as the devotee is still there, that’s not true surrender. True surrender is the dissolution of the one who would trust.

A man who is new to non-duality relays an experience he had many years ago of losing his memory but knew 'I was just myself'. Rupert suggests that something about the experience ‘arrested’ you, and in that pause, your being was spontaneously divested of all accumulated experience. All you were having was the experience of your self. It was no longer mixed with, and seemingly qualified by, the content of experience.

A man relays his understanding to Rupert and asks for his feedback. Rupert suggests that anything that has a form is finite, by definition. What does a finite thing stand out from? Infinite being. Rupert uses the metaphor of the screen and movie to elaborate. Although, in reality, nothing really stands out from being. The movie doesn’t stand out from the screen; it seems to.

A woman who asks how animate and inanimate objects can be explained. Rupert suggests that when we dream at night, our dreams contain conscious being and unconscious matter. When we wake in the morning we see that it was all the mind. In that way, everything in our waking state emerges from consciousness.

A man, who experiences pain and suffering, asks what relationship he should have to this ‘dream’. Rupert suggests that we love everything unconditionally. Why? Because it is a manifestation of the very same thing our mind and body are. There is no real distinction or separation. This is love. Love everyone and everything, but don't invest your happiness in it.

A woman asks about her attachment to particular questions: what is it that initiates awareness and why am I having this question? Rupert suggests that she is asking this question because her premise is that something arises. The answer is it doesn’t arise; everything arises from it? Question the assumption that there is something from which awareness arises.

A man asks about how to relate to people who are caught up in their minds. Rupert suggests that if it's clear to him that he is not his thoughts and feelings, then the same is true of others’ thoughts and feelings. If you can do it for yourself, then you can do it for another.

A woman asks about accepting and allowing ‘the dark side’ of her experience. Rupert suggests that it’s legitimate to explore with our minds what could cause someone to behave in a certain way - exploring psychology. But our being is different from our psychology. We need to make a clear distinction between being and conditioning, in ourselves and others. We don't let our thoughts and feelings colour our being, and we see the same thing in others.

A man quotes Rumi, ‘I do not exist’, saying that he keeps being drawn back to the person through bodily sensations. Rupert suggests that he not focus on the person, the person cannot give up. The person is given up. Having an agenda with the person is one way the ego perpetuates itself. Emphasise what you are; not what you are not.

A man asks, ‘How are you using the body and the person of Rupert?’ Rupert says that until the man mentioned it, he wasn't aware of the body or the person; I was just aware of our conversation. The moment you spoke about it, the idea of being a body of personal self came to my mind.

A woman struggles to sit as awareness when in pain. Rupert suggests that if the body is unwell, tired, hungry and so on, we should attend to it. We don’t touch the ego, but if the body needs attention, it is legitimate to do so. If there is nothing more that can be done to relieve it, then we must accept the experience.

A man relays an experience of love he had many years ago. Rupert suggests that the love that is the nature of reality broke through in a chink in the stream of his experience, which dissolved and was embraced in love’s radiance. Then the stream of experience started again and obscured it. That love is still present now in the background of experience, holding and loving you. You can think of that experience as a special gift.

A man relays an experience of everything being perfect and that there was never anything that needed to be done. He wonders how Rupert came to this realisation. Rupert suggests that he thought, ‘Why yes, of course, why didn’t I see that before?’ and then he carried on. It was very simple and quiet. There were no bells and whistles attached to it. Rupert would never have called it enlightenment. It wasn’t extraordinary; it was simply something I had overlooked.

If we are seeking to find peace and happiness in the world – in objects, activities or relationships – then we are setting ourself up for disappointment and sorrow. The world is ultimately a manifestation of the peace and joy that is the nature of being. It is we who turn our experience of the world into unhappiness by projecting our expectations and demands onto it. Make a decision once and for all to seek peace and joy where it really lives – in our being. It requires not only clarity, but a great deal of courage, to first of all see the extent to which we have invested our happiness in the content of experience – objects, activities, relationships – and then to withdraw that projection. And the only thing that can give us this courage is our love of truth.

A woman talks about her experience of anxiety. Rupert says that if she thinks her being is something she must get back to, it will sometimes be easy and sometimes, hard. But we don’t have to get back to our self. We are our self; we don’t have to get back. When she says, ‘the fear and anxiety rise in me’, you are that me. Don't turn your true nature into a practice; into something you do.

A man asks if we must knowingly know we are being. Rupert agrees that we have that experiential recognition that what I essentially am, prior to the arising of experience, is simply being. This is the experience we all have every morning when we first wake up. That doesn't go away during the day; it just seems to as experience is added to it. It is what we are now.

A man asks, ‘What is the relationship between surrender and enquiry?’ Rupert suggests that there is no relationship because they are the same thing. Why do they feel different? Because when trusting God’s will, we still stand as a person, albeit separate. It is the highest position of the separate self, but as long as the devotee is still there, that’s not true surrender. True surrender is the dissolution of the one who would trust.

A man who is new to non-duality relays an experience he had many years ago of losing his memory but knew 'I was just myself'. Rupert suggests that something about the experience ‘arrested’ you, and in that pause, your being was spontaneously divested of all accumulated experience. All you were having was the experience of your self. It was no longer mixed with, and seemingly qualified by, the content of experience.

A man relays his understanding to Rupert and asks for his feedback. Rupert suggests that anything that has a form is finite, by definition. What does a finite thing stand out from? Infinite being. Rupert uses the metaphor of the screen and movie to elaborate. Although, in reality, nothing really stands out from being. The movie doesn’t stand out from the screen; it seems to.

A woman who asks how animate and inanimate objects can be explained. Rupert suggests that when we dream at night, our dreams contain conscious being and unconscious matter. When we wake in the morning we see that it was all the mind. In that way, everything in our waking state emerges from consciousness.

A man, who experiences pain and suffering, asks what relationship he should have to this ‘dream’. Rupert suggests that we love everything unconditionally. Why? Because it is a manifestation of the very same thing our mind and body are. There is no real distinction or separation. This is love. Love everyone and everything, but don't invest your happiness in it.

A woman asks about her attachment to particular questions: what is it that initiates awareness and why am I having this question? Rupert suggests that she is asking this question because her premise is that something arises. The answer is it doesn’t arise; everything arises from it? Question the assumption that there is something from which awareness arises.

A man asks about how to relate to people who are caught up in their minds. Rupert suggests that if it's clear to him that he is not his thoughts and feelings, then the same is true of others’ thoughts and feelings. If you can do it for yourself, then you can do it for another.

A woman asks about accepting and allowing ‘the dark side’ of her experience. Rupert suggests that it’s legitimate to explore with our minds what could cause someone to behave in a certain way - exploring psychology. But our being is different from our psychology. We need to make a clear distinction between being and conditioning, in ourselves and others. We don't let our thoughts and feelings colour our being, and we see the same thing in others.

A man quotes Rumi, ‘I do not exist’, saying that he keeps being drawn back to the person through bodily sensations. Rupert suggests that he not focus on the person, the person cannot give up. The person is given up. Having an agenda with the person is one way the ego perpetuates itself. Emphasise what you are; not what you are not.

A man asks, ‘How are you using the body and the person of Rupert?’ Rupert says that until the man mentioned it, he wasn't aware of the body or the person; I was just aware of our conversation. The moment you spoke about it, the idea of being a body of personal self came to my mind.

A woman struggles to sit as awareness when in pain. Rupert suggests that if the body is unwell, tired, hungry and so on, we should attend to it. We don’t touch the ego, but if the body needs attention, it is legitimate to do so. If there is nothing more that can be done to relieve it, then we must accept the experience.

A man relays an experience of love he had many years ago. Rupert suggests that the love that is the nature of reality broke through in a chink in the stream of his experience, which dissolved and was embraced in love’s radiance. Then the stream of experience started again and obscured it. That love is still present now in the background of experience, holding and loving you. You can think of that experience as a special gift.

A man relays an experience of everything being perfect and that there was never anything that needed to be done. He wonders how Rupert came to this realisation. Rupert suggests that he thought, ‘Why yes, of course, why didn’t I see that before?’ and then he carried on. It was very simple and quiet. There were no bells and whistles attached to it. Rupert would never have called it enlightenment. It wasn’t extraordinary; it was simply something I had overlooked.