Enlightenment Is a Recognition, Not an Experience
- Duration: Video: 1 hour, 55 minutes, and 48 seconds / Audio: 1 hour, 55 minutes, and 48 seconds
- Recorded on: Oct 25, 2021
- Event: Seven Day Retreat at Mercy Center, CA - October 2021
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A man says that he lives with a level of anxiety, as he assumes things will not work out. Rupert responds that this is probably something that began in childhood, but that the root of the anxiety may be addressed with yoga meditations that deal with these deep, bodily roots of the sense of separation.
A man asks if the experience of deep peace during meditation could be called enlightenment. Rupert suggests that enlightenment is not a feeling or an experience, but a recognition of one's being.
A man asks about 'putting up the sails' in the direction of manifestation and how to pass 'being in the flow' along to his children. Rupert suggests he ask his children questions about their interests. He recounts his own childhood experience with encountering this understanding and compares it to the feeling of being in love.
A man asks about manifestation and finding a career or a means of expression, such as pottery. Rupert responds that the form of expression doesn't matter as much as the understanding with which the activity is imbued.
A woman suggests that peace, joy and love are a little overrated compared to freedom, and asks what the fastest way to freedom is. Rupert guides her in self-enquiry to discover this innate freedom.
"A woman asks about how freedom relates to intense suffering. Rupert responds that suffering is always wanting or not wanting what is presently happening. "
A man says that the experience of fear has mostly disappeared, except regarding parenting. Rupert replies that he, too, has experienced fear for his son which seems a natural concern and part of the loving duty as a parent.
A woman says that after yoga meditations, she notices eye strain and asks if she is doing the meditations incorrectly. Rupert responds that nothing about the yoga meditations should cause strain, but sometimes previously unrecognised tensions may arise that may initially feel like strain or discomfort.
A questioner asks about the crack in perception of the linearity of thought and the experience of love and beauty. Rupert responds that time and thought are nearly synonymous, and it seems that time is real, but it is only a way of thinking. The 'crack', as a mental intervention, takes us out of time.
A man asks for clarification between awareness and awareness clouded by interpretation and judgment. Rupert speaks of the awareness of the mind's commentary, which is the same awareness that is not implicated by any interpretation.
A man says he doesn't have a sense of shared being in awareness. Rupert asks him if he has ever felt love. That is the recognition of our shared being.
A questioner asks about the term 'colonisation', and how that compares to ‘assimilation’. Rupert elaborates that it is a way of describing the whole spectrum of the understanding, which includes the body and how we act from that understanding in our life.
A questioner asks about where this path is going. Rupert suggests we cannot know, but it is a question that comes from the finite mind and its relation to linear time, which ignores what is already happening.
A man asks about the relationship, or lack thereof, between happiness and objective experience. Rupert suggests that happiness is the absence of resistance, which can be attributed to the activity or object in our current experience and is the basis of addiction.
A man asks if we can have a full non-dual experience even when we're taking out the garbage. Rupert suggests that all that is required is not to resist the experience of taking out the garbage.
A man says he is grumpy in the morning even though he is fairly stabilised. Rupert suggests the grumpiness is a negative interpretation of whatever is arising in the body, and to face it fully as the space of awareness without the label 'grumpy'.
A man asks for clarification about the John Smith and King Lear analogy and its relationship to acting in the world. Rupert calls it a form of improv, once the character is seen for what it is not.
A questioner asks about the role of intention and happiness and the cessation of striving. Rupert says that the direct path does not discipline the mind or body, and happiness is directly available through the recognition of one's true nature.
A man says that he lives with a level of anxiety, as he assumes things will not work out. Rupert responds that this is probably something that began in childhood, but that the root of the anxiety may be addressed with yoga meditations that deal with these deep, bodily roots of the sense of separation.
A man asks if the experience of deep peace during meditation could be called enlightenment. Rupert suggests that enlightenment is not a feeling or an experience, but a recognition of one's being.
A man asks about 'putting up the sails' in the direction of manifestation and how to pass 'being in the flow' along to his children. Rupert suggests he ask his children questions about their interests. He recounts his own childhood experience with encountering this understanding and compares it to the feeling of being in love.
A man asks about manifestation and finding a career or a means of expression, such as pottery. Rupert responds that the form of expression doesn't matter as much as the understanding with which the activity is imbued.
A woman suggests that peace, joy and love are a little overrated compared to freedom, and asks what the fastest way to freedom is. Rupert guides her in self-enquiry to discover this innate freedom.
"A woman asks about how freedom relates to intense suffering. Rupert responds that suffering is always wanting or not wanting what is presently happening. "
A man says that the experience of fear has mostly disappeared, except regarding parenting. Rupert replies that he, too, has experienced fear for his son which seems a natural concern and part of the loving duty as a parent.
A woman says that after yoga meditations, she notices eye strain and asks if she is doing the meditations incorrectly. Rupert responds that nothing about the yoga meditations should cause strain, but sometimes previously unrecognised tensions may arise that may initially feel like strain or discomfort.
A questioner asks about the crack in perception of the linearity of thought and the experience of love and beauty. Rupert responds that time and thought are nearly synonymous, and it seems that time is real, but it is only a way of thinking. The 'crack', as a mental intervention, takes us out of time.
A man asks for clarification between awareness and awareness clouded by interpretation and judgment. Rupert speaks of the awareness of the mind's commentary, which is the same awareness that is not implicated by any interpretation.
A man says he doesn't have a sense of shared being in awareness. Rupert asks him if he has ever felt love. That is the recognition of our shared being.
A questioner asks about the term 'colonisation', and how that compares to ‘assimilation’. Rupert elaborates that it is a way of describing the whole spectrum of the understanding, which includes the body and how we act from that understanding in our life.
A questioner asks about where this path is going. Rupert suggests we cannot know, but it is a question that comes from the finite mind and its relation to linear time, which ignores what is already happening.
A man asks about the relationship, or lack thereof, between happiness and objective experience. Rupert suggests that happiness is the absence of resistance, which can be attributed to the activity or object in our current experience and is the basis of addiction.
A man asks if we can have a full non-dual experience even when we're taking out the garbage. Rupert suggests that all that is required is not to resist the experience of taking out the garbage.
A man says he is grumpy in the morning even though he is fairly stabilised. Rupert suggests the grumpiness is a negative interpretation of whatever is arising in the body, and to face it fully as the space of awareness without the label 'grumpy'.
A man asks for clarification about the John Smith and King Lear analogy and its relationship to acting in the world. Rupert calls it a form of improv, once the character is seen for what it is not.
A questioner asks about the role of intention and happiness and the cessation of striving. Rupert says that the direct path does not discipline the mind or body, and happiness is directly available through the recognition of one's true nature.