Exploring the Experience of the Body

In this meditation, we feel our self as the space within which all experience arises. No effort is necessary to be this allowing space, we just soften the focus of attention from the content of experience and feel ourself as this openness. This aware openness is what we are, not what we do. The activity of seeking and resisting that constitutes the separate self is what we do, not what we are. We allow the experience of the body to come to our attention. Without reference to thought, our only experience of the body is a flow of sensations. Know only the sensations themselves without adding any interpretation. Consider thoughts like subtitles superimposed on sensations. Turn off the subtitles; let any dynamism in the mind or tension in the body come to rest in this openness. Don't live in a state of becoming; live in and as being.

We can neutralise the intensity of emotion, Rupert suggests, when we turn off the subtitles – our thoughts – and just allow the sensations to be in awareness.

"The difference between the personal self and the 'I', suggests Rupert, is a recognition that takes place within, from the truth of what we are. "

We don’t have to hold what we are when we rest in being, Rupert suggests in response to a woman who asks about the work of Douglas Harding, which was her introduction to non-duality.

Is there a helpful morning affirmation? Rupert suggests asking oneself, 'Who is it that is aware?' as a way of starting every morning, and continuing to practice throughout the day.

Seeking comes to an end in understanding', Rupert says in response to a man whose seeking has diminished, and forgiveness and the healing of familial relationships have occurred. Rupert suggests that we sink deeply into self-abidance which is where seeking leads us.

A man asks, 'Am I on the right track?’ as he describes his struggle to work with difficult emotions and feelings and his desire to make art. Rupert suggests that we must allow these feelings and sensations without the goal of getting rid of them, as our resistance to them confers them with discomfort.

‘Why does my ego keep returning?’, asks a woman who wants to be free of this anxiety, and be happy. Rupert responds that we feel our ego gets in the way when spiritual study evokes a recognition and the old conditioning comes back, which is normal. However, there is a crack in the self-identity because of the recognition, and gradually one becomes established.

A woman asks about feelings and intense sensations swirling all over, and pain in meditation that she experiences. Rupert responds that feelings and body sensations have always been there but come into our awareness when we meditate. He suggests that the space of awareness doesn’t mind what’s happening, nor needs anything to be other than it is.

Why did Krishna not try the direct path with Arjuna? What is the gist of the Bhagavad Gita? Rupert responds that Krishna met Arjuna where he was, on the battlefield, and in great doubt, but Krishna's directions became increasingly direct. As a response to a suggestion that he talk to Boris Johnson, Rupert says he lives just down the road and would be happy to have a chat with him, any time.

‘Nothing is given to us from the outside’ is Rupert’s response to a man who asks if he needs to have a teacher. Rupert suggests that we don’t need to have a personal connection with a teacher, but what’s important is the exploration of the understanding and asking questions as they come up.

A woman who has been A Course in Miracles student for awhile asks about how to deal with the fear of illness, after recently being diagnosed with cancer. Rupert responds that the fear of illness and death is completely natural and is not a failure of understanding.

In this meditation, we feel our self as the space within which all experience arises. No effort is necessary to be this allowing space, we just soften the focus of attention from the content of experience and feel ourself as this openness. This aware openness is what we are, not what we do. The activity of seeking and resisting that constitutes the separate self is what we do, not what we are. We allow the experience of the body to come to our attention. Without reference to thought, our only experience of the body is a flow of sensations. Know only the sensations themselves without adding any interpretation. Consider thoughts like subtitles superimposed on sensations. Turn off the subtitles; let any dynamism in the mind or tension in the body come to rest in this openness. Don't live in a state of becoming; live in and as being.

We can neutralise the intensity of emotion, Rupert suggests, when we turn off the subtitles – our thoughts – and just allow the sensations to be in awareness.

"The difference between the personal self and the 'I', suggests Rupert, is a recognition that takes place within, from the truth of what we are. "

We don’t have to hold what we are when we rest in being, Rupert suggests in response to a woman who asks about the work of Douglas Harding, which was her introduction to non-duality.

Is there a helpful morning affirmation? Rupert suggests asking oneself, 'Who is it that is aware?' as a way of starting every morning, and continuing to practice throughout the day.

Seeking comes to an end in understanding', Rupert says in response to a man whose seeking has diminished, and forgiveness and the healing of familial relationships have occurred. Rupert suggests that we sink deeply into self-abidance which is where seeking leads us.

A man asks, 'Am I on the right track?’ as he describes his struggle to work with difficult emotions and feelings and his desire to make art. Rupert suggests that we must allow these feelings and sensations without the goal of getting rid of them, as our resistance to them confers them with discomfort.

‘Why does my ego keep returning?’, asks a woman who wants to be free of this anxiety, and be happy. Rupert responds that we feel our ego gets in the way when spiritual study evokes a recognition and the old conditioning comes back, which is normal. However, there is a crack in the self-identity because of the recognition, and gradually one becomes established.

A woman asks about feelings and intense sensations swirling all over, and pain in meditation that she experiences. Rupert responds that feelings and body sensations have always been there but come into our awareness when we meditate. He suggests that the space of awareness doesn’t mind what’s happening, nor needs anything to be other than it is.

Why did Krishna not try the direct path with Arjuna? What is the gist of the Bhagavad Gita? Rupert responds that Krishna met Arjuna where he was, on the battlefield, and in great doubt, but Krishna's directions became increasingly direct. As a response to a suggestion that he talk to Boris Johnson, Rupert says he lives just down the road and would be happy to have a chat with him, any time.

‘Nothing is given to us from the outside’ is Rupert’s response to a man who asks if he needs to have a teacher. Rupert suggests that we don’t need to have a personal connection with a teacher, but what’s important is the exploration of the understanding and asking questions as they come up.

A woman who has been A Course in Miracles student for awhile asks about how to deal with the fear of illness, after recently being diagnosed with cancer. Rupert responds that the fear of illness and death is completely natural and is not a failure of understanding.