Happy for No Reason

Each of us is currently having the experience of being. We know that we are. We know the experience ‘I am’ before we know any other experience. All content – thoughts, images, feelings, sensations, perceptions, and so on – are added to the experience of simply being. It’s not possible for the fact of being to disappear. But, compared to content, experience of being is so transparent and silent, it recedes into the background. So-called meditation or prayer is just to return to the simple fact of being. It’s what some traditions refer to as remembering our self, that which is ever-present within but lies behind or beneath experience content and is therefore overlooked. Self-remembrance is just bringing being out of hiding, just recognising what we always, already are. The more deeply we rest in being as being, the more we taste its inherent peace, its sense of fullness or sufficiency, its imperturbability.

A man enquires if it is beneficial to practice yoga meditations daily to alleviate bodily tensions. Rupert affirms that daily practice is indeed beneficial for healing from anxieties and tensions.

A conversation about attaining happiness like the masters of Advaita. Rupert points out that the experience of simply being is the most ordinary, and recognising its nature is realisation. Just as water remains the same in tea, coffee, or wine, our self is mixed and flavoured with experience, preventing us from tasting the pure water of being. All great masters speak of the nature of this pure water – simply being.

A man compliments Rupert’s new haircut and asks about the Tantric approach to emotion. Rupert replies that we cannot bring a feeling closer, as it is already closer than close. When we feel uncomfortable emotions like sadness, we often reject or avoid them. Instead, Rupert advises welcoming and embracing these feelings. In the Tantric approach, we stand as awareness in the face of emotion; we devour it.

A woman questions the soul’s interaction with the body and mind, wondering if we are like a blank screen coloured by experiences, and whether the ‘I am’ is the same in each of us. Rupert responds that our essential self is pure being, clothed in experience. This blend of pure being and human experience forms a human being. While the pure experience of ‘I am’ is identical in each of us, the layers of experience vary, rendering each person unique, even as our essence remains unchanged.

A man expresses gratitude for Rupert’s meditations and shares a story of synchronicity that led him to this meeting. He asks how to let go and let life unfold. Rupert suggests first exploring how much control we truly have. For instance, we cannot control bodily processes or our thoughts. He recommends surrendering to whatever happens for a day as an experiment, emphasising that we are not at the helm of our lives as separate selves.

A man who doesn’t feel like himself asks for guidance. Rupert replies that if we don’t feel like ourselves, it may be because we are acting as our persona, similar to wearing someone else’s clothes. How do we become more authentically our self? Rupert suggests that we become more authentic as we discover and rest in the true nature of our being.

A man asks if Rupert sees himself as self-realised. Rupert replies that he doesn’t consider himself or anyone else either enlightened or unenlightened. He sees everyone as one being, the same being as everyone else. Rupert is interested in his and everyone’s essential being. All he knows is that this being is at peace and is shared by everyone.

A man asks if it would be useful to be self-realised. Rupert replies that aiming for self-realisation would not be useful, as such an aim would be a hindrance. You cannot aim to become your self; you can only aim to become something else. You cannot become what you already are.

A woman shares her gratitude for the teachings and asks about synchronicities, wondering what the mechanism behind them is. Rupert tells a story of his friend who found Ramana Maharshi’s book Who Am I? falling in front of her in a bookshop, as if responding to her desire to know the nature of herself. Synchronicity shows that there is a correspondence between our minds and the world; they are both parts of the same, one system. When something happens on the inside, something happens on the outside.

A man shares an experience he had falling asleep the other day. He witnessed his unconscious thoughts becoming a dream. When he woke up, he experienced a clarity about his waking life, and he asks how a thought becomes the world. Rupert replies that waking life is literally God’s dream and only appears as four dimensions of time and space when viewed through the faculties of the human mind.

A woman, who is the mother of a special-care child, asks about surrender. Rupert recommends that she feel surrendered all the time, and that action is included within this surrender. Surrender does not bring activity to an end. He adds that, while he is not qualified to give specific advice about caring for her child, the sense of surrender can encompass all aspects of her life.

A man expresses his gratitude for the Rupert’s most-recent weekend retreat. He shares a story about encountering a magnificent abstract painting and meeting the woman who created it. Rupert thanks him for the story and says that he cannot add anything to the man’s description of the experience, adding that he would love to see the painting.

A woman undergoing changes in many aspects of her life has noticed emerging patterns and tendencies, and she asks for guidance. Rupert points her to the moments when she has been happy, emphasising that her being is fundamentally fine. He explains that none of the circumstances in her life affect her true self, and he encourages her to recognise that she can be happy for no reason. He recommends that she live more and more in her being.

Each of us is currently having the experience of being. We know that we are. We know the experience ‘I am’ before we know any other experience. All content – thoughts, images, feelings, sensations, perceptions, and so on – are added to the experience of simply being. It’s not possible for the fact of being to disappear. But, compared to content, experience of being is so transparent and silent, it recedes into the background. So-called meditation or prayer is just to return to the simple fact of being. It’s what some traditions refer to as remembering our self, that which is ever-present within but lies behind or beneath experience content and is therefore overlooked. Self-remembrance is just bringing being out of hiding, just recognising what we always, already are. The more deeply we rest in being as being, the more we taste its inherent peace, its sense of fullness or sufficiency, its imperturbability.

A man enquires if it is beneficial to practice yoga meditations daily to alleviate bodily tensions. Rupert affirms that daily practice is indeed beneficial for healing from anxieties and tensions.

A conversation about attaining happiness like the masters of Advaita. Rupert points out that the experience of simply being is the most ordinary, and recognising its nature is realisation. Just as water remains the same in tea, coffee, or wine, our self is mixed and flavoured with experience, preventing us from tasting the pure water of being. All great masters speak of the nature of this pure water – simply being.

A man compliments Rupert’s new haircut and asks about the Tantric approach to emotion. Rupert replies that we cannot bring a feeling closer, as it is already closer than close. When we feel uncomfortable emotions like sadness, we often reject or avoid them. Instead, Rupert advises welcoming and embracing these feelings. In the Tantric approach, we stand as awareness in the face of emotion; we devour it.

A woman questions the soul’s interaction with the body and mind, wondering if we are like a blank screen coloured by experiences, and whether the ‘I am’ is the same in each of us. Rupert responds that our essential self is pure being, clothed in experience. This blend of pure being and human experience forms a human being. While the pure experience of ‘I am’ is identical in each of us, the layers of experience vary, rendering each person unique, even as our essence remains unchanged.

A man expresses gratitude for Rupert’s meditations and shares a story of synchronicity that led him to this meeting. He asks how to let go and let life unfold. Rupert suggests first exploring how much control we truly have. For instance, we cannot control bodily processes or our thoughts. He recommends surrendering to whatever happens for a day as an experiment, emphasising that we are not at the helm of our lives as separate selves.

A man who doesn’t feel like himself asks for guidance. Rupert replies that if we don’t feel like ourselves, it may be because we are acting as our persona, similar to wearing someone else’s clothes. How do we become more authentically our self? Rupert suggests that we become more authentic as we discover and rest in the true nature of our being.

A man asks if Rupert sees himself as self-realised. Rupert replies that he doesn’t consider himself or anyone else either enlightened or unenlightened. He sees everyone as one being, the same being as everyone else. Rupert is interested in his and everyone’s essential being. All he knows is that this being is at peace and is shared by everyone.

A man asks if it would be useful to be self-realised. Rupert replies that aiming for self-realisation would not be useful, as such an aim would be a hindrance. You cannot aim to become your self; you can only aim to become something else. You cannot become what you already are.

A woman shares her gratitude for the teachings and asks about synchronicities, wondering what the mechanism behind them is. Rupert tells a story of his friend who found Ramana Maharshi’s book Who Am I? falling in front of her in a bookshop, as if responding to her desire to know the nature of herself. Synchronicity shows that there is a correspondence between our minds and the world; they are both parts of the same, one system. When something happens on the inside, something happens on the outside.

A man shares an experience he had falling asleep the other day. He witnessed his unconscious thoughts becoming a dream. When he woke up, he experienced a clarity about his waking life, and he asks how a thought becomes the world. Rupert replies that waking life is literally God’s dream and only appears as four dimensions of time and space when viewed through the faculties of the human mind.

A woman, who is the mother of a special-care child, asks about surrender. Rupert recommends that she feel surrendered all the time, and that action is included within this surrender. Surrender does not bring activity to an end. He adds that, while he is not qualified to give specific advice about caring for her child, the sense of surrender can encompass all aspects of her life.

A man expresses his gratitude for the Rupert’s most-recent weekend retreat. He shares a story about encountering a magnificent abstract painting and meeting the woman who created it. Rupert thanks him for the story and says that he cannot add anything to the man’s description of the experience, adding that he would love to see the painting.

A woman undergoing changes in many aspects of her life has noticed emerging patterns and tendencies, and she asks for guidance. Rupert points her to the moments when she has been happy, emphasising that her being is fundamentally fine. He explains that none of the circumstances in her life affect her true self, and he encourages her to recognise that she can be happy for no reason. He recommends that she live more and more in her being.