Meditation Is Not Something We Do

Meditation is not something we do. It is simply being. Being is mostly mixed with the content of experience – thoughts, feelings, and so on – preventing access to the innate peace and unconditional joy which is the essential nature of our being. We do not acquire, become or achieve anything. Meditation, or enlightenment, is simply the recognition of what we already and always are but have overlooked due to our fascination with the content of experience. Initially, it is legitimate to indulge the mind's desire to do something, so we are given a practice, but as the mind is progressively refined, this habit of doing something is exposed for what it is and dissolved. Doing is replaced by being. If we experience boredom or frustration in meditation, let these feelings come to rest in this understanding. Trace them inwards towards their source in the depths of yourself, rather than following them outward towards objective experience.

A man asks about time. He understands that the future is a concept, but what about the past? Rupert suggests that we go to our experience and see what is real. The past is always an experience we have – a memory – in the present. If time were a true model of reality, we would have to be able to subject this model to the scrutiny of experience, but we are never anywhere but the ever-present now.

A man describes his fluctuating experience with the understanding and now a recent break-up is veiling realisation. Rupert responds that all your troubles come from your finite mind, from a single thought. They don't pertain to yourself or your body, but to your mind. Where are your troubles in between two thoughts? Is there any suffering there? Suffering is not an immense weight imposed upon you by others but the result of a single thought.

A woman says she loses herself in difficult emotions and asks how to stop them. Rupert suggests that these emotions lie deep in us, and it is a good sign that they are rising in her. Most of us repress and avoid them. He suggests that she feel as though she is putting her loving arms around these feelings and bathing them with love, with awareness.

An economist speaks of the changes in his attitude towards world affairs such as economics and climate change. He wants to do research around individualism. Rupert responds that he can remain open to both the spiritual aspect and the economic aspect. There is no area that cannot be profoundly affected by the non-dual understanding. He encourages him to apply this understanding to the field of economics.

A man, who has experienced trauma, asks how he might approach psychological conditioning. Rupert suggests that conventional therapy takes the separate self to be real in its own right, and then try to heal it. In the spiritual approach, we investigate the separate self and undermine it as we trace our way to our true nature. However, there is a branch of psychotherapy that is informed by the non-dual understanding, which bridges the gap.

A woman asks how it happens that attention to our essential self equates to alignment in the outside world. Rupert suggests that it's not important to understand how or why but that it is happening. The reality of the essential self and the world are the same reality, not two things that are connected, but the same.

A man remarks on the giving energy that overflows from the understanding and asks about sexual desire. Rupert suggests that desire, of any sort, comes from two places. One form of desire is when the fullness of being uses the energy of desire to manifest itself. It needs a channel to express itself. The other type of desire comes from the feeling of being a fragment, a separate limited being that is lacking something. In this case, desire is the channel by which this sense of unfulfillment seeks to complete or fulfil itself.

A man says he's not totally comfortable with non-duality because it is hard to share with most people. He asks how best to share this understanding that is more intuitive. Rupert asks if the meditation from this morning that had to do with resting in being was difficult to relate or understand, such as the simplicity of being in a parking lot or in nature, simply being.

A woman asks about Sahaja Samadhi. Rupert suggests that there are three types of Samadhi, which could be translated as absorption. The first is Savikalpa Samadhi, the absorption in objects. The second is Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the absorption in our self to the exclusion of experience. The third is a combination of the two,: Sahaja Samadhi, which is remaining absorbed in the self in the midst of experience, not just sensing and perceiving, but thinking and feeling as well. All of us are always in one of these Samadhis.

A woman asks if deep sleep is different from the three Samadhi states. Rupert suggests that it is a little free sample, that reality gives each of us every twenty-four hours of our true nature. It is a hint to remind us, on a daily basis, where the source of peace lies is.

A man speaks of the mind and wonders if mental images are projected onto the outside world. Rupert suggests we project onto the outside world like subtitles on a movie. Our perception of the outside world is conditioned by our perceiving faculties, which colour the world with their own qualities. What we perceive is a relationship between the pre-existing reality and our finite minds. Perception is a meeting of the internal and external world that creates the appearances.

A man shares that he is feeling that he wants to turn away from the world. Rupert suggests that instead of turning away that he ceases to invest his happiness in the world. Through understanding, he is finding the peace for which he longs in himself. He is learning that he doesn't need to give up the world or objects to do this, just the desire to derive happiness from them.

A man wonders if he needs to quit his job to get back to finding peace and happiness. How do we know when it's a good idea to make a change? Rupert suggests that unless the body is in need or in danger, it's always possible to find peace and happiness in our current situation, but some jobs or circumstances are not suited to our body and mind, so try to find something that is more in alignment with one's proclivities and skills.

A man who has been on the path for a long time says that he would be interested to hear a question from Rupert for him. Rupert takes that invitation and responds with two suggestions: replace the idea of practising with sinking deeply into yourself, your being, and replace the idea of being a student with the idea of being a friend.

A man asks if there is consciousness during sleep. Rupert responds that there is no discontinuity in consciousness. The capacity of the dream and deep sleep to veil awareness is directly proportional to the veiling power of the waking state. As we become more established in the waking state, that same quality begins to permeate our sleep.

A man describes an experience of focussing on one point, whereby the world disappears. Rupert suggests that this is an example of Sahaja Samadhi resulting from the absorption in a single object.

A woman, who virtually attended a week-long retreat, relays her experiences. Rupert thanks her for sharing.

Meditation is not something we do. It is simply being. Being is mostly mixed with the content of experience – thoughts, feelings, and so on – preventing access to the innate peace and unconditional joy which is the essential nature of our being. We do not acquire, become or achieve anything. Meditation, or enlightenment, is simply the recognition of what we already and always are but have overlooked due to our fascination with the content of experience. Initially, it is legitimate to indulge the mind's desire to do something, so we are given a practice, but as the mind is progressively refined, this habit of doing something is exposed for what it is and dissolved. Doing is replaced by being. If we experience boredom or frustration in meditation, let these feelings come to rest in this understanding. Trace them inwards towards their source in the depths of yourself, rather than following them outward towards objective experience.

A man asks about time. He understands that the future is a concept, but what about the past? Rupert suggests that we go to our experience and see what is real. The past is always an experience we have – a memory – in the present. If time were a true model of reality, we would have to be able to subject this model to the scrutiny of experience, but we are never anywhere but the ever-present now.

A man describes his fluctuating experience with the understanding and now a recent break-up is veiling realisation. Rupert responds that all your troubles come from your finite mind, from a single thought. They don't pertain to yourself or your body, but to your mind. Where are your troubles in between two thoughts? Is there any suffering there? Suffering is not an immense weight imposed upon you by others but the result of a single thought.

A woman says she loses herself in difficult emotions and asks how to stop them. Rupert suggests that these emotions lie deep in us, and it is a good sign that they are rising in her. Most of us repress and avoid them. He suggests that she feel as though she is putting her loving arms around these feelings and bathing them with love, with awareness.

An economist speaks of the changes in his attitude towards world affairs such as economics and climate change. He wants to do research around individualism. Rupert responds that he can remain open to both the spiritual aspect and the economic aspect. There is no area that cannot be profoundly affected by the non-dual understanding. He encourages him to apply this understanding to the field of economics.

A man, who has experienced trauma, asks how he might approach psychological conditioning. Rupert suggests that conventional therapy takes the separate self to be real in its own right, and then try to heal it. In the spiritual approach, we investigate the separate self and undermine it as we trace our way to our true nature. However, there is a branch of psychotherapy that is informed by the non-dual understanding, which bridges the gap.

A woman asks how it happens that attention to our essential self equates to alignment in the outside world. Rupert suggests that it's not important to understand how or why but that it is happening. The reality of the essential self and the world are the same reality, not two things that are connected, but the same.

A man remarks on the giving energy that overflows from the understanding and asks about sexual desire. Rupert suggests that desire, of any sort, comes from two places. One form of desire is when the fullness of being uses the energy of desire to manifest itself. It needs a channel to express itself. The other type of desire comes from the feeling of being a fragment, a separate limited being that is lacking something. In this case, desire is the channel by which this sense of unfulfillment seeks to complete or fulfil itself.

A man says he's not totally comfortable with non-duality because it is hard to share with most people. He asks how best to share this understanding that is more intuitive. Rupert asks if the meditation from this morning that had to do with resting in being was difficult to relate or understand, such as the simplicity of being in a parking lot or in nature, simply being.

A woman asks about Sahaja Samadhi. Rupert suggests that there are three types of Samadhi, which could be translated as absorption. The first is Savikalpa Samadhi, the absorption in objects. The second is Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the absorption in our self to the exclusion of experience. The third is a combination of the two,: Sahaja Samadhi, which is remaining absorbed in the self in the midst of experience, not just sensing and perceiving, but thinking and feeling as well. All of us are always in one of these Samadhis.

A woman asks if deep sleep is different from the three Samadhi states. Rupert suggests that it is a little free sample, that reality gives each of us every twenty-four hours of our true nature. It is a hint to remind us, on a daily basis, where the source of peace lies is.

A man speaks of the mind and wonders if mental images are projected onto the outside world. Rupert suggests we project onto the outside world like subtitles on a movie. Our perception of the outside world is conditioned by our perceiving faculties, which colour the world with their own qualities. What we perceive is a relationship between the pre-existing reality and our finite minds. Perception is a meeting of the internal and external world that creates the appearances.

A man shares that he is feeling that he wants to turn away from the world. Rupert suggests that instead of turning away that he ceases to invest his happiness in the world. Through understanding, he is finding the peace for which he longs in himself. He is learning that he doesn't need to give up the world or objects to do this, just the desire to derive happiness from them.

A man wonders if he needs to quit his job to get back to finding peace and happiness. How do we know when it's a good idea to make a change? Rupert suggests that unless the body is in need or in danger, it's always possible to find peace and happiness in our current situation, but some jobs or circumstances are not suited to our body and mind, so try to find something that is more in alignment with one's proclivities and skills.

A man who has been on the path for a long time says that he would be interested to hear a question from Rupert for him. Rupert takes that invitation and responds with two suggestions: replace the idea of practising with sinking deeply into yourself, your being, and replace the idea of being a student with the idea of being a friend.

A man asks if there is consciousness during sleep. Rupert responds that there is no discontinuity in consciousness. The capacity of the dream and deep sleep to veil awareness is directly proportional to the veiling power of the waking state. As we become more established in the waking state, that same quality begins to permeate our sleep.

A man describes an experience of focussing on one point, whereby the world disappears. Rupert suggests that this is an example of Sahaja Samadhi resulting from the absorption in a single object.

A woman, who virtually attended a week-long retreat, relays her experiences. Rupert thanks her for sharing.