Peace at the Heart of All Experience

A man shares his experience of a previous meditation. Rupert affirms that the man’s statement, ‘being being only being’ is like the name that being gives itself, which is ‘I’. ‘I’ is the name that that which knows itself gives to itself. ‘I’ is the common name for God.

A man asks if it wouldn't be better to say ‘I am aware of being upset’ as opposed to ‘I am upset’, as Rupert suggests. Rupert says he was drawing attention to how we normally use language and how we emphasise the ‘upset’ part of the statement, not the ‘I am’ component.

A man asks how to release the concepts that are being taught and described. Rupert explains that the purpose of concepts is not to be accurate or to teach but to take us to the understanding. We draw attention to the unchanging, permanent background without reference to the changing, impermanent experience.

A man suggests that without human minds, there would still be a world and time. Rupert asks what the world would look like without a human mind to perceive it. The man says he assumes it would look the same as it does now through his mind. Rupert suggests that our ‘windows’ are not clear but are limited by our faculties. Perceptions create the world; conception creates time.

A man references Einstein and asks about the speed of light and how it fits in the non-dual understanding. Rupert responds that approaching the speed of light is like the moth approaching the flame. It can approach but never experience the flame, because it is the death of the moth. The same is true of the speed of light. Where we expect to find space, we find the infinite; where we expect to find time, we find eternity.

A woman says that she worries that focusing on the ‘I am’ discounts feelings and emotions. Rupert suggests that we can only know something as a thing if we stand apart from it as a knower. Sometimes, we emphasise the I, but sometimes we come closer to the feeling until we cannot stand apart from it as a separate knower. At the heart of the experience, we find peace.

A man asks if another name for what we are is ‘here and now’. Rupert replies that it is. That is why in some traditions you hear, ‘come into the now’. Now is the intersection between the horizontal dimension of time and the vertical dimension of being.

A woman asks about silence as opposed to words which are just finger pointing. Rupert affirms that he uses words evocatively rather than descriptively. The mind is not present in awareness but knows that it is affected by it.

A man asks about the art of asking questions. Rupert suggests that questions come from our intuition of the answer. It is the mind trying to bring something that we already know into focus. The purpose of asking is to make that knowledge available to you.

A man asks about devotion and the creation of separation in great writers in order to write about it. Rupert suggests that devotion divested of the subject and object is love with no direction. Then if you want to express that love, there is no language for it. Either you remain silent or you use the forms we have, so you are in duality.

A woman asks how Rupert experiences the evolution of his teachings. Rupert suggests that others may be a better judge, but he does see how the teaching is changing. In the early days, meditations were nearly all self-enquiry. Now, it’s more and more non-meditation. Regarding intuition, he has learned that teaching is an art, not a skill. His capacity to listen has deepened over the years.

A man comments on how the experience of COVID has changed how seekers are evolving. Rupert says that this understanding is infiltrating more deeply into society, and many young people are going straight to the understanding.

A woman asks if Rupert still offers yoga meditations. Rupert suggests that previously there was a clear distinction between the inward and outward paths. The two have blurred into each other now.

A woman asks if Rupert misses making pots. He says he does and sometimes wonders if he will do it again some day.

A woman asks about what the relationship is between being and the unmanifest. Rupert says that being is unmanifest. They are two different words for the same thing. Being is unmanifest; existence is manifest. Being is the reality of the manifest. Being is to manifestation, as the screen is to the movie.

A man shares his experience of a previous meditation. Rupert affirms that the man’s statement, ‘being being only being’ is like the name that being gives itself, which is ‘I’. ‘I’ is the name that that which knows itself gives to itself. ‘I’ is the common name for God.

A man asks if it wouldn't be better to say ‘I am aware of being upset’ as opposed to ‘I am upset’, as Rupert suggests. Rupert says he was drawing attention to how we normally use language and how we emphasise the ‘upset’ part of the statement, not the ‘I am’ component.

A man asks how to release the concepts that are being taught and described. Rupert explains that the purpose of concepts is not to be accurate or to teach but to take us to the understanding. We draw attention to the unchanging, permanent background without reference to the changing, impermanent experience.

A man suggests that without human minds, there would still be a world and time. Rupert asks what the world would look like without a human mind to perceive it. The man says he assumes it would look the same as it does now through his mind. Rupert suggests that our ‘windows’ are not clear but are limited by our faculties. Perceptions create the world; conception creates time.

A man references Einstein and asks about the speed of light and how it fits in the non-dual understanding. Rupert responds that approaching the speed of light is like the moth approaching the flame. It can approach but never experience the flame, because it is the death of the moth. The same is true of the speed of light. Where we expect to find space, we find the infinite; where we expect to find time, we find eternity.

A woman says that she worries that focusing on the ‘I am’ discounts feelings and emotions. Rupert suggests that we can only know something as a thing if we stand apart from it as a knower. Sometimes, we emphasise the I, but sometimes we come closer to the feeling until we cannot stand apart from it as a separate knower. At the heart of the experience, we find peace.

A man asks if another name for what we are is ‘here and now’. Rupert replies that it is. That is why in some traditions you hear, ‘come into the now’. Now is the intersection between the horizontal dimension of time and the vertical dimension of being.

A woman asks about silence as opposed to words which are just finger pointing. Rupert affirms that he uses words evocatively rather than descriptively. The mind is not present in awareness but knows that it is affected by it.

A man asks about the art of asking questions. Rupert suggests that questions come from our intuition of the answer. It is the mind trying to bring something that we already know into focus. The purpose of asking is to make that knowledge available to you.

A man asks about devotion and the creation of separation in great writers in order to write about it. Rupert suggests that devotion divested of the subject and object is love with no direction. Then if you want to express that love, there is no language for it. Either you remain silent or you use the forms we have, so you are in duality.

A woman asks how Rupert experiences the evolution of his teachings. Rupert suggests that others may be a better judge, but he does see how the teaching is changing. In the early days, meditations were nearly all self-enquiry. Now, it’s more and more non-meditation. Regarding intuition, he has learned that teaching is an art, not a skill. His capacity to listen has deepened over the years.

A man comments on how the experience of COVID has changed how seekers are evolving. Rupert says that this understanding is infiltrating more deeply into society, and many young people are going straight to the understanding.

A woman asks if Rupert still offers yoga meditations. Rupert suggests that previously there was a clear distinction between the inward and outward paths. The two have blurred into each other now.

A woman asks if Rupert misses making pots. He says he does and sometimes wonders if he will do it again some day.

A woman asks about what the relationship is between being and the unmanifest. Rupert says that being is unmanifest. They are two different words for the same thing. Being is unmanifest; existence is manifest. Being is the reality of the manifest. Being is to manifestation, as the screen is to the movie.