Peace on the Inside and Love on the Outside

Simply sound the divine name ‘I’ or ‘I am’ once in your mind,and allow yourself to be drawn into that to which it refers. Divested of the agitation and sense of lack that being derives from our thoughts and feelings, its nature stands revealed as peace and quiet joy. Divested of the limitations that being derives from sensations and perceptions, its nature stands revealed as unlimited or infinite. Resting in being as being is the non-practice to which all other practices eventually lead. It is the non-practice in which the two traditional powers of knowledge and devotion meet. Recognition is the experience of peace on the inside, love from the outside.

A woman asks, ‘What is going on behind all the violence we witness. I'm not seeing love in action.’ Rupert responds that we are seeing love veiled in action or love filtered through the sense of separation and distorted by it. He asks her to try and see it that way. Those you despise don't see it like this because of the belief in separation. We must see through the belief in separation.

A man asks about why seeing and thinking are more challenging on the Tantric path. Rupert says that seeing is the most difficult to explore because the illusion of otherness – duality – is at its most pervasive in through the faculty of seeing. However, the experience of seeing doesn't change with understanding – seeing doesn't disappear, ignorance does.

A man asks how to break down the illusion of seeing and thinking. Rupert suggests that we don't break illusion down, we break down the ignorance. While embodied, appearances will remain. Illusions remain; it’s the ignorance that goes. We interpret appearance though the model of oneness, and the appearance becomes transparent. The world is not what we see, it is the way we see. The ways we see changes.

A short exchange about the value of questions and the emergence of understanding.

A man asks if there is any way to be certain that someone else shares the same being. Rupert suggests it is our experience of being. The real question is ‘Can we be certain it is temporary and finite?’ We have to prove that it’s finite. The question comes from the presumption of separation, which we've all been inculcated with.

A man asks about suffering and whether those who don't have an absolute understanding still have a chance for happiness. Rupert responds that because happiness is our nature it is, in theory, always available to us. But we have to be open to the possibility that some circumstances are so violent for the body that it is not possible. He says he can't say why some are drawn to the understanding and some aren't.

A man comments on the theme of connection given his history of broken trust, which causes him to withdraw and isolate. Rupert suggests that soaking in the field of love of community gradually dissolves the hold habits that cause us to withdraw. This shared field of being – abidance and friendship – is now what Rupert wants to emphasise.

A man asks about how to handle thoughts which generate stories. Rupert suggests that he’s doing the right thing – sitting in the awareness of being and discovering that the one who is hurt is non-existent. What then happens to the hurt? The ‘I’ is the pure ‘I am’ and is unaffected by the hurt.

A woman says she goes to the ‘I’ when she is agitated but finds the feeling doesn't really dissolve because it is so associated with the body. Rupert suggests that every time we go back, we erode the old habit of believing and feeling ourself to be something solid. Now do the same thing walking down the street with your eyes open. Ask, ‘Am I solid and dense walking down the street, or am I vibration?’

Rupert closes the retreat with words of appreciation and gratitude.

Simply sound the divine name ‘I’ or ‘I am’ once in your mind,and allow yourself to be drawn into that to which it refers. Divested of the agitation and sense of lack that being derives from our thoughts and feelings, its nature stands revealed as peace and quiet joy. Divested of the limitations that being derives from sensations and perceptions, its nature stands revealed as unlimited or infinite. Resting in being as being is the non-practice to which all other practices eventually lead. It is the non-practice in which the two traditional powers of knowledge and devotion meet. Recognition is the experience of peace on the inside, love from the outside.

A woman asks, ‘What is going on behind all the violence we witness. I'm not seeing love in action.’ Rupert responds that we are seeing love veiled in action or love filtered through the sense of separation and distorted by it. He asks her to try and see it that way. Those you despise don't see it like this because of the belief in separation. We must see through the belief in separation.

A man asks about why seeing and thinking are more challenging on the Tantric path. Rupert says that seeing is the most difficult to explore because the illusion of otherness – duality – is at its most pervasive in through the faculty of seeing. However, the experience of seeing doesn't change with understanding – seeing doesn't disappear, ignorance does.

A man asks how to break down the illusion of seeing and thinking. Rupert suggests that we don't break illusion down, we break down the ignorance. While embodied, appearances will remain. Illusions remain; it’s the ignorance that goes. We interpret appearance though the model of oneness, and the appearance becomes transparent. The world is not what we see, it is the way we see. The ways we see changes.

A short exchange about the value of questions and the emergence of understanding.

A man asks if there is any way to be certain that someone else shares the same being. Rupert suggests it is our experience of being. The real question is ‘Can we be certain it is temporary and finite?’ We have to prove that it’s finite. The question comes from the presumption of separation, which we've all been inculcated with.

A man asks about suffering and whether those who don't have an absolute understanding still have a chance for happiness. Rupert responds that because happiness is our nature it is, in theory, always available to us. But we have to be open to the possibility that some circumstances are so violent for the body that it is not possible. He says he can't say why some are drawn to the understanding and some aren't.

A man comments on the theme of connection given his history of broken trust, which causes him to withdraw and isolate. Rupert suggests that soaking in the field of love of community gradually dissolves the hold habits that cause us to withdraw. This shared field of being – abidance and friendship – is now what Rupert wants to emphasise.

A man asks about how to handle thoughts which generate stories. Rupert suggests that he’s doing the right thing – sitting in the awareness of being and discovering that the one who is hurt is non-existent. What then happens to the hurt? The ‘I’ is the pure ‘I am’ and is unaffected by the hurt.

A woman says she goes to the ‘I’ when she is agitated but finds the feeling doesn't really dissolve because it is so associated with the body. Rupert suggests that every time we go back, we erode the old habit of believing and feeling ourself to be something solid. Now do the same thing walking down the street with your eyes open. Ask, ‘Am I solid and dense walking down the street, or am I vibration?’

Rupert closes the retreat with words of appreciation and gratitude.