Remembering Who You Are in the Midst of Experience
- Duration: Video: 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 10 seconds / Audio: 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 10 seconds
- Recorded on: Oct 12, 2021
- Event: Seven Day Retreat at Garrison Institute - October 2021
A man suffering from OCD was helped by a meditation of Rupert's that suggested that thoughts never touch objects, but he then got confused by the broader implications of that idea. Rupert suggests that he has a personal understanding of OCD, and that it is important to be aware of the uncomfortable feelings behind the actions, rather than the behaviour. He elaborates on the idea of thoughts and objects.
A woman has a recurring experience of wondering Rupert guides her in self-enquiry to determine when or if awareness begins or ends, or is here or there.
A woman asks if you can be aware in deep sleep. Rupert explains that deep sleep is not a state that you enter. It is awareness in the absence of thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions.
A questioner asks about infinite awareness and suffering. Rupert uses the analogy of Mary dreaming that she is Jane who, feeling herself to be a separate self, suffers until the recognition that she is Mary, and there is no separate entity known as Jane.
A questioner wonders if things that are considered positive or negative come from a human perspective. Rupert suggests that instead of dividing actions into good or bad, be aware of actions that are motivated by separation and those that come from a recognition of our shared being.
A questioner asks about the separate self and chronological time. Rupert responds that time doesn't exist and uses the dream analogy to illustrate that time is a perceptual construction.
A long-term student of non-duality wonders if there is a transmission between teacher and student on retreat. Rupert responds that transmission assumes a separate self and special beings, which is a concession to the separate self. Retreat is a magnification of being.
A Tibetan Buddhist practitioner describes her experience in retreat, which is not silent, as continually reifying the separate self in conversation with others and asks about how to deal with this. Rupert responds that the retreat is a way of being in peace in the midst of experience, a peace that doesn't require silence.
A woman, who is feeling highly emotional and is having a difficult time socialising with others in retreat, asks for help. Rupert says her experience is a natural response to dissolution during meditation and suggests that she take more time and be silent if she needs to.
A woman who is concerned by the cultural shift to use violence to change systems as a form of activism, asks how to respond to this thinking. Rupert speaks about violence, lying, and so on, and how they are perceived in spiritual traditions.
A man says that he feels addicted to thinking, in that he is going to figure this whole thing out and think his way to enlightenment. He asks how to shift to understanding. Rupert suggests he is confused about who he really is, and that his involvement and identity is still involved in activity. What he truly is, is prior to all that.
A man asks about the disparity between the ease of being with animals and human interactions, which seem to interfere with the knowing of unity and cause anxiety. Rupert suggests using the retreat atmosphere as a training ground for interacting with people.
A man suffering from OCD was helped by a meditation of Rupert's that suggested that thoughts never touch objects, but he then got confused by the broader implications of that idea. Rupert suggests that he has a personal understanding of OCD, and that it is important to be aware of the uncomfortable feelings behind the actions, rather than the behaviour. He elaborates on the idea of thoughts and objects.
A woman has a recurring experience of wondering Rupert guides her in self-enquiry to determine when or if awareness begins or ends, or is here or there.
A woman asks if you can be aware in deep sleep. Rupert explains that deep sleep is not a state that you enter. It is awareness in the absence of thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions.
A questioner asks about infinite awareness and suffering. Rupert uses the analogy of Mary dreaming that she is Jane who, feeling herself to be a separate self, suffers until the recognition that she is Mary, and there is no separate entity known as Jane.
A questioner wonders if things that are considered positive or negative come from a human perspective. Rupert suggests that instead of dividing actions into good or bad, be aware of actions that are motivated by separation and those that come from a recognition of our shared being.
A questioner asks about the separate self and chronological time. Rupert responds that time doesn't exist and uses the dream analogy to illustrate that time is a perceptual construction.
A long-term student of non-duality wonders if there is a transmission between teacher and student on retreat. Rupert responds that transmission assumes a separate self and special beings, which is a concession to the separate self. Retreat is a magnification of being.
A Tibetan Buddhist practitioner describes her experience in retreat, which is not silent, as continually reifying the separate self in conversation with others and asks about how to deal with this. Rupert responds that the retreat is a way of being in peace in the midst of experience, a peace that doesn't require silence.
A woman, who is feeling highly emotional and is having a difficult time socialising with others in retreat, asks for help. Rupert says her experience is a natural response to dissolution during meditation and suggests that she take more time and be silent if she needs to.
A woman who is concerned by the cultural shift to use violence to change systems as a form of activism, asks how to respond to this thinking. Rupert speaks about violence, lying, and so on, and how they are perceived in spiritual traditions.
A man says that he feels addicted to thinking, in that he is going to figure this whole thing out and think his way to enlightenment. He asks how to shift to understanding. Rupert suggests he is confused about who he really is, and that his involvement and identity is still involved in activity. What he truly is, is prior to all that.
A man asks about the disparity between the ease of being with animals and human interactions, which seem to interfere with the knowing of unity and cause anxiety. Rupert suggests using the retreat atmosphere as a training ground for interacting with people.