Surrender All Longing and Expectation to God

Be aware of any dissatisfaction, of resisting and seeking – either something present but not wanted or something not present that’s wanted. Disappointment takes us into the past, expectation into the future. In the absence of either, we find ourself at peace in the now. This peace is not a new experience but is the natural condition of our being; not a state of mind but the natural condition of the mind prior to the arising of resisting and seeking, disappointment and expectation. Dissatisfaction is not conferred by circumstances. It is we who confer dissatisfaction on circumstances. Sorrow is our own activity; nobody is doing it to us. See what becomes of expectation or disappointment when we recognise the innate peace of the presence of awareness that we essentially are. Surrender all expectation, disappointment, longing or resistance to God. Let God take care of them. Take refuge in the presence of awareness. Rest in God's presence.

A man who is translating the poem ‘I am’ to the Chinese asks about the couplet: ‘I offer and contain in one gesture like an open bowl’. Rupert suggests that awareness assumes the form of everything there is in creation and gives itself completely to everything. That's the offering part. And awareness simultaneously receives everything in creation into itself.

A man who is translating the poem ‘I am’ to the Chinese asks about the couplet: ‘I'm the restlessness of the restless and a peacefulness of the peace’. Using the analogy of the screen and image, Rupert suggests that the screen is the reality of the action that takes place in a violent movie and is equally the reality of a beautiful, peaceful landscape. Awareness is the ultimate reality of everything.

A woman talks about hosting a non-dual meeting including singing and mantra meditation. She asks for Rupert's approval. Rupert responds that this is not really a Satsang question but a question for another time.

A woman whose sister was recently diagnosed with cancer asks for guidance. Rupert suggests that he cannot comment on what her sister’s treatment should or shouldn’t be, but he suggests that her main job, the most loving thing she can do aside from attending to her physically, is to bring peace to her. He suggests that she find peace in herself first. To do that, go to the background of awareness and stand as that and then be with your sister. Peace will communicate itself, with or without words.

A man says it’s difficult to surrender to and find acceptance with the war in Ukraine. Rupert suggests the reason we cannot surrender is because it isn't something we can do with the mind because the best it can do is a kind of resignation, which adds a mental battle to force your mind to surrender, though it cannot. Surrender and allowing are the nature of awareness. It is not something we do but what we are.

A young man is adapting a university paper into a book which argues that the consciousness-only model is more rational than materialism. He shares that he has noticed a tendency towards grandiosity and getting lost in details, which are getting in his way. He asks for advice on how to get out of his way so that God can write this book through him. Rupert suggests that God requires his mind to create, so the book’s structure and its writing are in his hands, while what happens afterwards – publishing, and so on– is not. Rupert suggests that he focus on his structure. He also suggests that he be mindful of his audience.

A woman says she struggles with the idea that God is Love and asks if God is Love. Rupert clarifies the misunderstanding that suffering is self-created, which takes place in the activity of thinking. As individuals we do suffer. Consider God as being from which everyone derives their apparent existence, so division exists only in images and appearances. There is no division in being. The absence of separation is what we call love.

A woman asks if the first form or appearance of God in manifestation is an illusion. Rupert suggests that Shiva is unmanifest being; Shakti is the activity of being. Shiva and Shakti are married. They are one. Existence is the activity of being

A woman asks if everyone is ‘I’? Rupert says that ‘I’ is the name that ‘I’ gives to itself. It is awareness’s knowledge of itself. Awareness is the only one that knows itself. Therefore, ‘I’ is the name we give to awareness’s knowledge of itself.

A man has been unable to sustain the happiness of his true nature in the midst of challenging life experiences, and now the practice of self-enquiry feels mechanical. Rupert replies that whatever you are experiencing, regardless of intensity, you are always aware of your experience, so it is all illuminated by awareness and that is what you essentially are. The content of experience doesn't make any difference to the awareness that knows it and in which experience arises.

As an introvert, a man asks if it’s possible to use this tendency to spiritually bypass engagement in the world. Rupert suggests that we take the same investigation of our self into our life, which helps to establish us in our true nature, not just when circumstances are perfectly peaceful but when circumstances are challenging. He suggests that he has found his way back to his innate peace of awareness in easy circumstances; now just do it in more challenging circumstances, activities and relationships.

A woman asks how best to help awaken altruism and what practice to follow. Rupert responds that what is helpful is to find a way, in our own voice, of sharing this love and understanding tailored to the language and manner of expression in whatever field in which we find our self.

Drawing from the story of Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, a woman asks if each body/mind has been programmed to play a certain role in life, and who decides who gets to wake up. Rupert suggests we are not programmed. Creation and manifestation are ongoing, not fixed. Infinite consciousness localises itself and contracts into a separate self, which is always tending to go back to its natural condition. That is true of everyone.

Be aware of any dissatisfaction, of resisting and seeking – either something present but not wanted or something not present that’s wanted. Disappointment takes us into the past, expectation into the future. In the absence of either, we find ourself at peace in the now. This peace is not a new experience but is the natural condition of our being; not a state of mind but the natural condition of the mind prior to the arising of resisting and seeking, disappointment and expectation. Dissatisfaction is not conferred by circumstances. It is we who confer dissatisfaction on circumstances. Sorrow is our own activity; nobody is doing it to us. See what becomes of expectation or disappointment when we recognise the innate peace of the presence of awareness that we essentially are. Surrender all expectation, disappointment, longing or resistance to God. Let God take care of them. Take refuge in the presence of awareness. Rest in God's presence.

A man who is translating the poem ‘I am’ to the Chinese asks about the couplet: ‘I offer and contain in one gesture like an open bowl’. Rupert suggests that awareness assumes the form of everything there is in creation and gives itself completely to everything. That's the offering part. And awareness simultaneously receives everything in creation into itself.

A man who is translating the poem ‘I am’ to the Chinese asks about the couplet: ‘I'm the restlessness of the restless and a peacefulness of the peace’. Using the analogy of the screen and image, Rupert suggests that the screen is the reality of the action that takes place in a violent movie and is equally the reality of a beautiful, peaceful landscape. Awareness is the ultimate reality of everything.

A woman talks about hosting a non-dual meeting including singing and mantra meditation. She asks for Rupert's approval. Rupert responds that this is not really a Satsang question but a question for another time.

A woman whose sister was recently diagnosed with cancer asks for guidance. Rupert suggests that he cannot comment on what her sister’s treatment should or shouldn’t be, but he suggests that her main job, the most loving thing she can do aside from attending to her physically, is to bring peace to her. He suggests that she find peace in herself first. To do that, go to the background of awareness and stand as that and then be with your sister. Peace will communicate itself, with or without words.

A man says it’s difficult to surrender to and find acceptance with the war in Ukraine. Rupert suggests the reason we cannot surrender is because it isn't something we can do with the mind because the best it can do is a kind of resignation, which adds a mental battle to force your mind to surrender, though it cannot. Surrender and allowing are the nature of awareness. It is not something we do but what we are.

A young man is adapting a university paper into a book which argues that the consciousness-only model is more rational than materialism. He shares that he has noticed a tendency towards grandiosity and getting lost in details, which are getting in his way. He asks for advice on how to get out of his way so that God can write this book through him. Rupert suggests that God requires his mind to create, so the book’s structure and its writing are in his hands, while what happens afterwards – publishing, and so on– is not. Rupert suggests that he focus on his structure. He also suggests that he be mindful of his audience.

A woman says she struggles with the idea that God is Love and asks if God is Love. Rupert clarifies the misunderstanding that suffering is self-created, which takes place in the activity of thinking. As individuals we do suffer. Consider God as being from which everyone derives their apparent existence, so division exists only in images and appearances. There is no division in being. The absence of separation is what we call love.

A woman asks if the first form or appearance of God in manifestation is an illusion. Rupert suggests that Shiva is unmanifest being; Shakti is the activity of being. Shiva and Shakti are married. They are one. Existence is the activity of being

A woman asks if everyone is ‘I’? Rupert says that ‘I’ is the name that ‘I’ gives to itself. It is awareness’s knowledge of itself. Awareness is the only one that knows itself. Therefore, ‘I’ is the name we give to awareness’s knowledge of itself.

A man has been unable to sustain the happiness of his true nature in the midst of challenging life experiences, and now the practice of self-enquiry feels mechanical. Rupert replies that whatever you are experiencing, regardless of intensity, you are always aware of your experience, so it is all illuminated by awareness and that is what you essentially are. The content of experience doesn't make any difference to the awareness that knows it and in which experience arises.

As an introvert, a man asks if it’s possible to use this tendency to spiritually bypass engagement in the world. Rupert suggests that we take the same investigation of our self into our life, which helps to establish us in our true nature, not just when circumstances are perfectly peaceful but when circumstances are challenging. He suggests that he has found his way back to his innate peace of awareness in easy circumstances; now just do it in more challenging circumstances, activities and relationships.

A woman asks how best to help awaken altruism and what practice to follow. Rupert responds that what is helpful is to find a way, in our own voice, of sharing this love and understanding tailored to the language and manner of expression in whatever field in which we find our self.

Drawing from the story of Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, a woman asks if each body/mind has been programmed to play a certain role in life, and who decides who gets to wake up. Rupert suggests we are not programmed. Creation and manifestation are ongoing, not fixed. Infinite consciousness localises itself and contracts into a separate self, which is always tending to go back to its natural condition. That is true of everyone.