The Journey’s End Is Where We Began

T.S. Eliot’s, ‘ . . . and know the place for the first time’ describes our life’s journey, our spiritual path and each meditation session. When we’re born, our very first experience is simply being – before knowing we’re a body, a girl or boy, before knowing anything. When we’re on our deathbed, after everything we knew about ourselves has left us, all that will remain is the experience of being. These experiences of being at birth and death are identical. None of the innumerable experiences we’ve had, however wonderful or awful, can affect our being. This simple experience remains the undercurrent of our life, shining quietly as us. Our being touches all experience intimately, but no experience touches it. It’s whole, perfect, complete, lacking nothing – silent, still, at peace. The art of meditation is to recognise being’s presence behind all experience and its inherent peace, sufficiency and love.

A man asks whether greater consciousness of consciousness decreases motivation to travel and explore the world. Rupert explains this varies by individual – some retreat to quieter contemplative lives while others become more engaged with world activities, both being valid expressions of the same understanding. The crucial difference is motivation: previously engaging with the world from a sense of lack seeking fulfilment, now acting from inherent peace and fullness. Rupert shares his own plan to balance remote country living with continued teaching work. The man recognises his previous ‘fear of missing out’ ironically meant missing everything through lack of presence, now feeling increasingly drawn homeward.

A woman describes experiencing a persistent, repetitive doubt that what she’s experiencing as resting in being might actually be a sophisticated ‘blank state’ of mind. Rupert identifies this as the mind’s last desperate attempt to prevent her sinking into being – a ‘gaslighting’ trick designed to keep her engaged with thought rather than proceeding beyond it. Rather than struggling with the doubt, he suggests simply recognising the mechanism at work, comparing it to a child’s manipulative attempts to capture attention. Understanding the dynamic without trying to overcome it allows one to see through the mind’s final defensive strategy.

A woman notes that while accessing being becomes easier, staying there still involves frequent evaluations (‘yes, I see no limits’, etc.), creating a sense of duality between being and something evaluating it. Rupert advises against needing to enumerate being’s qualities, as this mental commentary prevents fully sinking into being. He explains the natural oscillation between resting in being and attention moving outward, reassuring that with practice, the pull of thoughts and feelings weakens, requiring less effort to maintain awareness of being. The woman’s evaluative thinking is identified as another clever mind strategy to keep her engaged in thought rather than resting in pure being.

A man shares a dream conversation about the mind’s role, noting how spiritual traditions often criticise it while it performs essential functions – accepting death, initiating enquiry, and working hard. Rupert agrees that unlike some traditions (particularly Zen) that are tough on the mind, his approach values and respects it. He encourages using the mind for exploration and expression of truth rather than serving the separate self. Mind is not a mistake but the very means by which manifestation occurs, the activity of infinite being expressing in form. Far from rejecting it, Rupert describes the mind as ‘sacred’ and ‘our best friend’ when properly understood and directed.

A man questions when the separate self emerges in human development, noting children’s apparent openness to reality compared to adults. Citing Wordsworth’s ‘trailing clouds of glory’, Rupert explains that newborns still shine predominantly with being’s nature. Gradually, the ‘prison house’ of sense perception closes around the growing child, necessary for individuation and establishing boundaries. By adolescence, the ego is established, but ideally this should be transcended rather than becoming life’s endpoint. Rupert suggests our current world culture corresponds to adolescent development, still ego-dominated rather than evolving beyond it into more mature consciousness.

A woman questions Rupert’s earlier advice about ‘kissing the toad’ (bringing difficulties into being) and its relationship to spiritual bypassing. Rupert clarifies his previous comment was tailored for a specific person he knows well, then addresses spiritual bypassing directly. He ‘shamelessly’ admits their approach initially involves bypassing emotional content to recognise one’s true nature first – like telling King Lear to stop worrying about his daughters and kingdom to recognise his true identity. However, unlike true spiritual bypassing, this recognition then leads back to addressing life’s challenges from a transformed perspective. The initial bypassing is redeemed by returning to clean up relationships and align experience with higher understanding.

A woman describes experiencing spontaneous silence during daily activities and asks about its nature. Rupert cautions against mistaking the absence of mental content (the ‘blank screensaver’) for true being. He explains that when thoughts quiet down, one must take the further step of recognising what is aware of this silence, instead of merely resting in the emptiness. True peace lies behind even the silence, remaining present during both mental content and its absence. This understanding removes potential conflict between experience and silence, allowing one to move smoothly between contemplative periods and active engagement without essential difference.

A man asks about reconciling his experiences of creative storytelling and daydreaming with the spiritual injunction to remain in the present moment. Rupert suggests distinguishing between egoic escapism and authentic creativity by examining motivation – is the mind escaping into past/future to avoid being, or expressing the peace and joy of being through creative activity? He explains that creativity is the natural consequence of a mind informed by being’s inherent qualities rather than the fears and desires of a separate self. The key test is whether the impulse comes from a sense of lack seeking fulfilment or from the natural overflow of being’s fullness seeking expression.

A man asks the practical question of how to abide in being while engaging with objects and relationships, particularly when being cannot be in subject-object relationship. Through a practical demonstration involving an intentional insult, Rupert illustrates the profound difference between standing in thoughts/feelings versus standing in being. When identified with thoughts, insults provoke reactions and conflict; when established in being, the same words create no disturbance. This non-reactivity not only prevents conflict but transforms the relationship, inspiring trust and mirroring back to others their own potential for peace. Rupert suggests this quality of relationship need not be limited to retreat settings but can become one’s normal way of being in the world.

A man explores why non-dual teachings seem to be becoming faster, easier and more universal with each iteration. Rupert suggests contemporary culture is moving beyond both traditional religious packaging and more recent spiritual packaging toward direct interest in truth itself. He notes many people today, including scientists, seek understanding without needing it framed in religious or spiritual terms. The teaching is becoming simpler and more direct by removing accumulated trappings while preserving the essential understanding. Rupert likens humanity’s development to a 21-year-old graduating from adolescent self-centeredness, ready to evolve beyond the paradigm of separation that has dominated society.

A woman requests book recommendations for non-dual understandings within Protestant or evangelical traditions. Rupert recommends several texts: The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence (preferably Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s translation), The Cloud of Unknowing (also translated by Butcher), Joel Goldsmith’s The Mystical I, and William Samuel’s A Guide to Awareness and Tranquility. Though some recommendations come from Catholic rather than specifically Protestant traditions, they each provide accessible entryways to non-dual understanding within Christian contexts.

A man describes personal family trauma, including a recent suicide, and asks about integrating awareness with difficult family dynamics, particularly given his opposite experience to Rupert’s regarding unconditional love. Rupert acknowledges that while the man has access to the peace of being, his nervous system still operates on conditioning laid down in early life, creating a gap between understanding and expression. Rather than suggesting spiritual practice alone, Rupert recommends therapy with someone skilled in addressing body-mind tension patterns, ideally but not necessarily someone who shares non-dual understanding. The goal is harmonising body-mind with being’s peace, enabling the man to become a genuinely healing presence for his family.

A man articulates his understanding that belief in being a located perceiver divides experience into subject and object. Exploring Jean Klein’s statement that ‘what we really are is our absence’, he questions the relationship between intimacy and impersonality in true nature. Rupert affirms his insight while clarifying that from the mind’s perspective, our essence appears as absence of content, but from being’s perspective, it is fullness and presence. He explains the unusual confluence where our truest nature is simultaneously the most intimate yet completely impersonal – more intimate than our most private thoughts yet sharing none of their personal qualities, being both entirely intimate and entirely universal.

A woman requests Rupert enumerate necessary adaptations for the mind to live in harmony with being. Rupert outlines three essential steps: first, turn attention away from content of experience to recognise ‘I am awareness’; second, recognise the nature of this being as inherently peaceful and sufficient within, and as limitless, shared being (love) extending outward; third, live the implications of this understanding in daily life. When pressed about inherited karma, Rupert uses the analogy of space remaining unchanged regardless of activities occurring within it – like space, being remains untouched by experiences, free of karma, neither born nor affected by difficulties. This understanding, he concludes, is the ultimate healing for both individuals and humanity collectively.

T.S. Eliot’s, ‘ . . . and know the place for the first time’ describes our life’s journey, our spiritual path and each meditation session. When we’re born, our very first experience is simply being – before knowing we’re a body, a girl or boy, before knowing anything. When we’re on our deathbed, after everything we knew about ourselves has left us, all that will remain is the experience of being. These experiences of being at birth and death are identical. None of the innumerable experiences we’ve had, however wonderful or awful, can affect our being. This simple experience remains the undercurrent of our life, shining quietly as us. Our being touches all experience intimately, but no experience touches it. It’s whole, perfect, complete, lacking nothing – silent, still, at peace. The art of meditation is to recognise being’s presence behind all experience and its inherent peace, sufficiency and love.

A man asks whether greater consciousness of consciousness decreases motivation to travel and explore the world. Rupert explains this varies by individual – some retreat to quieter contemplative lives while others become more engaged with world activities, both being valid expressions of the same understanding. The crucial difference is motivation: previously engaging with the world from a sense of lack seeking fulfilment, now acting from inherent peace and fullness. Rupert shares his own plan to balance remote country living with continued teaching work. The man recognises his previous ‘fear of missing out’ ironically meant missing everything through lack of presence, now feeling increasingly drawn homeward.

A woman describes experiencing a persistent, repetitive doubt that what she’s experiencing as resting in being might actually be a sophisticated ‘blank state’ of mind. Rupert identifies this as the mind’s last desperate attempt to prevent her sinking into being – a ‘gaslighting’ trick designed to keep her engaged with thought rather than proceeding beyond it. Rather than struggling with the doubt, he suggests simply recognising the mechanism at work, comparing it to a child’s manipulative attempts to capture attention. Understanding the dynamic without trying to overcome it allows one to see through the mind’s final defensive strategy.

A woman notes that while accessing being becomes easier, staying there still involves frequent evaluations (‘yes, I see no limits’, etc.), creating a sense of duality between being and something evaluating it. Rupert advises against needing to enumerate being’s qualities, as this mental commentary prevents fully sinking into being. He explains the natural oscillation between resting in being and attention moving outward, reassuring that with practice, the pull of thoughts and feelings weakens, requiring less effort to maintain awareness of being. The woman’s evaluative thinking is identified as another clever mind strategy to keep her engaged in thought rather than resting in pure being.

A man shares a dream conversation about the mind’s role, noting how spiritual traditions often criticise it while it performs essential functions – accepting death, initiating enquiry, and working hard. Rupert agrees that unlike some traditions (particularly Zen) that are tough on the mind, his approach values and respects it. He encourages using the mind for exploration and expression of truth rather than serving the separate self. Mind is not a mistake but the very means by which manifestation occurs, the activity of infinite being expressing in form. Far from rejecting it, Rupert describes the mind as ‘sacred’ and ‘our best friend’ when properly understood and directed.

A man questions when the separate self emerges in human development, noting children’s apparent openness to reality compared to adults. Citing Wordsworth’s ‘trailing clouds of glory’, Rupert explains that newborns still shine predominantly with being’s nature. Gradually, the ‘prison house’ of sense perception closes around the growing child, necessary for individuation and establishing boundaries. By adolescence, the ego is established, but ideally this should be transcended rather than becoming life’s endpoint. Rupert suggests our current world culture corresponds to adolescent development, still ego-dominated rather than evolving beyond it into more mature consciousness.

A woman questions Rupert’s earlier advice about ‘kissing the toad’ (bringing difficulties into being) and its relationship to spiritual bypassing. Rupert clarifies his previous comment was tailored for a specific person he knows well, then addresses spiritual bypassing directly. He ‘shamelessly’ admits their approach initially involves bypassing emotional content to recognise one’s true nature first – like telling King Lear to stop worrying about his daughters and kingdom to recognise his true identity. However, unlike true spiritual bypassing, this recognition then leads back to addressing life’s challenges from a transformed perspective. The initial bypassing is redeemed by returning to clean up relationships and align experience with higher understanding.

A woman describes experiencing spontaneous silence during daily activities and asks about its nature. Rupert cautions against mistaking the absence of mental content (the ‘blank screensaver’) for true being. He explains that when thoughts quiet down, one must take the further step of recognising what is aware of this silence, instead of merely resting in the emptiness. True peace lies behind even the silence, remaining present during both mental content and its absence. This understanding removes potential conflict between experience and silence, allowing one to move smoothly between contemplative periods and active engagement without essential difference.

A man asks about reconciling his experiences of creative storytelling and daydreaming with the spiritual injunction to remain in the present moment. Rupert suggests distinguishing between egoic escapism and authentic creativity by examining motivation – is the mind escaping into past/future to avoid being, or expressing the peace and joy of being through creative activity? He explains that creativity is the natural consequence of a mind informed by being’s inherent qualities rather than the fears and desires of a separate self. The key test is whether the impulse comes from a sense of lack seeking fulfilment or from the natural overflow of being’s fullness seeking expression.

A man asks the practical question of how to abide in being while engaging with objects and relationships, particularly when being cannot be in subject-object relationship. Through a practical demonstration involving an intentional insult, Rupert illustrates the profound difference between standing in thoughts/feelings versus standing in being. When identified with thoughts, insults provoke reactions and conflict; when established in being, the same words create no disturbance. This non-reactivity not only prevents conflict but transforms the relationship, inspiring trust and mirroring back to others their own potential for peace. Rupert suggests this quality of relationship need not be limited to retreat settings but can become one’s normal way of being in the world.

A man explores why non-dual teachings seem to be becoming faster, easier and more universal with each iteration. Rupert suggests contemporary culture is moving beyond both traditional religious packaging and more recent spiritual packaging toward direct interest in truth itself. He notes many people today, including scientists, seek understanding without needing it framed in religious or spiritual terms. The teaching is becoming simpler and more direct by removing accumulated trappings while preserving the essential understanding. Rupert likens humanity’s development to a 21-year-old graduating from adolescent self-centeredness, ready to evolve beyond the paradigm of separation that has dominated society.

A woman requests book recommendations for non-dual understandings within Protestant or evangelical traditions. Rupert recommends several texts: The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence (preferably Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s translation), The Cloud of Unknowing (also translated by Butcher), Joel Goldsmith’s The Mystical I, and William Samuel’s A Guide to Awareness and Tranquility. Though some recommendations come from Catholic rather than specifically Protestant traditions, they each provide accessible entryways to non-dual understanding within Christian contexts.

A man describes personal family trauma, including a recent suicide, and asks about integrating awareness with difficult family dynamics, particularly given his opposite experience to Rupert’s regarding unconditional love. Rupert acknowledges that while the man has access to the peace of being, his nervous system still operates on conditioning laid down in early life, creating a gap between understanding and expression. Rather than suggesting spiritual practice alone, Rupert recommends therapy with someone skilled in addressing body-mind tension patterns, ideally but not necessarily someone who shares non-dual understanding. The goal is harmonising body-mind with being’s peace, enabling the man to become a genuinely healing presence for his family.

A man articulates his understanding that belief in being a located perceiver divides experience into subject and object. Exploring Jean Klein’s statement that ‘what we really are is our absence’, he questions the relationship between intimacy and impersonality in true nature. Rupert affirms his insight while clarifying that from the mind’s perspective, our essence appears as absence of content, but from being’s perspective, it is fullness and presence. He explains the unusual confluence where our truest nature is simultaneously the most intimate yet completely impersonal – more intimate than our most private thoughts yet sharing none of their personal qualities, being both entirely intimate and entirely universal.

A woman requests Rupert enumerate necessary adaptations for the mind to live in harmony with being. Rupert outlines three essential steps: first, turn attention away from content of experience to recognise ‘I am awareness’; second, recognise the nature of this being as inherently peaceful and sufficient within, and as limitless, shared being (love) extending outward; third, live the implications of this understanding in daily life. When pressed about inherited karma, Rupert uses the analogy of space remaining unchanged regardless of activities occurring within it – like space, being remains untouched by experiences, free of karma, neither born nor affected by difficulties. This understanding, he concludes, is the ultimate healing for both individuals and humanity collectively.