The Limits of Separation Within Awareness

A woman new to the teachings asks how do we know that infinite awareness is really a thing, and not some kind of seductive imagining? Rupert suggest she test the thought of not-believing.

A man says that he is coming to understand and experience the presence of awareness, but he finds that the closer he comes to understanding, the more resistance he feels in the experience of fear.

A woman asks for clarification in regard to how she perceives emptiness and peace, assuming it is through her mind. Rupert explains that these are not perceived through her mind, and uses the analogy of John Smith and King Lear.

A man describes an abusive, chaotic relationship he and his brother share with their mother. He asks how to keep a sense of shared being with someone who harms you?

A man asks for a practice to deal with extremely difficult emotions due to painful circumstances. Rupert suggests allowing the fearful feeling to come up into the light of awareness in order to 'devour' it.

A woman asks why did consciousness, the infinite, stir from its rest to experience through the finite? Rupert says the answer is love.

A man from the Azores Islands asks if a fly is not aware of being a fly, does the fly have consciousness? Rupert responds that a fly does not have consciousness, nor do human beings. Only consciousness has consciousness and has flies and humans.

A woman asks if the ego, the belief in separation, is inevitable or a choice? Rupert speaks of culture, conditioning, and evolving from the paradigm of separation.

A man who recently got a PhD in Philosophy, and whose dissertation was on consciousness, asks how the unconscious, as it is thought of in psychology, fits into this teaching?

A woman describes a feeling of having no barriers or boundaries during the yoga meditation, and asks Rupert to expound further on what that was. Rupert explains that this is the counterpart to not finding the self in self-enquiry.

A man from Houston says he had difficulty with stepping back from thoughts, emotions, and sensations, so he looked for the one who was frustrated. He couldn't find anything but that didn't seem to click. He asked Rupert to elaborate on that experience.

A woman asks if there came a time when he knew that he was ready to share this understanding, and felt he had the answers. Rupert tells a story about transitioning from potter to sharing the non-dual understanding at retreats, and says he does not have the answers. He encourages her to go ahead and share her understanding.

A man from Australia describes a feeling of having no borders during yoga meditation, but in contemplating sensations he finds there is a block that feels hard and stuck, and he cannot pass beyond it. It is felt in the center of his body, in the heart, which concerns him. Rupert suggests that the separate self fears the dissolution of the block at the center.

A woman says she can relate to the experience of 'I am' and that she is of God, but she gets lost in descriptions of spaciousness and openess. Rupert says to say 'I am' is to be aware that you are aware, which is what you are, that awareness of being.

A woman with a religious background asks if the conditioned self has free will? And if not, then from where does suffering arise? Rupert responds that suffering arises from the belief that we are a fragment.

Rupert shares a poem he has written whilst walking the streets of Oxford during the last few months of lockdown.

A woman new to the teachings asks how do we know that infinite awareness is really a thing, and not some kind of seductive imagining? Rupert suggest she test the thought of not-believing.

A man says that he is coming to understand and experience the presence of awareness, but he finds that the closer he comes to understanding, the more resistance he feels in the experience of fear.

A woman asks for clarification in regard to how she perceives emptiness and peace, assuming it is through her mind. Rupert explains that these are not perceived through her mind, and uses the analogy of John Smith and King Lear.

A man describes an abusive, chaotic relationship he and his brother share with their mother. He asks how to keep a sense of shared being with someone who harms you?

A man asks for a practice to deal with extremely difficult emotions due to painful circumstances. Rupert suggests allowing the fearful feeling to come up into the light of awareness in order to 'devour' it.

A woman asks why did consciousness, the infinite, stir from its rest to experience through the finite? Rupert says the answer is love.

A man from the Azores Islands asks if a fly is not aware of being a fly, does the fly have consciousness? Rupert responds that a fly does not have consciousness, nor do human beings. Only consciousness has consciousness and has flies and humans.

A woman asks if the ego, the belief in separation, is inevitable or a choice? Rupert speaks of culture, conditioning, and evolving from the paradigm of separation.

A man who recently got a PhD in Philosophy, and whose dissertation was on consciousness, asks how the unconscious, as it is thought of in psychology, fits into this teaching?

A woman describes a feeling of having no barriers or boundaries during the yoga meditation, and asks Rupert to expound further on what that was. Rupert explains that this is the counterpart to not finding the self in self-enquiry.

A man from Houston says he had difficulty with stepping back from thoughts, emotions, and sensations, so he looked for the one who was frustrated. He couldn't find anything but that didn't seem to click. He asked Rupert to elaborate on that experience.

A woman asks if there came a time when he knew that he was ready to share this understanding, and felt he had the answers. Rupert tells a story about transitioning from potter to sharing the non-dual understanding at retreats, and says he does not have the answers. He encourages her to go ahead and share her understanding.

A man from Australia describes a feeling of having no borders during yoga meditation, but in contemplating sensations he finds there is a block that feels hard and stuck, and he cannot pass beyond it. It is felt in the center of his body, in the heart, which concerns him. Rupert suggests that the separate self fears the dissolution of the block at the center.

A woman says she can relate to the experience of 'I am' and that she is of God, but she gets lost in descriptions of spaciousness and openess. Rupert says to say 'I am' is to be aware that you are aware, which is what you are, that awareness of being.

A woman with a religious background asks if the conditioned self has free will? And if not, then from where does suffering arise? Rupert responds that suffering arises from the belief that we are a fragment.

Rupert shares a poem he has written whilst walking the streets of Oxford during the last few months of lockdown.