The Placeless Place of Love and Peace

As I do each morning, I sit down and say to God, ‘You know what to say, but you can't speak. I can speak, but I don't know what to say.’ And on this occasion, she replied: ‘You've said so much this week, now is not the time for more words. Just rest in that place of peace in yourself, that placeless place that Meister Eckhart refers to when he says, “There is a place in us that has never been wounded”. That is also the placeless place where we meet naked, divested of everything that keeps us separate and apart. In other words, it is the placeless place of love. Just rest in that placeless place of peace and love. If you are resting in that placeless place, you are resting in me.'

Rupert thanks the staff of Vedanta and acknowledges that we've found a home for the teaching there. He then thanks his team.

Rupert shares that the teacher comes empty to a gathering like this; the teaching comes as an interaction. He shares what the Shankaracharya said about the teacher answering questions. Each question and answer is like dripping a bucket into an ocean of water.

A man references something Rupert said previously about the possibility of a relationship ending because the understanding is not shared. Rupert suggests that one could be in a relationship with someone who did not explicitly share in these matters and it’s not necessarily a reason for separating. He wanted to suggest that it is legitimate to have a desire to have a relationship in which this understanding is expressed. We should stay out of freedom, not out of principle.

A man asks if there is a different quality of love when the understanding is shared. Rupert suggests that there is. It is love of God, but it’s shared, explored and expressed with a person. It is impersonal, so it’s utterly intimate. It’s sacred. Without that, there is a part that is hidden. Both staying and leaving in a relationship when the understanding isn't shared would be equally valid and equally expressions of your love of God.

A woman, who is sometimes musical, wants to create a communal living situation where people come together and practise the presence of God. Rupert mentions the possibility for a home for the teaching, but also shares his reluctance due to his reservation about institutions, which comes from his board school experience. Regarding her music, it is her divine burden to offer that gift.

A man shares an experience of becoming very present, and says that he was stuck in the now. He asks whether that was a glimpse or a state. Rupert suggests it wasn't a state, it was a timeless moment or a glimpse, a parting in the cloud cover of his thoughts and feelings when being shone through. What comes in glimpses at first happens more and more as the background of all experience.

A man remarks that it is easier to be when there is no distraction, as opposed to listening to music. Rupert suggests that playing music during meditation was not about resting in being but the overflowing, the expression of, being. It was a sublime example of expression.

A man shares a ‘separate self’ moment of self-doubt at the retreat, but then later the phrase, ‘you don't expose me, you reveal me’ came to him. Rupert thanks him.

A man shares that after being at retreat going back home feels sorrowful because it is like something is missing. Rupert suggests that a gathering like this cracks our world, and then we measure our life against the quality we find at retreat. This should be the natural quality of life; it is the ego that is dysfunction. Rupert encourages everyone to do what they feel will bring this love and understanding into life and the world, which requires courage.

A man shares that when he listens to music he goes into imagination and asks what Rupert means by ‘being taken out of yourself’. Rupert suggests it’s to become the music, to be it. It doesn't take you out into imagination, but takes you into itself. You surrender yourself completely. If it is divinely inspired, it takes you to the divine.

Rupert shares the story that when he and Ellen met, she said, ‘You're a Sufi on the inside and a Vedantin on the outside’. He says it’s the other way around now. People who look at this from the outside think it’s intellectual, but love is the mother of wisdom. Real philosophy is love, not just lines of reasoning. The lines of reasoning come from love.

As I do each morning, I sit down and say to God, ‘You know what to say, but you can't speak. I can speak, but I don't know what to say.’ And on this occasion, she replied: ‘You've said so much this week, now is not the time for more words. Just rest in that place of peace in yourself, that placeless place that Meister Eckhart refers to when he says, “There is a place in us that has never been wounded”. That is also the placeless place where we meet naked, divested of everything that keeps us separate and apart. In other words, it is the placeless place of love. Just rest in that placeless place of peace and love. If you are resting in that placeless place, you are resting in me.'

Rupert thanks the staff of Vedanta and acknowledges that we've found a home for the teaching there. He then thanks his team.

Rupert shares that the teacher comes empty to a gathering like this; the teaching comes as an interaction. He shares what the Shankaracharya said about the teacher answering questions. Each question and answer is like dripping a bucket into an ocean of water.

A man references something Rupert said previously about the possibility of a relationship ending because the understanding is not shared. Rupert suggests that one could be in a relationship with someone who did not explicitly share in these matters and it’s not necessarily a reason for separating. He wanted to suggest that it is legitimate to have a desire to have a relationship in which this understanding is expressed. We should stay out of freedom, not out of principle.

A man asks if there is a different quality of love when the understanding is shared. Rupert suggests that there is. It is love of God, but it’s shared, explored and expressed with a person. It is impersonal, so it’s utterly intimate. It’s sacred. Without that, there is a part that is hidden. Both staying and leaving in a relationship when the understanding isn't shared would be equally valid and equally expressions of your love of God.

A woman, who is sometimes musical, wants to create a communal living situation where people come together and practise the presence of God. Rupert mentions the possibility for a home for the teaching, but also shares his reluctance due to his reservation about institutions, which comes from his board school experience. Regarding her music, it is her divine burden to offer that gift.

A man shares an experience of becoming very present, and says that he was stuck in the now. He asks whether that was a glimpse or a state. Rupert suggests it wasn't a state, it was a timeless moment or a glimpse, a parting in the cloud cover of his thoughts and feelings when being shone through. What comes in glimpses at first happens more and more as the background of all experience.

A man remarks that it is easier to be when there is no distraction, as opposed to listening to music. Rupert suggests that playing music during meditation was not about resting in being but the overflowing, the expression of, being. It was a sublime example of expression.

A man shares a ‘separate self’ moment of self-doubt at the retreat, but then later the phrase, ‘you don't expose me, you reveal me’ came to him. Rupert thanks him.

A man shares that after being at retreat going back home feels sorrowful because it is like something is missing. Rupert suggests that a gathering like this cracks our world, and then we measure our life against the quality we find at retreat. This should be the natural quality of life; it is the ego that is dysfunction. Rupert encourages everyone to do what they feel will bring this love and understanding into life and the world, which requires courage.

A man shares that when he listens to music he goes into imagination and asks what Rupert means by ‘being taken out of yourself’. Rupert suggests it’s to become the music, to be it. It doesn't take you out into imagination, but takes you into itself. You surrender yourself completely. If it is divinely inspired, it takes you to the divine.

Rupert shares the story that when he and Ellen met, she said, ‘You're a Sufi on the inside and a Vedantin on the outside’. He says it’s the other way around now. People who look at this from the outside think it’s intellectual, but love is the mother of wisdom. Real philosophy is love, not just lines of reasoning. The lines of reasoning come from love.