The Simplest Experience There Is

A woman asks about the understanding and the creative process, and whether creativity is a distraction. Rupert suggests that if our identity is bound up in the success of the creative endeavour, then we investigate that sense of self. But if it arises on behalf of the understanding, then we give all of ourself to it.

A man shares that he still feels separate and falls into fantasy. Rupert suggests, using the analogy of John Smith and King Lear, that King Lear isn't seeking pleasure. He wants to taste the peace of his true nature. However, he doesn't realise that when he seeks pleasure, he is tasting his true nature, which is the source of his peace, not the object of his desire.

A man says he has come to the conclusion that consciousness is not an object, but is experience. It is the infinite expressing itself in form, like music. Rupert responds that it's true that consciousness is not an object. But it's not accurate to say that it's like music, because there is consciousness in the absence of experience. All experience is consciousness, but there's more to consciousness than experience. Rupert guides the man to experience this understanding directly through self-enquiry.

A man shares his experience, or lack thereof, of peace and happiness in contrast to dropping into an impersonal space. Rupert suggests that being doesn’t have any qualities. We only refer to it as peace by contrast to the suffering of the separate self. As we drop more into our being, we love more and more people, not less.

A man shares that his belief systems are falling apart, including the desire for good. He also asks about physical healing. Rupert responds that an illusion is not something that is not real; it is real but not what it appears to be, just as a mirage appears as water. King Lear suffers from the illusion of his character, but underneath that identity is happiness.

A man asks for clarity around the relationship between sleep and non-meditation. Rupert reviews how when senses, perceptions, thoughts and images leave us, we are left with the awareness of being. The awareness of being is not something we do; it is what we are. We don't have to practise being. In that sense, ‘non-meditation’ is used to evoke this absolute effortlessness, like deep sleep.

A man asks how to get to his being. Rupert suggests that you can only get to something that you are not already. There is no question of getting to what you already are. Can you take a step toward yourself? It is a matter of recognition and understanding, not practising and doing. It is a clear seeing of our self.

A woman asks, ‘Why do we do everything we do?’ Rupert suggests we do what we do to make this understanding available to anyone who wants it.

A man asks about how to handle mindless distractions, within the context of non-meditation. Rupert suggests that when we are lost in the content of experience, it is legitimate to disentangle ourself. When he speaks of non-meditation, he is not making a concession to the separate self but is speaking directly to being. In non-meditation, we start with true nature.

A woman shares her relatively new experience of bringing herself to awareness and her difficulty in staying there. Rupert leads her in self-enquiry to the experience of being, not thinking. The awareness of being is the only experience that requires no effort. It is the simplest experience there is. We are never, not for a moment, not aware of being.

A woman asks about the experience of being and the arising of joy. Rupert suggests that joy is not an after effect of being; it is being. Joy is the shining of being.

A man talks about being aware of the character he ‘plays’, and the remnants of sorrow. Rupert suggests that the character remains, but its sorrow and agitation gradually leaves. See that your true nature is inherently free. It will gradually leave you because you are no longer feeding it.

A woman relays her experience after attending a livestream retreat and asks for further elaboration. Rupert asks her to describe her experience of being, and then suggests that the place she went during her silence is her palace of peace. She can visit it from time to time, or she can live there, as that.

A man shares his doubts about shared being. Rupert leads the man through a series of questions exploring the experience of being from various perspectives. He then asks, ‘How many unlimited beings can there be?’ He shares there are numerous beings but only one unlimited being, just as there are numerous spaces but one unlimited space.

A woman cites Rupert as saying, ‘Awareness is a field of exquisite sensitivity’, and asks him to say more about it. Rupert says it’s not a sensitive entity, it’s just pure sensitivity, which evokes infinite tenderness, openness and love. In sensitivity, there is no distance.

A man asks for clarity about the words ‘recognition’ and ‘realisation’? Rupert suggests that it is John Smith who has the recognition. King Lear is not an entity in his own right; he is an apparent limitation of John Smith. Johns Smith loses himself and then comes back to himself; that is why it is a ‘recognition’, not a ‘cognition’. There is no separate self.

A woman mentions the Mary and Jane metaphor as it relates to the John Smith and King Lear metaphor. Rupert says that King Lear is not a problem; it is the vehicle through which John Smith has a set of experiences. What is problematic is when John Smith forgets himself. John Smith loses himself to King Lear in the first place.

A woman asks about the understanding and the creative process, and whether creativity is a distraction. Rupert suggests that if our identity is bound up in the success of the creative endeavour, then we investigate that sense of self. But if it arises on behalf of the understanding, then we give all of ourself to it.

A man shares that he still feels separate and falls into fantasy. Rupert suggests, using the analogy of John Smith and King Lear, that King Lear isn't seeking pleasure. He wants to taste the peace of his true nature. However, he doesn't realise that when he seeks pleasure, he is tasting his true nature, which is the source of his peace, not the object of his desire.

A man says he has come to the conclusion that consciousness is not an object, but is experience. It is the infinite expressing itself in form, like music. Rupert responds that it's true that consciousness is not an object. But it's not accurate to say that it's like music, because there is consciousness in the absence of experience. All experience is consciousness, but there's more to consciousness than experience. Rupert guides the man to experience this understanding directly through self-enquiry.

A man shares his experience, or lack thereof, of peace and happiness in contrast to dropping into an impersonal space. Rupert suggests that being doesn’t have any qualities. We only refer to it as peace by contrast to the suffering of the separate self. As we drop more into our being, we love more and more people, not less.

A man shares that his belief systems are falling apart, including the desire for good. He also asks about physical healing. Rupert responds that an illusion is not something that is not real; it is real but not what it appears to be, just as a mirage appears as water. King Lear suffers from the illusion of his character, but underneath that identity is happiness.

A man asks for clarity around the relationship between sleep and non-meditation. Rupert reviews how when senses, perceptions, thoughts and images leave us, we are left with the awareness of being. The awareness of being is not something we do; it is what we are. We don't have to practise being. In that sense, ‘non-meditation’ is used to evoke this absolute effortlessness, like deep sleep.

A man asks how to get to his being. Rupert suggests that you can only get to something that you are not already. There is no question of getting to what you already are. Can you take a step toward yourself? It is a matter of recognition and understanding, not practising and doing. It is a clear seeing of our self.

A woman asks, ‘Why do we do everything we do?’ Rupert suggests we do what we do to make this understanding available to anyone who wants it.

A man asks about how to handle mindless distractions, within the context of non-meditation. Rupert suggests that when we are lost in the content of experience, it is legitimate to disentangle ourself. When he speaks of non-meditation, he is not making a concession to the separate self but is speaking directly to being. In non-meditation, we start with true nature.

A woman shares her relatively new experience of bringing herself to awareness and her difficulty in staying there. Rupert leads her in self-enquiry to the experience of being, not thinking. The awareness of being is the only experience that requires no effort. It is the simplest experience there is. We are never, not for a moment, not aware of being.

A woman asks about the experience of being and the arising of joy. Rupert suggests that joy is not an after effect of being; it is being. Joy is the shining of being.

A man talks about being aware of the character he ‘plays’, and the remnants of sorrow. Rupert suggests that the character remains, but its sorrow and agitation gradually leaves. See that your true nature is inherently free. It will gradually leave you because you are no longer feeding it.

A woman relays her experience after attending a livestream retreat and asks for further elaboration. Rupert asks her to describe her experience of being, and then suggests that the place she went during her silence is her palace of peace. She can visit it from time to time, or she can live there, as that.

A man shares his doubts about shared being. Rupert leads the man through a series of questions exploring the experience of being from various perspectives. He then asks, ‘How many unlimited beings can there be?’ He shares there are numerous beings but only one unlimited being, just as there are numerous spaces but one unlimited space.

A woman cites Rupert as saying, ‘Awareness is a field of exquisite sensitivity’, and asks him to say more about it. Rupert says it’s not a sensitive entity, it’s just pure sensitivity, which evokes infinite tenderness, openness and love. In sensitivity, there is no distance.

A man asks for clarity about the words ‘recognition’ and ‘realisation’? Rupert suggests that it is John Smith who has the recognition. King Lear is not an entity in his own right; he is an apparent limitation of John Smith. Johns Smith loses himself and then comes back to himself; that is why it is a ‘recognition’, not a ‘cognition’. There is no separate self.

A woman mentions the Mary and Jane metaphor as it relates to the John Smith and King Lear metaphor. Rupert says that King Lear is not a problem; it is the vehicle through which John Smith has a set of experiences. What is problematic is when John Smith forgets himself. John Smith loses himself to King Lear in the first place.