There Is Only One 'I'

A woman comments on the idea of the core longing and avoiding its discomfort. Is there a process to deal with that? Rupert suggests that we don’t look for the core longing, but look for ourself. The core longing is a symptom of overlooking our being. Just go straight to being; that's the remedy.

A woman asks about the personal 'I'. Rupert responds that there is no personal 'I', but an intimate 'I'. He guides her in self-enquiry to discover her being as she tries to find words to describe it such as peace, infinite, perfect, and so on. These are all personal, yet intimate attributes.

A woman, who is in a great deal of pain, describes an encounter with a retreat participant who told her to find comfort in discomfort. Rupert responds that his mind goes silent when he reflects on it more.

A woman, who says she understands that she is everything and nothing and that consciousness is choosing everything, asks about evil, the suffering in the world and how to respond to it. Rupert suggests that the less we are involved in our personal suffering, the more room there is to feel another's suffering, and the impulse is to turn towards it rather than away from it, even if it is just a momentary interaction of love.

A woman reports that her story has become transparent and, after a period of solitude, she is enjoying time with others. Rupert replies that the love of being in solitude, and being with others are not mutually exclusive. It needn't be a conflict. Friends don't have to have a knowledge of non-duality to be friends.

A woman asks about a comment Rupert made about Putin and Zelensky actually loving each other but they don't know it. Rupert responds that if they had been at this morning's meditation, they would have gone to the same place, which is being, or love.

A man remarks on his experience of homeless people as opposed to his own privilege, and that he feels guilty when turning away. Rupert suggests that the one thing that is the same in these meetings is that we understand that we share your being, regardless of the situation. How we respond varies enormously from situation to situation. Let the shared being be the guiding principle in our life.

Does consciousness announce itself as 'I am', and is that a concept? Rupert responds that consciousness doesn't need to announce itself as 'I am' to know itself. The statement is an expression of that self knowledge.

A woman relays her experience of extreme states of being and wonders if one or the other is true. Rupert suggests that, ultimately, neither one of them is real. Don’t invest your identity in any state of mind. At a relative level, trust the state that is positive and exuberant. It is only a thin veiling of your true nature whereas the fear state is a thicker veiling.

A man asks if it is important to choose a partner who is also on this path. Rupert suggests that it’s not necessary for your partner to explore it in this particular form, but it would likely be difficult to have a truly intimate relationship with someone who wasn’t interested in the nature of self and reality. Sharing in silence is the deepest intimacy.

A man wants to understand attraction or sexual desire from a non-dual perspective. Rupert suggests that all desire is really the desire to be divested of our limitations and returned to our natural state of being, which is shared being. In sexual intimacy, we long for the experience of our shared being, not sensations. It is possible for desire to want to share and celebrate this felt sense of being.

A woman wonders if there is something prior to consciousness. Rupert suggests that if there were something prior to consciousness it would be impossible, by definition, to know anything about it. If there were, it must be, by definition, completely unknown. Even God could not know something prior to consciousness. This is abstract theory, or belief.

A man, who previously conflated being and attention, shares that attention is within being. Rupert suggests we could say pure being is unfocused attention and attention is focused being. The idea that being or consciousness is empty is valid but is an intermediary idea. It is only in reference to one who believes in the independence of objects.

A first time retreatant asks if being is synonymous with awareness. Rupert says, 'Yes'. Rupert suggests that ‘I am’ is shorthand for ‘I know that I am’. Those ‘I’s are the same.

A woman asks about what ‘I’ is no longer veiled. Rupert suggests it is you, being, that ceases to lose itself so completely in the content of experience. There is only ever one ‘I’. Being cannot be lost, but it can seem to lose itself in its own creativity. King Lear is the creativity of John Smith. John Smith loses himself in the character of King Lear and seems to have to trace himself back to himself, only to realise he never lost himself at all.

A man asks about finding out what he wants versus what he thinks other people want for him. Rupert suggests that it’s good to know what you don’t want. Sometimes we have to fully know what we don’t want before the knowledge of what we do want comes to us. Wait for it; don’t reach for it. Be comfortable with not knowing for a while.

A man asks about how to stop reaching for answers. Rupert suggests that he close his eyes and go into his heart, not out into an activity, and explore what he really wants to do. The answer may be shy at first. Give it time and affection.

If all there is, is being and no creation, then it seems there isn’t a body or world to turn back to. What is meant by that phrase? Rupert says that we think that the body is a body and that the world is a world and that our being shares the limitations of the body. At first, we go back to being, but we don’t stay there. We turn our attention back, not to the body and world as we previously perceived them, but as an appearance of being.

A woman asks for Rupert’s personal experience of the body and world as an appearance of being. What does it feel like when you look at a tree or another person? Rupert suggests that he sees and feels everything as God’s being. It’s all I see, know, love. She asks if he gets irritated? Occasionally, Rupert says, but it doesn’t last long. Everything inside and outside is God's Being.

A woman comments on the idea of the core longing and avoiding its discomfort. Is there a process to deal with that? Rupert suggests that we don’t look for the core longing, but look for ourself. The core longing is a symptom of overlooking our being. Just go straight to being; that's the remedy.

A woman asks about the personal 'I'. Rupert responds that there is no personal 'I', but an intimate 'I'. He guides her in self-enquiry to discover her being as she tries to find words to describe it such as peace, infinite, perfect, and so on. These are all personal, yet intimate attributes.

A woman, who is in a great deal of pain, describes an encounter with a retreat participant who told her to find comfort in discomfort. Rupert responds that his mind goes silent when he reflects on it more.

A woman, who says she understands that she is everything and nothing and that consciousness is choosing everything, asks about evil, the suffering in the world and how to respond to it. Rupert suggests that the less we are involved in our personal suffering, the more room there is to feel another's suffering, and the impulse is to turn towards it rather than away from it, even if it is just a momentary interaction of love.

A woman reports that her story has become transparent and, after a period of solitude, she is enjoying time with others. Rupert replies that the love of being in solitude, and being with others are not mutually exclusive. It needn't be a conflict. Friends don't have to have a knowledge of non-duality to be friends.

A woman asks about a comment Rupert made about Putin and Zelensky actually loving each other but they don't know it. Rupert responds that if they had been at this morning's meditation, they would have gone to the same place, which is being, or love.

A man remarks on his experience of homeless people as opposed to his own privilege, and that he feels guilty when turning away. Rupert suggests that the one thing that is the same in these meetings is that we understand that we share your being, regardless of the situation. How we respond varies enormously from situation to situation. Let the shared being be the guiding principle in our life.

Does consciousness announce itself as 'I am', and is that a concept? Rupert responds that consciousness doesn't need to announce itself as 'I am' to know itself. The statement is an expression of that self knowledge.

A woman relays her experience of extreme states of being and wonders if one or the other is true. Rupert suggests that, ultimately, neither one of them is real. Don’t invest your identity in any state of mind. At a relative level, trust the state that is positive and exuberant. It is only a thin veiling of your true nature whereas the fear state is a thicker veiling.

A man asks if it is important to choose a partner who is also on this path. Rupert suggests that it’s not necessary for your partner to explore it in this particular form, but it would likely be difficult to have a truly intimate relationship with someone who wasn’t interested in the nature of self and reality. Sharing in silence is the deepest intimacy.

A man wants to understand attraction or sexual desire from a non-dual perspective. Rupert suggests that all desire is really the desire to be divested of our limitations and returned to our natural state of being, which is shared being. In sexual intimacy, we long for the experience of our shared being, not sensations. It is possible for desire to want to share and celebrate this felt sense of being.

A woman wonders if there is something prior to consciousness. Rupert suggests that if there were something prior to consciousness it would be impossible, by definition, to know anything about it. If there were, it must be, by definition, completely unknown. Even God could not know something prior to consciousness. This is abstract theory, or belief.

A man, who previously conflated being and attention, shares that attention is within being. Rupert suggests we could say pure being is unfocused attention and attention is focused being. The idea that being or consciousness is empty is valid but is an intermediary idea. It is only in reference to one who believes in the independence of objects.

A first time retreatant asks if being is synonymous with awareness. Rupert says, 'Yes'. Rupert suggests that ‘I am’ is shorthand for ‘I know that I am’. Those ‘I’s are the same.

A woman asks about what ‘I’ is no longer veiled. Rupert suggests it is you, being, that ceases to lose itself so completely in the content of experience. There is only ever one ‘I’. Being cannot be lost, but it can seem to lose itself in its own creativity. King Lear is the creativity of John Smith. John Smith loses himself in the character of King Lear and seems to have to trace himself back to himself, only to realise he never lost himself at all.

A man asks about finding out what he wants versus what he thinks other people want for him. Rupert suggests that it’s good to know what you don’t want. Sometimes we have to fully know what we don’t want before the knowledge of what we do want comes to us. Wait for it; don’t reach for it. Be comfortable with not knowing for a while.

A man asks about how to stop reaching for answers. Rupert suggests that he close his eyes and go into his heart, not out into an activity, and explore what he really wants to do. The answer may be shy at first. Give it time and affection.

If all there is, is being and no creation, then it seems there isn’t a body or world to turn back to. What is meant by that phrase? Rupert says that we think that the body is a body and that the world is a world and that our being shares the limitations of the body. At first, we go back to being, but we don’t stay there. We turn our attention back, not to the body and world as we previously perceived them, but as an appearance of being.

A woman asks for Rupert’s personal experience of the body and world as an appearance of being. What does it feel like when you look at a tree or another person? Rupert suggests that he sees and feels everything as God’s being. It’s all I see, know, love. She asks if he gets irritated? Occasionally, Rupert says, but it doesn’t last long. Everything inside and outside is God's Being.