Two Steps In Spiritual Practice
- Duration: Video: 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 48 seconds / Audio: 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 48 seconds
- Recorded on: Dec 13, 2021
- Event: Webinar – Monday 13th December from 6:00pm
Spiritual practice could be broken down into two steps. Firstly, we turn attention away from the content of experience and trace our way inward through layers of experience until we arrive at our essential self. This inward-facing path is the recognition of our self as awareness and our stabilisation in this understanding, abiding as the presence of awareness throughout all experience. Secondly, we turn attention outward towards the content of experience and see everything as an expression of the unlimited awareness that we are. Although experience seems to comprise ten thousand things, it’s all the same reality – pure awareness, the very nature of our self. Whatever we call it – God, self, consciousness – it’s important to understand and feel there is a single, indivisible whole that is the essence of our self, everyone and everything we experience. We either allow the appearance of the ten thousand things to veil this shared reality or to shine with it.
Bring this understanding to the world, suggests Rupert in response to a woman who cites the divisive state of US politics and asks for guidance in how to transform the world. Rupert suggests that she bring the understanding that we all share the same being to each situation and tailor it in a way that doesn't inspire resistance.
A person asks if there is a unique talent for each of us, as Krishnamurti says. Rupert responds that everyone does have a skill or talent, and the best way to find it is to follow what we love, and act in the service of joy. Any effort in this direction comes from the love of one's true nature, from this non-dual understanding.
A man asks if he can make this recognition stable or whether he is lacking qualities that would allow him to abide in his true nature. Rupert says that no one lacks the qualifications because we are all conscious, aware being. Using the metaphor of John Smith and King Lear, he explores how we may forget who we are, though we are always only that.
A man describes an experience he had while meditating as a 'sunrise in my heart' and asks for information about this kind of experience. Rupert suggests that these teachings focus on what is always present and makes no distinction about past experiences because what is being pointed to is not an experience.
Rupert suggests that peace is always available, in response to a question about peace that appears to come and go. Rupert leads the questioner in self-enquiry to discover the peace that is always present, which may seem boring, but, absent agitation, is otherwise known as peace.
Rupert suggests different approaches to honouring loneliness in response to a woman who asks how to balance a natural need for connection with the desire to transcend loneliness. Rupert clarifies that we can turn inward and rest in our true nature, where there is no lack, and we can open our self to the loneliness, welcoming it completely with no resistance.
Love your fear, suggests Rupert to a man who says he is stuck in no man's land between love and fear and who needs help with this dichotomy as he doesn't trust love due to deep-seated distrust from childhood.
A woman asks if all feelings, even intuition, are experiences in consciousness. Rupert suggests that everything is an appearance in consciousness. However, some emotions come from the surface of the mind while others, like intuition, come from the deeper layers of the mind.
A woman asks if our experiences are an invitation to our true nature, to be as awareness. Using the image of the screen, Rupert suggests that just as any image on the screen is a portal through which you can become aware of the screen, so too are our experiences.
A woman asks if awareness can be conceptualised. Rupert suggests that any concept puts a limit on its referent, so no, concepts are not accurate, but they are useful if we don't downgrade our concepts to beliefs.
A woman asks if attention can be divided between activity and being grounded as awareness. Rupert responds that most of the time our awareness is lost in the content of experience, and this teaching makes a preliminary distinction between the two. The next step is to merge the two in our self.
A woman fears losing herself in the merging of awareness and the objects of experience. Rupert asks where there is to go to get lost because there is no place to go outside of awareness.
A man asks if there is anything I can do or does everything just happen. Rupert suggests that the question presumes a separate self. Using an analogy, Rupert explains that it would be like asking whether King Lear has control over his three daughters when the real question is who is King Lear.
A man describes feeling unsafe after an ayahuasca experience. Rupert speaks of the shared, cultural boundaries that are crossed during a psychedelic experience. He suggests that the darkness he encountered is not personal, and it may take some time for the mind to settle down again. Rupert suggests that he look after, nurture and ground the mind with steady and stable influences, such as demanding physical activity.
A woman who is reading Being Myself asks what Ariadne’s Thread means. Rupert suggests that it is the thought ‘I', which is the thread that leads us out of the maze. We take and follow this thread to its referent, which is freedom, peace and safety.
Spiritual practice could be broken down into two steps. Firstly, we turn attention away from the content of experience and trace our way inward through layers of experience until we arrive at our essential self. This inward-facing path is the recognition of our self as awareness and our stabilisation in this understanding, abiding as the presence of awareness throughout all experience. Secondly, we turn attention outward towards the content of experience and see everything as an expression of the unlimited awareness that we are. Although experience seems to comprise ten thousand things, it’s all the same reality – pure awareness, the very nature of our self. Whatever we call it – God, self, consciousness – it’s important to understand and feel there is a single, indivisible whole that is the essence of our self, everyone and everything we experience. We either allow the appearance of the ten thousand things to veil this shared reality or to shine with it.
Bring this understanding to the world, suggests Rupert in response to a woman who cites the divisive state of US politics and asks for guidance in how to transform the world. Rupert suggests that she bring the understanding that we all share the same being to each situation and tailor it in a way that doesn't inspire resistance.
A person asks if there is a unique talent for each of us, as Krishnamurti says. Rupert responds that everyone does have a skill or talent, and the best way to find it is to follow what we love, and act in the service of joy. Any effort in this direction comes from the love of one's true nature, from this non-dual understanding.
A man asks if he can make this recognition stable or whether he is lacking qualities that would allow him to abide in his true nature. Rupert says that no one lacks the qualifications because we are all conscious, aware being. Using the metaphor of John Smith and King Lear, he explores how we may forget who we are, though we are always only that.
A man describes an experience he had while meditating as a 'sunrise in my heart' and asks for information about this kind of experience. Rupert suggests that these teachings focus on what is always present and makes no distinction about past experiences because what is being pointed to is not an experience.
Rupert suggests that peace is always available, in response to a question about peace that appears to come and go. Rupert leads the questioner in self-enquiry to discover the peace that is always present, which may seem boring, but, absent agitation, is otherwise known as peace.
Rupert suggests different approaches to honouring loneliness in response to a woman who asks how to balance a natural need for connection with the desire to transcend loneliness. Rupert clarifies that we can turn inward and rest in our true nature, where there is no lack, and we can open our self to the loneliness, welcoming it completely with no resistance.
Love your fear, suggests Rupert to a man who says he is stuck in no man's land between love and fear and who needs help with this dichotomy as he doesn't trust love due to deep-seated distrust from childhood.
A woman asks if all feelings, even intuition, are experiences in consciousness. Rupert suggests that everything is an appearance in consciousness. However, some emotions come from the surface of the mind while others, like intuition, come from the deeper layers of the mind.
A woman asks if our experiences are an invitation to our true nature, to be as awareness. Using the image of the screen, Rupert suggests that just as any image on the screen is a portal through which you can become aware of the screen, so too are our experiences.
A woman asks if awareness can be conceptualised. Rupert suggests that any concept puts a limit on its referent, so no, concepts are not accurate, but they are useful if we don't downgrade our concepts to beliefs.
A woman asks if attention can be divided between activity and being grounded as awareness. Rupert responds that most of the time our awareness is lost in the content of experience, and this teaching makes a preliminary distinction between the two. The next step is to merge the two in our self.
A woman fears losing herself in the merging of awareness and the objects of experience. Rupert asks where there is to go to get lost because there is no place to go outside of awareness.
A man asks if there is anything I can do or does everything just happen. Rupert suggests that the question presumes a separate self. Using an analogy, Rupert explains that it would be like asking whether King Lear has control over his three daughters when the real question is who is King Lear.
A man describes feeling unsafe after an ayahuasca experience. Rupert speaks of the shared, cultural boundaries that are crossed during a psychedelic experience. He suggests that the darkness he encountered is not personal, and it may take some time for the mind to settle down again. Rupert suggests that he look after, nurture and ground the mind with steady and stable influences, such as demanding physical activity.
A woman who is reading Being Myself asks what Ariadne’s Thread means. Rupert suggests that it is the thought ‘I', which is the thread that leads us out of the maze. We take and follow this thread to its referent, which is freedom, peace and safety.