Who Am I Really?

Rupert clarifies that mind and ego are, in fact, not synonymous. If the ultimate reality is consciousness, then the mind is the activity of that consciousness. Minds are consciousness in motion; consciousness is mind at rest. The ego is the belief that what we essentially are is limited by the mind. You can’t have ego in the absence of mind, but you can have mind in the absence of ego.

A man says he is struggling with how simple and insignificant awareness seems to be. Rupert asks him, ‘What is it that is aware of his experience?’ Now imagine removing awareness from your experience. There would be nothing, so it’s quite significant. It is the one element that makes all experience possible. If there were nothing called ‘light’, it would be impossible to see anything. Light renders the world visible. Consciousness is a knowing light.

A woman wonders about when Rupert says ‘consciousness doesn’t know suffering’, how that is possible. Isn't consciousness experiencing everything? Rupert suggests that consciousness doesn't know suffering directly, it knows it through the mind. He uses the analogy of King Lear and John Smith to clarify. She interjects that her body/mind, her King Lear, is always in the way. Rupert leads her to self-enquiry. Pause, and ask, "Who am I Really?'

A woman asks about the sense of separation and suffering and how to remove that barrier. Rupert says there is only one being. Each thought, particle, object doesn’t have its own little package of being. That would be like saying that each character in a movie has their own screen. They share a screen. In fact, the screen is the reality of each character and object. There is just one being. Is-ness is the common factor in everything. Whatever is, is.

A man asks about deep sleep and the absence of experience, which seem nihilistic. Rupert suggests that if we couldn’t distinguish between deep sleep and annihilation we would be terrified to go to sleep, but, in fact, we look forward to it. Sleep is a return to our peaceful being. We don’t remember it because there is no content there to be remembered, We can only remember something with objective qualities. However, it’s not necessary to get rid of the content of experience; what is necessary is to remain in touch with it in the background of experience in the midst of experience.

A woman says that it’s hard for her to think of sharing being with her cat, for instance, versus another human being. Rupert suggests that loving her cat is an acknowledgement of our shared being. That’s what love is. Shared being has nothing to do with emotions. You can dislike someone but still feel that you share your being.

A man asks about non-duality and embodiment. Rupert suggests that the ultimate embodiment practice is to feel that one’s own body, everyone else’s and the entire world is pervaded with and saturated with being. Energy running through your body is just an experience, but it's not relevant to the nature of your being. No experiences are spiritual.

A man references the Zen saying about mountains and rivers and asks if that is the Direct Path. Rupert suggests that the Direct Path is the first step, the recognition of our true nature. Then, going back to mountains and rivers again is over and above the Direct Path. It is the Tantric Path. To remedy sorrow on the inside and conflict on the outside, we discover that we are this inherently peaceful aware being. That’s the Direct Path. We don’t just stay there. We turn around again and reevaluate manifestation in the light of our new understanding.

A woman talks about the desire to pray but wonders what she is praying to. She asks Rupert how he prays, and he responds by reciting a prayer given by the Shankaracharya.

A woman talks about the idea of adjusting her attention to being. Rupert says that love is the bloom of being. Everything shines with being. That’s God’s presence. In fact, all there is is being. Desires that naturally come from lack, naturally subside and are replaced with a sufficiency, a feeling of the fullness of experience. It’s natural to forget; it is our conditioning.

A woman shares that she struggles with the idea of shared being. Rupert suggests that love is the evidence for our shared being; there is no rational evidence. Rupert suggests that it’s best not to ‘know’ what love is because then it is encompassed in the rational mind. When you have the feeling of love, you have the understanding. It can be invoked, but not known with the mind.

A man relays a recent experience of the dark night of the soul. Rupert relays a quote of Meister Eckhart, ‘I pray to God to rid me of God’.He understood that his idea of God stood between him and God, and so he prayed that it be removed. This is the last vestige of separation. Letting go is one of the highest practices of the separate self, but being requires no effort.

A man who is translating ‘I Am’ into Chinese asks about a passage. Rupert suggests that in order to distinguish ‘existence’ from ‘being’ you could say that appearances exist or seem to exist, but they appear in being.

Rupert clarifies that mind and ego are, in fact, not synonymous. If the ultimate reality is consciousness, then the mind is the activity of that consciousness. Minds are consciousness in motion; consciousness is mind at rest. The ego is the belief that what we essentially are is limited by the mind. You can’t have ego in the absence of mind, but you can have mind in the absence of ego.

A man says he is struggling with how simple and insignificant awareness seems to be. Rupert asks him, ‘What is it that is aware of his experience?’ Now imagine removing awareness from your experience. There would be nothing, so it’s quite significant. It is the one element that makes all experience possible. If there were nothing called ‘light’, it would be impossible to see anything. Light renders the world visible. Consciousness is a knowing light.

A woman wonders about when Rupert says ‘consciousness doesn’t know suffering’, how that is possible. Isn't consciousness experiencing everything? Rupert suggests that consciousness doesn't know suffering directly, it knows it through the mind. He uses the analogy of King Lear and John Smith to clarify. She interjects that her body/mind, her King Lear, is always in the way. Rupert leads her to self-enquiry. Pause, and ask, "Who am I Really?'

A woman asks about the sense of separation and suffering and how to remove that barrier. Rupert says there is only one being. Each thought, particle, object doesn’t have its own little package of being. That would be like saying that each character in a movie has their own screen. They share a screen. In fact, the screen is the reality of each character and object. There is just one being. Is-ness is the common factor in everything. Whatever is, is.

A man asks about deep sleep and the absence of experience, which seem nihilistic. Rupert suggests that if we couldn’t distinguish between deep sleep and annihilation we would be terrified to go to sleep, but, in fact, we look forward to it. Sleep is a return to our peaceful being. We don’t remember it because there is no content there to be remembered, We can only remember something with objective qualities. However, it’s not necessary to get rid of the content of experience; what is necessary is to remain in touch with it in the background of experience in the midst of experience.

A woman says that it’s hard for her to think of sharing being with her cat, for instance, versus another human being. Rupert suggests that loving her cat is an acknowledgement of our shared being. That’s what love is. Shared being has nothing to do with emotions. You can dislike someone but still feel that you share your being.

A man asks about non-duality and embodiment. Rupert suggests that the ultimate embodiment practice is to feel that one’s own body, everyone else’s and the entire world is pervaded with and saturated with being. Energy running through your body is just an experience, but it's not relevant to the nature of your being. No experiences are spiritual.

A man references the Zen saying about mountains and rivers and asks if that is the Direct Path. Rupert suggests that the Direct Path is the first step, the recognition of our true nature. Then, going back to mountains and rivers again is over and above the Direct Path. It is the Tantric Path. To remedy sorrow on the inside and conflict on the outside, we discover that we are this inherently peaceful aware being. That’s the Direct Path. We don’t just stay there. We turn around again and reevaluate manifestation in the light of our new understanding.

A woman talks about the desire to pray but wonders what she is praying to. She asks Rupert how he prays, and he responds by reciting a prayer given by the Shankaracharya.

A woman talks about the idea of adjusting her attention to being. Rupert says that love is the bloom of being. Everything shines with being. That’s God’s presence. In fact, all there is is being. Desires that naturally come from lack, naturally subside and are replaced with a sufficiency, a feeling of the fullness of experience. It’s natural to forget; it is our conditioning.

A woman shares that she struggles with the idea of shared being. Rupert suggests that love is the evidence for our shared being; there is no rational evidence. Rupert suggests that it’s best not to ‘know’ what love is because then it is encompassed in the rational mind. When you have the feeling of love, you have the understanding. It can be invoked, but not known with the mind.

A man relays a recent experience of the dark night of the soul. Rupert relays a quote of Meister Eckhart, ‘I pray to God to rid me of God’.He understood that his idea of God stood between him and God, and so he prayed that it be removed. This is the last vestige of separation. Letting go is one of the highest practices of the separate self, but being requires no effort.

A man who is translating ‘I Am’ into Chinese asks about a passage. Rupert suggests that in order to distinguish ‘existence’ from ‘being’ you could say that appearances exist or seem to exist, but they appear in being.