Collapsing the Witnessing Position

I had an experience of no-self but now there’s hypervigilance trying to get back there. When I rest as awareness, it feels more local than the original effortless experience. How can I transcend this witnessing position? Rupert says: ‘If you are lost in the content of experience and you superimpose on yourself the idea, “I shouldn’t have to make an effort”, all that’s going to happen is that you’re going to remain lost in the content of your experience. So, you do have to make the effort to extricate yourself. You should find that the more you return to the presence of awareness, the pull of experience gets weaker, and therefore less and less effort is required. That feeling of looking at yourself from behind, that’s the last stance of the separate self. It’s the witnessing presence of consciousness before the witness has collapsed. You can’t really make the effort to stop being the witness. It’s too subtle for effort. When you are there, it’s just a surrender – surrender that last little remnant of localisation.’

From event 30 August - 06 September, 2025 Seven-Day Retreat at Mandali, 30 August–6 September 2025

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