The Direct Path to Peace and Happiness

I just want to make a short interruption Rupert was one of the earliest supporters of the world yoga festival completely not knowing us at all we approached him and said please please please come and talk at our first ever yoga Festival and the thing that went through his mind is I don't do festivals but for some reason he couldn't say no to this day we don't know why he couldn't say no but he said he said of course I will and he came and supported us on our very first festival in 2016 and we've been grateful to him ever since for his support is fabulous and and draws enormous crowds and he's got even more famous in the last few years with his direct past teaching it is really a fantastic approach a direct way of trying to see the reality of what is is non-dualism as at his finest in terms of explanation with tsunami and I have listened to Rupert for many years prior to 2016 always enjoyed those tours and it's a real pleasure to me to know him and he's not very far away from us and so he can just toodle along and come to the festival and it's always always a pleasure to see him there so without anything further ado I would like to invite Rupert thank you so much Rupert real pleasure to have you on our Sunday talks and it's over to you thank you can you can you all see me and hear me - yes you you get good lovely round sets thank you for for your for your kind words it's true I have to confess that you and Sonali are hard to say no - I think it's because of your your beautiful hearts and the the beautiful intention you have to share this understanding with so many people across the world so it's true I am compel them on account of your generosity to always say yes per your invitation if my schedule permits so thank you for inviting me here today so hi everyone I've got my gallery view on so just looking at you thank you for coming to visit me in my sitting room in Oxford this afternoon this wonderful platform it enables us all to feel that everyone has come to visit them in their own sitting room wherever we all live around the world like like indras net so that's beautiful I see a few familiar faces and lots of new friends too so welcome everyone so everybody loves happiness above all else and for this reason everybody seeks happiness above all else and most of us seek happiness through the acquisition of objects substances activities circumstances states of mind relationships etc and whilst these may seem to give us brief moments or periods of peace or happiness in our lives they don't give us the lasting peace and happiness for which everybody longs in fact I would suggest that the reason that each of us is here on this in this gathering today is precisely because our search for peace and happiness in objective experience has failed us and as a result of this failure to secure happiness in the world we have approached religious or spiritual tradition in the hopes that it may be able to provide the happiness for which we learn indeed the search for enlightenment it is simply a refinement however our search for happiness none of us would seek enlightenment if we thought that it would make us miserable on the contrary we seek enlightenment because we feel that it is our last chance for happiness so I'm sure that there are people here from numerous different religious and spiritual traditions and whilst each of those traditions may formulate the understanding that lies at their origin in very different terms if we were to distill the essential understanding of each of these traditions into a single phrase it would sound something like this happiness is your nature what you are happiness itself so this is the great understanding the great open secret that lies at the heart of all the great religious and spiritual traditions happiness is the very nature of our self and it is for this reason that self-knowledge it is really the the core of all the great traditions it's why the words know thyself were carved above the entrance of the Temple of Apollo and Delphine indicating that true knowledge of one's self lies of the very foundation of Western civilization so what does it mean to know oneself it means to know what we essentially are everybody knows their self to a degree if we were to conduct a survey of all seven billion of us and we were to ask the question do you do you know yourself or do you have a sense of being myself everybody would answer yes everybody has a sense of being myself and in that sense everybody knows their self but not everybody knows their self clearly not everybody knows who they essentially are why because most people's knowledge of their self is so thoroughly mixed up with the content of their experience that is their thoughts images feelings memories activities relationships etc that whilst they know their self they do not know this of clearly and it is this lack of clear self knowledge that is responsible for the obscuring or the veiling of the peace and happiness that is the very nature of our self if we want to have access to our innate peace and joy it is first necessary to know ourselves as we essentially are how do we discover what we essentially are we simply discard everything that is not essential to us when everything that is not essential to us has been discarded or let go of only that which is essential in us remains we do not become a new or a spiritual or an enlightened self as a result of this investigation into our true nature our essential self our true nature is simply revealed as a result of this exploration it's the example I sometimes uses the example of getting undressed when we go to sleep at night when we go to sleep at night we take off for discard all our clothes and when all our clothes have been discarded our naked body simply remains or is revealed we don't suddenly become a naked body we are always essentially relatively speaking a naked body that most of the time it is covered with clothes it's exactly the same thing with our with our naked self for our naked being our essential being when we take off all the the layers of accumulated or conditioned experience that is not essential to us an naked being or essential self remains we do not become our naked being or sent yourself it is simply revealed underneath the layers of conditioning more experienced so let's embark on this exploration now ask yourself the question what element of my experience is essential to me only that qualifies as myself for I take for instance our thoughts are any of our thoughts essential to us obviously not our thoughts on continually appearing existing briefly and vanishing when the thought vanishes we do not feel that a little bit of our self vanishes with inde thought is simply and something that appears to us and then disappears we are that which knows or is aware of the thought the thought cannot exist without us that we can be without a thought so thoughts are obviously not essential to us they do not go into the make of our being our being is prior to thought independent of thought likewise no memory is essential to us memories are continually appearing and disappearing in our experience and often there are no memories present but we are always present likewise whatever emotion or feeling may be present it is not essential to us our emotions and feelings are continually appearing existing and then vanishing they are like clouds in the sky no cloud is essential to the sky the sky is essential for the clouds but the clouds are not essential for the sky we are simply that which knows or is aware of the emotion as it appears while it exists and after it disappears we remain ourselves simply open available present aware of the next experience whatever that might be no sensation of the body is essential to us take the tingling sensation of your face or chest or hands or feet all of these sensations appear exist for a while and then vanish none are essential to us we are that which knows or is aware of them my quasar sections of the world sights sounds tastes textures smells all of these are continually appearing existing for a certain amount of time and then vanishing we are that which perceives them we are that which knows them we are that which is aware of them in other words we are noting that we are aware of we are simply the fact of being aware of awareness itself being aware awareness itself is the the one element of experience that never vanishes just take a moment to check this in the truth of your experience and hope I'm not going to say anything today that each of us cannot check in our own experience and validate or verify for ourselves whatever each of us was thinking remembering feeling sensing or perceiving two hours ago has long since vanished but whatever it is that was aware of whatever we were thinking sensing or perceiving two hours ago is still present now aware of whatever it is in each of us is currently thinking sensing nor perceiving everything apart from the fact of being aware changes disappears the fact of knowing being aware or awareness itself is the one constant factor in all changing experience it is so to speak the ever-present background of all changing experience just as the transparent screen is the ever-present background of the constantly changing images in a movie whatever each of us was experiencing two days ago two years ago 20 years ago has changed but the awareness with which we were aware of each of these experiences remains the same the awareness with which each of us was aware of our experience when we were young children it's the very same awareness as that with which we are aware of this experience nothing ever happens to awareness it is ever-present and changes just as speaking nothing ever happens to the screen upon which innumerable movies play just as no movie harms or stains or destroys the screen no experience hurts or scars or destroys awareness we the winners are always in the same pristine condition [Music] notice also that we awareness are not just the knowing element in north experience we are not just the witness of the witnessed or the knower of the known we are also we awareness are also the space or the medium within which will experience arises every thought image feeling sensation or perception that we ever have arises in awareness or in consciousness and I use the two words synonymously see now if you can travel with your attention outside the field of a when see if you can encounter something with your attention that takes place outside awareness it's obvious that our thoughts and feelings take place in awareness what is not immediately obvious is that our sensations of the body and perceptions of the world also take place within awareness the only place if we can call it a place where it is possible for any experience to occur so we could liken our self-awareness to a vast unlimited space or field within which our entire experience arises and notice that whilst the content of experience may be agitated for instance our thoughts and feelings may be agitated we the space of awareness or the presence of awareness with which these thoughts and feelings are known and in which they appear is not itself agitated by them we awareness are as such like the open empty space of a room we are all now sitting quietly and peacefully in our rooms wherever we are at home but we might not be sitting peacefully we could be dancing we could be fighting the space of the room would remain exactly the same it would not share the agitation of our activities in other words it is the just as it is the nature of the space in our room to be unmoved you've returned by xperia takes place within it so likewise we awareness I never disturbed what agitated my whatever takes place in the experience we said we awareness are simply open without resistance to all experience we do not need to be made open through effort or practice of discipline it is the nature of our self-awareness to be open without resistance to all experience unharmed unmoved undisturbed unchanged by experience and this is what it is met his meant in the traditions when it says that our nature is peace we awareness are inherently peaceful and our innate peace has nothing to do with what does or does not take place in experience just as the stillness of the space of the room in which each of us is sitting has nothing to do with whatever does or does not take placed in that space a piece of our true nature does not depend upon the condition not the mind the body or the world it is not necessary to change the content of experience in any way in order to have access to the inherent peace of our true nature just as it is not necessary to turn off the movie in order to touch the motionless screen we are free at every moment to soften the focus of our attention from the content of experience thoughts images feelings etc and allow our attention to come back to ourself come back to awareness when we awareness give our attention to the objective content of our experience thus in most cases overlooking or forgetting our own presence and then we awareness soften the focus of our attention from its objective content and we we come back to ourself this coming back to ourselves this return to our self from the adventure of experience is the essence of prayer or meditation it is the direct path to peace and happiness and notice that just as nothing that takes place in experience disturbs ourself the presence of awareness so nothing that takes place in experience answer anything to us or removes anything from us just as nothing is added to or removed from the screen when a movie begins and ends the screen is always in the same hole condition so likewise we awareness are never aggrandize door diminished my experience we do not stand to gain anything from nor lose anything from experience this does not mean that we awareness reject experience in any way no awareness are totally open without resistance to all experience but what it implies is that we awareness have no vested interest in experience we do not approach experience from a sense of lack seeking to be fulfilled but or completed by it we awareness are already self-fulfilled complete whole in which nothing is lacking and the common name for this absence of lack is of course happiness hence it is said that happiness is our nature a happiness that is prior to and independent of the content of experience you what I am suggesting is not a reason for disengaging from activities and relationships the implication of what is being suggested is simply that we should not engage in activities in relationships for the purpose of seeking peace or happiness if we seek activities and relationships for the purpose of finding peace or happiness we were sooner or later be disappointed and as a result of this disappointment conflict will inevitably begin in our relationships this is not a reason for not having relationships it is simply a reason for not seeking peace happiness and love in them if we want peace happiness or not we should find them where they where they live where they belong that is in our own being and then seek an activity and/or a relationship in which to communicate and share and express and celebrate how innate peace and joy the reason this approach is sometimes referred to as the direct are to peace and happiness is simply because in this approach we go directly to the source of peace and happiness that is our own being our own self we do not go via an object and and I say an object I do not mean a physical object I mean and the objective experience in other words via thinking feeling acting perceiving relating we go directly to the source of happiness in ourselves this is the essence in all the great religious and spiritual teachings happiness is the nature of your being know yourself as you truly are and you will access your innate peace and joy [Music] this is the most important thing anybody could ever discover and having discovered it it is then up to each of us to express and communicate and share this understanding in the world there is no greater contribution we could make to humanity so why don't we begin our conversation now please feel free to ask about anything you like yeah the question yes finish - hi real quick this is guide Street just wait till we can see you on the screen sorry what who is it guide three I think my name shows up is GA hmm have you got your camera on yes Ram can we have guy see on the screen I can't see a name beginning with GA it just says only GA I don't even think it says the whole name I'll check again just go down to the bottom left-hand corner of your screen guy see you'll see a ass plant video icon yeah I can see my side and you I think look what you've gotta put her on speaker view then you can see her alright let's first of all unpin the video and I just in - hi in the group chat so here what my name shows up okay I think I can see you I can see you in the in Indian in the little icons that's fine for now that's great hi hi hi um so we're now actually concentrating on what you're saying I can't come up with a question because I need to shift my focus to you know think of that lesson if you're right yes yes but when I was listening to you earlier in the day maybe I can just refer to something you know it doesn't have to be like from this particular moment but the one that I feel dominates our human experience for me is like you said that you know don't look to relationships and people to fulfill you and come from knowing of this place but sometimes when you're interacting with family I'm sure you kind of that a lot of people have this experience it's you may not be going in there to get the love and affection or fulfill yourself from there but it goes the eat like it you can experience feelings within yourself and you know you can try and remind yourself that I'm awareness but at that time you can't even really remind yourself because you're really in it you can't be aware of the fact that I am NOT this person that I've been taken to be for all these years of my life and I would like to be able to live in the truth and not just have an understanding of it yes so it's true that families are intense yoga's for most of us so whilst you may very easily be able to to sit quietly alone on your sofa at home and recognize that you are the presence of awareness with which all your experience is known and within which all your experience arises or when you're walking with a close friend in nature it's relatively easy to feel this it's much more difficult as you say to feel this when you are with a family member who presses all your buttons and all your own old habits of emotional reactivity come up in the face of this person child sibling parent but actually that the situation is is no different it may be more difficult your your your trigger you you're young your reactions may be triggered far more easily in the face of a family member than they are when you're walking quietly in nature on your own but the fact remains the same you are the presence of awareness with which the unfolding conversation with your family member is known and in which it appears so I recommend using the the relatively neutral times in your life when you're sitting alone at home on your sofa to establish yourself to be knowingly the presence of awareness and then when when the bar is raised for instance with when you're with your family at some point you find we find that our family loses its capacity to trigger us which means loses its capacity to persuade us that we are the old condition per person it loses its capacity to take us away from being established in our true nature of awareness and we may find ourselves one day in a family situation and and our brother or our mother or our Father or our child whoever it is behaves in such a way that would previously have triggered us and now we just feel like the open space of awareness there's no resistance to we don't have to defend ourselves from this person's behavior because spaceman never needs to defend itself it cannot be harmed so why would it defend so no need to defend yourself from your your family members behavior but nor do you feel hurt or upset or triggered by it which means you remain present just witnessing or being aware of whatever is being spoken and you are able to respond to it with love and intelligence instead of responding to it as you might previously have done in the past namely with conditioned emotional reactivity and therefore you bring to bear in this tense family situation your presence at least to a degree brings the peace and the joy and the love that is innate in yourself awareness you bring it to bear on the situation that is your contribution to the family dynamic so may I understand that as for that for a little while if I'm able to stay without interacting or without putting myself in that situation for instance right now it's a lockdown anyway and I'm you know let's say I'm living on my own right now and a second before I came on to this call there was a family's own call going on so for things like that I may not even join I mean it couldn't really make a big difference you over there you could not join but this sorry remind me your name again good guy three guys really I'm going three okay Gayatri it's true you could simply not join but this would postpone the situation now you might argue legitimately that if you were not to join a family zoom for another month this would give you some time to establish yourself in your true nature so that when you returned to your family zone you were better prepared I would recommend that you continue to attend your family zoom conversations and that that you explore what I'm suggesting in the midst of the family zoom conversation you may be as required you may not contribute too much you may see all the interactions and the dynamics going on between everyone you may feel your old reactions being provoked but instead of entering into an argument you just think oh that's just an old conditioned reaction being provoked I'm not going to buy it this time I'm just gonna watch it sail by and you'll find in no time at all that you are able to face your family openly with love and to respond appropriately I thought what you were recommending is that for a little while practice it on your own but when you're alone then that's fine gayatri it it's for each of us to to give ourselves to the the dose that we need if if of course I don't know your situation if if your family situation is extremely inflammatory then yes maybe take a step back for a while consider what is being said and then slowly re-engage with your family for others there may be a little tension in the family situation but it may not be too bad in which case it will be possible to explore what I'm suggesting in the midst of their own family as opposed to in the absence of their family so that is I think for for each of us to to know for ourselves but if you feel that it's better to take a step back for a while then of course that would be even listen to your to yourself yes because the main thing here is to live in the truth whether I'm going in to meet them or not that's secondary my only concern is that sometimes when we get pulled back into shape it may not be that I'm reacting but within myself you know there could be feelings of like I'm not being able to do anything in the situation there are some practical things that need doing with their cooperation and if there's no cooperation I may feel that that's taking my attention away from okay it's for each of us to to know that each of our particular circumstances are different so I can't go into the details obviously but but the the the general principle remains the same be knowingly understand and feel yourself as the presence of awareness and as that presence of awareness turn to meet whatever circumstance you find yourself in be it a family situation or any other situation meet it as this presence of awareness with openness at of reactivity absence of resistance and that wilanów the response you have to the situation to come from love and understanding rather than from reactivity so I wish you the very best bill nice to meet you thank you thank you guys Rico medium there's lots of people with with questions I believe that Mandy Mandy Adams you came on first would you be able to identify yourself turn your video on and ask your question to Rupert what can you hear me I can hear you and see very well yes I wanted to thank you for making the time to speak to us today and for sharing your presence has has really touched me and confirmed in me some of my experience and if I may share a little two weeks ago my sister suddenly died of an unexpected unknown heart condition and in these two weeks it is felt as if I've allowed myself finally I'm almost 50 and I have three young children to feel all of the feelings which I don't think I had ever felt before and from it when you spoke about awareness and it's it's not doesn't go any way I really feel hopeful what's in you and this place of being able to be honest and truthful within my family my immediate family and my larger family has felt this unveiling that you spoke about their son Brayden yes allowing more of myself to be visit aloud because I've had lots of myself through this grieving process which I know we will continue yes and when you spoke today it felt as if a blessing thank you yes thank you for saying that Mandy and I'm glad you said that I'm glad you said this because that this has to have expressed for it very nicely this is what is being suggested is in no way does not imply that we do not feel or that we feel any less in fact rather the opposite for so many people feelings are unbearable they're too painful and we all are in a habit of suppressing them or repressing them in one way or another through substances through activities but but now you feel you have a space of awareness awareness can never be overwhelmed by a feeling it cannot be destroyed by a feeling so no need to resist anymore so actually you feel in this case your your grief for your sister that you may have simply found too painful to experience before but now this so you feel it actually more fully than than you did before but the feeli agrees is also accompanied by this openness and and peace with no need to escape from it no need to to repress it no needs so I'm glad you mentioned that thank you for for saying that yeah thank you thank you Mandy Marie Marie Welsh you were you had a question for Rupert do you want to make yourself available on video yeah three hello yeah we can hear you hello there I'm actually gonna speak I'm under Murray's name my name's Paul Marie's husband okay hi both of you hello Rupert it's an honor to speak to you my god I think I've been following this progress for probably about swellview's mayor when I first met Murray funny enough we started listening to the perils now then I went from there understanding that when you use your senses your escape in your mind because at the time my mind's used to race a lot so that was great liberation of mine gaps then I've gotten to other people guru unis and then I found you and your direct approach really I find it quite easy to get there especially when I'm in nature and it's as if there's there's no sort of fear this is if even death itself nothing seems to worry you because you're in a sense of it's to know him can you formulate your question sorry I've just been diagnosed with cancer okay and basically been researching it and I decided to rather than take normal approach I looked into the marijuana oil and I took it last night for the very first time just to experience what would happen hoping it would cure the cancer during that spell a sense of fear come over me it as if it triggered the the ego off so when I'm in a normal state of well-being my egos pretty much at bay because I'm very well aware of being aware so I use my senses a lot normally start with sound so the question is I felt as if I got a feeling as if this isn't the right way to go all right going by the intuition would I wasn't the knowing of knowing during that experience so is that telling me that's the wrong way to go whether it's a very I think so thank you Paul I'm I'm not a doctor so I'm not qualifying I know you religious I'm not qualified in in any way to comment on how you approach your your cancer there are many different approaches conventional and alternative and it is for you and Murray and and took time to explore all the different avenues and to do to take up whichever you feel ya it's best and of course I wish you the very best in that process what the disc I ignore throws up is of course as you felt intensely nast mine is fear and fear is of course the fear of death yeah I'm going to die I'm going to disappear so the the remedy for the fear of death not not the remedy for your cancer the remedy for the fear of death is to explore who we essentially are is what we essentially are going to die what disappear our thoughts in feelings memories activities relationships all of these are certainly going to leave us with in fact all of these leave us every night when we fall asleep you're not afraid of falling asleep are you you you enjoy for him you see we all enjoy folding a sneek why precisely because everything leaves us our perceptions our activities our relationships even our most treasured relationships our feelings our thought everything leaves us alone in peace in deep sleep that's why we look forward to sleep at night because we are all alone at rest by ourselves so it's not the loss of experience that we fear what we fear is that we will disappear but actually with that is we ourself so if we think and more importantly feel that our self is identical to this Custer of thoughts images feelings activities and relationships that we call the person then we will inevitably believe and feel that when the person disappears we will go with it yeah and that is why this investigation is not only the direct path to peace and happiness it is the ultimate not only the ultimate cure for the fear of death but more importantly it is the best possible approach to our death whenever it might happen because death inevitable means the loss of everything relationships activities feelings perceptions possessions thought everything will be taken away from us apart from the one thing that can never be taken away from us namely our being and when our being is divested of all the qualities that it borrows from experience our being is is divested of its limitations and so it's unlimited being remains infinite or unlimited being and that is the the nature of who we are now although as I said earlier for most of us who we are now is so thoroughly mixed up with the content of experience that we don't feel our naked unlimited being so as death approaches whenever it happens for each of us the best possible approach for it is to is to feel our own naked being an unlimited being and the fear of death is simply because we have allowed our being to become mixed up with the content of experience so that is the gift of illness and I don't need to be facile Paul about the your illness of course it's very challenging for you but the the gift concealed in in the challenge is to intensify this exploration of yourself so that you become firmly as whatever the outcome of your cancer so that you become firmly established in your being and it's innate peace that is the best possible approach to life it is the best possible approach to illness it's the best possible approach to death so I wish you then I wish you the both of you the very best in the coming months as you explore this pond take care thank you thank you very much indeed can we now have Dora Daniel if you want to unmute yourself and make yourself known yeah I'm here it's gonna be me Danielle can I just dump Dan hi and can I just say something in in general not not not to you and not to anyone personally but just in general there's quite a lot of us on this meeting I understand there are quite a few questions so when when we're asking questions just give us just as much background information as we need to know for the context of the question and try and clearly formulate your questions keep them brief and I'll try and do the same in my aunts so Dan nice to meet you yes nice to meet you nice to see you again so the question is coming from something I noticed recently during the lockdown which kind of put in to an extreme something that was noticed already before which is that there is a state of mind or awareness present in my life let's say linear is leaking for more and more longer and longer periods of time and I abide in that and then at the same time there is a part of me that wants to express itself through various ways and during the lockdown as I couldn't do my job I'm a complimentary therapist it is just went to more extreme there is something in me they just slowed down even more I enjoyed it the peacefulness the the tranquila T of authority me that is almost eager or impatient to express itself in in various ways and I just feel this inner tension that is just tiring me or is just like it a bird and this expansion and calmness or tranquility but at the same time is impatience or very I don't know fidgety energion and almost as if my identity think would be kind of swinging between the two yes because it's not it's not you awareness that is feeling impatient awareness never has any agenda with the current circumstance it's simply open without resistance so your impatience does not arise on behalf of I awareness your impatience is a conditioned bundle of thoughts and feelings that arise in you awareness so when you feel this impatience I recommend you you understand but more importantly feel you are the space of awareness and this little tense not of feelings it's just it's passing through you the feelings are impatient they are wanting to get get away from the current circumstance they are tending towards the future but those feelings do not arise on behalf of you awareness they arise on behalf of an illusory self which when sought is never found when you felt that you look for yourself you trace your attention back to yourself you never find any an impatient self you always find the true and only self of infinitely patient awareness I think I I can see that and there is something almost scary that I'm apart from a very simple practical financial aspect like how we've lost you Dan yes I'm afraid we've lost him let's shall we shall we just move on - I'm sorry we seem to have lost you then I'm back okay that's all yeah so there is this scary aspect of this awareness or of this spaciousness that apart from a very practical financial aspect of our life like how do i sustain my my family's life or existence there is a part of me that is just very happy relaxed with doing nothing just so much that I am almost afraid how much this lack of need to do anything to achieve anything to create anything is there the truth is this there's no desire in awareness to seek experience in order to find happiness but it is completely appropriate for you to face your current circumstance which includes by the sounds of it looking after your family and earning a living and there would be no resistance to undertaking that task very fully so if there was any resistance or fear to doing that again that fear would not arise on behalf of awareness it is appropriate for you to look after your family if that's the role that you have in your family to provide for your family financially no no resistance to that you you simply do that happily I think the fear is more whether I can allow myself to not to do anything because there is a very judgement on the question of allowing yourself not to do anything it's a question of allowing yourself to be knowingly the presence of awareness and respond to your circumstances from that perspective sometimes in response to a particular circumstance no activity or no response will be the appropriate response on another occasion taking your stand is the presence of awareness the appropriate response will be some kind of action in fact non action in that case would not it would be the egoic response not the response that is informed by love and understanding so be open if you come if you know yourself as the presence of awareness you will respond appropriately moment by moment with love and understanding to every situation in some situations that will be no response no action in other situations it may mean a great deal of action so what's important is where your response come from don't superimpose no activity on yourself so nice - nice to see you again Danny take care thank you very much Daniel so next is andreas you had a question ok ok hello hi Andreas ok it is difficult for me to formulate the question but I will do the best I'm andreas from Indonesia the question is about attention in the first stages it's like the attention is professor professor into ourselves and then it is about like is there any experience other than knowing the tantric stages I have been following your teaching since eight years ago and my question is after now in the recent month it's like I cannot find the feeling of awareness I cannot find the sensation or the Caiaphas step or like the feeling of knowing is there only knowing it's like and yes it awareness is not a feeling or here's an annotation it is that which is aware of your feelings and all sensations it cannot be found you're quite right you cannot find it as a feeling no can I know can anybody yes but the question is it is okay to or some years yes and it's become like ordinary experience it's like become just just a plain face like it's to begin with for one who has for many years been accustomed to knowing their self as a bundle of thoughts images feelings activities and relationships to to recognize I am the presence of awareness is the first time we recognize it it's an extraordinary revelation it's it's so of course I am that which is aware of my thoughts sensation is reductions I'm not a bundle of thoughts sensations and perceptions but after a while this recognition becomes our new norm and it no longer feels extraordinary it's just feels as ordinary as it used to feel when we felt I am a person I am a bundle of thoughts feelings sensations and perceptions yet it just becomes your new norm okay okay okay yes yes thank you very much man guys take care buddy you're sharing thank you very much so Yannick are you uh are you around to pose your question - yes yes can you hear me yes we can Yannick yes hi honey hi my question is a little story and before that I some month ago I was really lost in kind of seeking success I would say and now I found myself having that piece again but I'm quite afraid of going like engaging in the world and like again identifying myself with the body again and with a person and my question is how can I stay in that awareness while engaging in the other world I mean yeah it's it's quite common for for people to just some conflict between being knowingly the presence of awareness and there in the world and particularly for instance you mentioned success success you might think of the desire for success is an old egoic desire so I shouldn't want to be successful or success would be the sign of an old egoic attention intention someone established in awareness with them this is a misunderstanding it's a very common misunderstanding yawning there is nothing at odds there's no conflict between being knowingly the presence of awareness and leading of fully active life in the world including being successful if that is what is on the cards for you whether we whether we desire success or not or whether we are successful or not is not the issue the issue is on whose behalf does the desire for success arise if you feel full of love and joy if you feel that you share your being with everyone and you are passionate about about sharing that understanding out in the world that then that there's nothing wrong with that because you your passion your desire to communicate is a desire that comes from love it comes from understanding it is not an egoic desire in fact it would be a going to repress that desire that would be a movement of fear it would come from fear lank restriction so all that is necessary is to check not what your motives are but where your motives come from is it do I desire success because I want to be rich or loved or respected or famous that that would be an egoic desire and even if the desire was fulfilled you would still be miserable hmm even if the desire on the other hand comes from from joy from love from kindness from compassion from a feeling that you share your being with everyone and everything and you want to express that in your own unique way then don't curtail your desire express that desire and feel that the full force of the universe is behind you helping you to fulfill that desire and be successful in your endeavor so Janna go out into the world full of passion and love and enthusiasm desire to be successful desire to take love and joy and peace and compassion and humor and warmth of heart out into the world and communicate it with your own unique skills whatever they might be though it's not you yeah you can I wish thank you thank you thank you thank you very much question for your question Yannick sorry three are you around for your question yes I'm here yes I'm here hi roulette hi is it Sonia yes yes hi Sonia and Jill and in the background as well hi so I will formulate the question very very short I hope so I've been in this path of non-duality since the last three years I'm following a master over the Bight of Atlanta and I have a beautiful relationship but I I always find that when I'm with my master in the ashram I have a deepening in my practice and in India's recognize men of the awareness and when I go back to my city and I have to follow my duties and I think I realized that it's harder for me to really interact fully and to be as it said before to Yanni's being passionate about because I feel a big dispassion that is growing and with the lockdown I was in India with my master and then I came back through the lockdown I've been here a couple of months and I spent good time really inspired and after a while slowly slowly start to to increase this dispassion again and I found myself with a big amount of this passion not being even able to out of the bed and so I cannot find it happiness okay okay well I think I answered your question so um Sonia it it's very normal to begin with in order to find or recognize our true nature first of all and then to become established in it we need to shut out the demands of the world because the demands of the world they are so overpowering and overwhelming it's like it's for the same reason that you when you plant a tree in a forest or in a field you clear the soil from around it and you put a fence around it so it is not competing you protect it from the environment in order for it to get strong now when the tree is strong you take the fence around you let the animals roam around it the grass grows up to it the tree is strong enough to withstand the the influence of nature so it's exactly the same here to begin with from for most of us both are external circumstances the world activities relationships and our inner environment thoughts feelings and sensations are so demanding and so intense for most people that we need to distance ourselves from them and for this reason some people put aside a time for and a place for meditation every morning and every evening but also there are places whose purpose is specifically to help us distance ourselves from the demands of X outside and inside experience and such places our monasteries ashrams retreat centers caves etc so you find that when you go where do you live where you know you're in bathrooms when you leave Boston but Barcelona it's a you know it's everything is happening or it's such an intensity I have to say I love it whenever I come to Barcelona to give towards but it's an intensity so you have to go to India to your ass run to your master his presence reminds me of yourself that's already a help but no doubt the ashram is in some beautiful foothills of the Himalayas or in Rishikesh and so circumstances are relatively peaceful compared to downtown Barcelona so again this is a you have placed yourself in in benign peaceful circumstances you're not at work you're not with your family you're just you've put this is the fence around you and it's natural you you it's good to do this and then you come back to the world Barcelona and it's okay for a couple of weeks but sooner or later the old habits creep in so you go back and forth back to your teacher I used to do this for many years for well for several years I used to do this it happen did you used to live in California not in Rishikesh or in India but but so but what I found and I found my experience was similar to your whenever I was was there on retreat it was always though there were no demands a family work etc it was easy just to abide in my street and then I would go home family work etc the the the the the bloom left over from the time I spent with Francis and on retreat it would last for a few weeks but sooner or later I would use it so I would go back again so I've got back and forth like you're doing but what I noticed in time was that when I came back home the piece that I found on retreat would last for longer and longer it was a first of all a few days and a few weeks then a few months and then I would go back maybe this back of her but in the end I could find no difference it was the same and I tested this for many years I kept going back for many years I wanted to make sure that the piece was identical when I was with Francis and friends and in California when I was at home working he wanted to test my piece in the fire of experience and it's very important to do that Sonia so I recommend you keep going back and forth for as long as you need to go back and forth and in time you'll find that the this piece remains with you because its source is not in India its sources in your own being India or your master in India is just he or she is just like a placeholder for awareness he or she isn't he or she is he he is simply an a representation in your mind for awareness and even so you go there and immediately you feel the connection but it's not really him who is providing the peace he is just giving you direct access to your being so in time keep going back and forth to India for as long as you like but really the place to go back to is your being your master is a placeholder for your being and you don't need to go to India to have access to your being you can to begin with at the beginning and the end of your day you can close the door you can sit quietly with your companion meditating or on your own but in time even walking down the streets of Barcelona nothing can take you away from your peace you may still choose to go back to your to your master in India just for the joy of being with a beautiful friend but you no longer go there for peace because you've discovered the unshakable peace of your own being thank you for giving me hope sweet to meet you both take care thank you very much Sonia that's lovely Irina did you have a question you wanted to put to put Irina unmute yourself then we'll move on to Claudia Claudia do you want to put a question to Rupert I'm sure I didn't have my hand up but I I'd love to speak to Rupert hi Vivian hi Rupert okay just a little bit I've only been I don't know how I came upon you but I just did and this was like a year ago I'm just so just so touched that you're right in front of me thank you for coming into my life you know coming into my world you're one of the people that have helped guide me to my awareness to my to that place where where like you said it's hard to put into words but um things just become neutral they don't become any more like a horror and I you know like playing with the mind it's just I just settle in and I and I and I didn't have a real question but I wanted to I want to add you know I can met you there I meet you when you speak when you speak I can settle into that um that not not that this this this moment this um this space right here it's it's it's a grace you know but you got me there you know I have so many other teachers I have at least 10 people that I I go to on a daily basis we're not daily but that I listen to and I and I meet the there and you're one of them and and you brought me more to my help guide me to my awareness of the moment even though the other ones helped me through like the back door and stop it's but but I just wanted to thank you really just thank you so much for just just having to been appeared in my life you know that's just what I needed right now with everything else you know you're great and and you bring me to you know you you put the signs out there and it's up to me to just like settle in and say okay just be there you know be here be here but I thank you that you're that you're here you're you know just great for you I'm touched by your words and I wish you the very best thank you thank you very much Claudia we're now going to go to somebody that's called Ishwara so fabulous name you sure would you like to place your question and hear me yes yes thank teach fun it's foreign yes yeah I've been following your teaching for some time and at the same time I'm practicing from a theosophy find a few I say Internet it's old achieving you need the highest soul and then the divine spark stuff like that from a theosophy find of you having seven layers of a solar system and you know initiations and the Masters and stuff that so it just want to quickly understand your view on it I'm in-between the following one of the erotic practice from this and the same time I'm really touched by your teachings and almost regularly I I am really there when I'm listening to you but the same time this practice I've been doing it for quite some time was it five years really need an answer on theosophy and in the new city and achieving one method higher soul and divine spark and stuff like that I'm not sure if I'm clear on my cash in yes it's worry you you're cutting out a little bit so I but I think I got the gist of your your question your interest in and your practice of theosophy yes I don't know very much about theosophy I'm I know a little bit about it but not not a lot in my very early years in my late teens and early twenties I read a lot of who's been skis writing and he was connected to the theosophy through Annie Besant and so I'm familiar with with what you're with what you're speaking of but not in any great depth so and I understand also that you've been touched by this approach so um ish what I would recommend that you don't make any and I would recommend this for anybody I know that many people who come to this diary Arthur at least percent if not more come to this but already on or already practicing another practice or in another tradition and for many people there can be a conflict a kind of crisis arises in their lives between their old path which they love as you obviously love the path of theosophy the idea is the practice for people that you're you work with and at the same time there is this recognition of the simplicity and the directness of the direct path so that this conflict that you are expressing or this question I don't feel that it's a big conflict in you but the question that you are expressing is very common and my answer to you in particular and to everyone who finds themselves in a similar position is not to make a conflict not to make a problem out of your previous practice or tradition on lineage or teacher and what you are hearing here just incorporate what you are hearing here give it your love and attention you are doing that naturally because you are interested in it follow the the guidelines follow the pathways the meditations that are being suggested and just see where it takes you see how you you're on a pathway and this new possibility has opened up in your life keep keep them both going be open to both don't feel that you have to make a choice between them and just just see how this new approach impacts your your own understanding and just just give just just be open to letting the future unfold don't be don't be rigid about your old practices be fluid be open be open to evolving in understanding growing in understanding be open to this new possibility but don't feel that you have to divorce the old one and and commit yourself to you just let both these pathways unfold in your life and see where they take you that would be my recommendation thank you so much nice tomorrow I wish you the very best thank you thank you penny are you around to ask your question from Rupert anyone my question is does it matter what we do with our human experience with our life the answer is yes you expand on it a little bit if it helps her background I I lost my daughter in the middle of April following a stem cell transplant and at the moment I suppose I was so tied to that as being my purpose taking care of her that I'm sort of open minded and waiting to see what my next job is if you like you have been into the garden has that seemed like a sensible thing to do and to carrying out some projects that she and I had agreed we would do but yeah so just that's what I was just wondering it - woody how do we work out what it is the right thing to do yes okay well yes penny it does matter what we do in our life and this you know the death of your daughter is obviously an enormous event in your life and involves a complete reorientation of your life and it may but it will take some time not not it mate it will most definitely take some time and maybe maybe quite a long time for your life to to find a new purpose because as a mother your your entire life has been so intimately bound up with the life of your daughter look after taking care of us so it's you're not suddenly going to find a new purpose and and and and Gotha it it may take it may take some time it may take a few years not just a you know if you had lost your job it then I would suggest you know maybe a couple of months or or even if you had done had a separation from a relationship that then that that can take a little bit longer but but this is this is bigger than than either of those this is about us intense as experience can get so I would recommend that you don't feel you suddenly need to to find a new purpose in life you obviously want to honor the memory of your daughter and to to bring your memory of your daughter your love of your daughter into your next activity so that you feel in your next activity that somehow you are honoring your daughter and bringing your daughter into the world in the way through through your love of her and through whatever activity you you do that you are somehow you are somehow bringing her it into the world as well through your activity and I would recommend taking as much time as you need for for that process to unfold and to find out what this what this new activity may be but certainly not to feel that in this path somehow that should be disregarded or or not respected that you should somehow be able to get back on track again and no not at all well I'm my heart goes out to you penny I'm I wish you the very best over these next few years they can Thank You penny the next question as logged in serve themselves as Galaxy Tablet a whose can we see your face please galaxy tablet or even galaxy tablet a until then shall we move on to Zoe there I could be galaxy I can see you am on my gallery view okay um so if you start speaking galaxy tab stop speaking and we'll we'll see you I think that's it yeah tell us what your name is is it galaxy no is Julia Julia good okay good hi I just wanted to ask the question let's see how it comes out I've been on this path for quite a lot of years and what I'm noticing now is when I leave aside my thoughts my emotions I can just feel present I can just feel a vibration that I'm alive I'm here I can feel like an awareness even of that and you yeah yeah I mean sometimes there's a lot of forts there there could be a lot of motion guns but I'm finding that I observe that I notice now that I don't react so often you know I just stay quiet and notice the feelings notice what is happening and then if I need to respond and I don't want to make it robotic I don't but um but I'm just wondering if I'm going the right way or mine another kind of fuss aid of the mind no no it sounds fine what you would leave something that's important to understand about this approach is that it's not a way of renunciation it's not about getting rid of any element of experience or changing le element any element of experience changes in the content of our experience do happen as a byproduct of this understanding but not as as it's good not as its goal so the reason I say this is that you mentioned thoughts and feelings yes there are thoughts and feelings no problem for whom are your thoughts and feelings a problem for awareness no does anything trouble that does this space that when you walk into your the room that you're in now does it there's the space of the room ever say oh no I don't like what Julie is wearing today we don't want her in the room with that dress on today no that space of the room never minds what you're wearing what you're saying what you're doing who your waves are so awareness is like that it's like an open empty space open indiscriminate indiscriminate ly choicelessly to all experience so awareness it's never saying oh there should be less thoughts and feelings or they should only be positive thoughts and feelings or anything like that it's only a thought or a feeling that says such things so it as I said it's true that there are as you also observe there are changes to the quantity and quality of our thoughts and feelings as a result of those down quite low down and there's less conflict they slow down and it's far less conflict there's much less suffering so there's much less complaining much less anxiety much less fear but but these are all we don't do anything to try to change our feelings the feelings naturally change in response to this change in our understanding or feeling understanding of ourselves so we don't actually work on the thoughts and feelings themselves and we certainly don't try to get rid of them awareness is open without resistance to all experience this is a so this as I said this is not a way of renunciation or denying it it's a way of understanding and enjoyment here and in this way joy is not it's not the at the end of the path it is at the beginning of the path we start with with the peace and the joy of our true nature that that is the path we don't aim for it in the distant future it see I never moment yeah yes exactly yeah nice to meet you Julie take that's really thank you thank you very much Julie so Zoe are you here to ask your question um have I unmuted myself successfully you have yes yes there you are yes um can I just say how I'd be really touched by how intimate this zoom meeting has felt it's felt very I've been very very moved by this interaction and I feel slightly embarrassed because I feel that this is a slightly trivial question but this is something that happens a lot and has been happening for some time when I'm in the presence of somebody that is speaking from the place from which I feel like you're speaking from I sometimes go into this trance state it's like I've been hypnotized and it's overwhelming and it's not exactly unconsciousness because although I'm not connecting to the content of what you're saying I feel incredibly prescient with the the quality of the sound and it feels like the sound is I am I can't quite explain this but the sound is very um inseparable from my own I'm not able to distinguish me from the sound and it's sort of like sleep but it's not exactly sleep and that's just opposed against an experience of great fear when I try to go to sleep um and there's a great resistance in me to going to sleep and I often don't sleep very much and I'm I don't know I don't quite know what the question is but I wondered if you had anything helpful to say about okay there's two contradictions I feel my connections well the the first the first thing you said it you you express in your own unique way your your your love of truth your love of this understanding the fact that it is your you you have touched this understanding in yourself so you express that on the one hand and then on the other hand you express this this fear that you feel this difficulty sleeping this resistance you you feel when you when you sleep so put these two together sorry when you fall asleep when you when you're when you are lying in bed at night feel first of all that you are the trip trace your way back to yourself understand but more importantly feel I am the open empty space of awareness everything is welcoming within me including my resistance hmm probably up until now your resistance has been the one thing that you have wanted to get rid of so that you can go to sleep yeah so the one thing you may not yet have done is totally welcome your resistance it's a little bit counterintuitive because you think as to get rid of my resistance or my fear then I'll be able to go to sleep no it's the opposite zone you have to totally welcome your resistance so there it's no longer problematic because it is not problematic for you awareness oh ends doesn't have problems it's like the open empty space of a room even just like fighting would not disturb the space of your room so resistance does not disturb the presence of awareness so first of all feel I am this open empty allowing space of awareness and then as that awareness turn towards your resistance and say to it you can say to it out loud in the kind of innocent childish way hatred for years now I've been trying to get rid you I've tried medication I've tried meditation I've tried books on tapes I've tried audible I've tried everything headspace meditations I'm sure you've tried everything whiskey whatever I'm sure you have your own repertoire of things that you've tried none of them have worked try the one thing that you've never tried turning towards the resistance and saying for years now I have been trying to medicate your way or meditate your way to try to get rid of you in one way but one thing I've never done is welcomed you in invited you close so now I'm going to do the opposite just come in you're welcome you stay there's plenty of space for you you stay for as long as you like and the test serene this is very important because you might be inclined to do this this welcoming of the resistance with the subtle agenda of finally getting rid of it and that's that's faking it and tending to welcome it whilst trying to get rid of it so you have to be able to answer yes to the question can I live with you forever the resistance you're welcome in me forever then you know you're not doing this in order to get rid of it and you'll find it's so much easier than you imagined it might be because you are already you don't have to make an effort to make yourself allowing or welcoming you you you you the space for Wen's are already allowing and welcoming well this is some is what in the tantric traditions it's what they call devouring your emotions it's the it's the it's the the approach that was some made well known to many of us through the Grimm brothers fairy story of the mr. toad you know that story you kiss the turd the princess had to kiss not just welcome but to embrace to kiss that which was most distasteful to her and then he turns into a handsome prince so your your fear and resistance is the one element of your life that you would like to be rid of now you have to kiss it start by welcoming it then embrace it then kiss it sooner or later he'll turn into a handsome prince thank you thank you and just to make a comment about your your very first comment about the intimacy of these meetings thank you for saying that because it's entirely my experience to to begin with when I first started doing these online meetings actually well before lockdown although I'm now I'm doing far more often I was very reluctant having been I was rather attached to as I said and to I think he was sense on the other day I used to go regularly to my teacher and there's a community of friends and I was very attached to in person meetings wit and of course I still not meeting people in person so I was very skeptical about the possibility of the extent to which this understanding could be communicated and shared in this virtual platform and I am repeatedly surprised exactly as you say by their by the depth and the quality and intimacy that these meetings have so thank you for mentioning that hm thank you very much thank you very much thank you very much so we can we can we have to final question from Annabelle please I promise that Annabelle would be ok would be it would have won arts area which sorry to a huija who was about to ask her a question okay Anabelle you need to unmute yourself can you hear me now yes we can hear you and see you yes okay but I want I hope but perhaps I misunderstood what you said but somebody said to you does it matter what I do and very quickly you came back and said yes it does and then I began to relate and understand that because from the position of who you really truly are with no agenda does it truly matter what what you do because I you're unlikely from a place of kindness and love and acceptance to be unkind or maybe you are inadvertently because of old conditioning but apart from that does it really matter because if you have no gender why does it matter yes it's true went when Hemme first asked her question in fact I I was rather hasty in my response I I said yes and then she told us about her tortoise like qualified my response but you're right from an above from an absolute point of view awareness is not implicated by experience so from that point of view it doesn't really matter to awareness what takes place in experience it just like it doesn't matter to a screen what the what the outcome of a movie is that the screen doesn't mind whether the bad guys are a court or whether the good guys die or not it's all the same to this case so yes you're right and from an absolute point of view but Ana but we also we we lead embodied lives we're not ascetics living in caves denying the experience of the body denying relation chips denying activities we we have an embodied aspect of our lives and in this approach this aspect of our lives is not denied or excluded so whilst it doesn't matter from an absolute point of view at a relative point of view that is the relative point of view of our embodied lives in the world it does matter what we do and what should we do as an as an apparently embodied person we should lead a life that is consistent with this understanding namely we should lead a life that is consistent with the understanding that the being of each of us is the same being we all share our being and I feel that it is important to lead a life that expresses this and communicates it in some way or another and if old conditioning comes up it needs to express itself that's ok too from point of view it is okay but you know Derek shovin the guy the policeman who killed George Floyd was just expressing his old conditioning yeah is that okay no it's not not from the step from the point of view of awareness of course it's all okay but can you honestly stand by and say it's fine don't take any action it's all the same to awareness I can't I feel compelled by my by my understanding but also my feeling that we all share our being that if I see someone behaving or if I notice any such behavior in myself that is not consistent with the understanding that we share our being in other words that is not consistent with love I feel compelled to respond to respond on behalf of love and doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to go and get involved in the situation but I feel compelled out of love to share my understanding such as it is does it matter ultimately no does it matter relatively yes and I would be surprised Annabelle if you did not feel the same way if you do you have grandchildren for instance if you mind me asking a personal question does it not matter to you very deeply whether your grandchildren are treated kindly and with love I would suggest it does matter to you it does matter to me relatively yes it matters to Molly let's not be too philosophical but it's like when your grandchildren are suffering does it touch your heart no in that case well it matters to you that then that's all you cannot stand by and say my grandchildren are suffering it's all the same to awareness I don't care you do care it does matter to you I do to you how they are treated by their parents by their community by their te you do think it matters you might know and I'm not doubting that your I know you're being sincere of course ultimately it doesn't matter but I don't think you can stand by and saying it doesn't matter if my grandchildren are abused no not to you so it's important that we marry this understanding to our everyday life and then it's not just some intellectual understanding no it matters to me Rupert but I suppose that if I can do something about it I will immediately do something about it if I can't I seem to take my stunts in I don't know how the outcome is going to be because I only know like personal feelings yes Annabelle feelings but that is not Annabelle to feel compassion for another human being is not a personal feeling it is not a feeling that arises on behalf of being a separate person on the contrary it is a feeling that Arai it is compassion is always an impersonal feeling that arises on behalf of love and intelligence so you're right you don't know how your grandchildren are going to turn out what the situation with George Florian of course what we don't know and it could be obviously you are involved in a situation with your grandchildren you have a part to play in their upbringing you're not going to have any direct impact on the destiny of Eric Shaw of interest and so you can't you can't do anything about that but nevertheless you do your your feeling of compassion towards he or your grandchildren Derrick Floyd George Floyd a shovel or anyone else is not a personal feeling it is a okay comes from love and understanding and I feel as human beings relative human beings as you would say it on it is our sacred duty to express to each of us love and understanding such as it is obviously to discuss about this just as a bye-bye thank you very much Rupert really appreciate your time and it is lovely to see you and I'm gonna if you if you I know that we're gonna invite you for the festival next year July next year the dates you have to be there you have to be there Rupert otherwise I'll get all of these people to email you directly that'll serve you right so as I said you're very hard to say and thank you Ram man Sonali and thank you all of you is sweet to be with you all from around the world take take good care

Channel: World Yoga Festival

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Length: 124min 26sec (7466 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 28 2020