Ramana Maharshi said this: As each thought arises, one should enquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?". The answer that would emerge would be, "To me". Thereupon one enquires, "Who am I?", the mind will go back to it's source and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source.
I’ve come up with, “Have I stepped out of my own being of peace, love, and happiness?” Yes, if I’m not peaceful, happy, or filled with love. That is the separate self operating. No, if I am. Yes means I need to step back into my being.
That's a really powerful diagnostic tool. I use a similar one. I say....."anything that manifests as "non constructive, wholly negative, hateful, or judgemental is NOT the self, and I know instantly I have drifted away from my true self.
@@PaulMcDonagh-rv6vc Exactly! Or keep it even simpler by noticing when there is discomfort of any kind, including physical discomfort because that sometimes is manifested due to mental/emotional discomfort.
It's unbelievable how strong the feeling of a separate self is. It's not just in our mind and our feelings--I think it goes right down into our genes. During just the little bit of spiritual progress I've made, this old self has told me many times, "Oh no you don't. You think you can just leave me by the roadside and move on? It ain't happening. I am you, and you know it. Wake up and face the fact."
Yeah it sucks we have a subconscious doesnt it. Subconscious meaning stuff we're not aware of with the surface mind. The ego runs so incredibly deep and the most amazing thing is that we werent born with it, we created all that (or most of that) subconscious garbage during our life!
It helps us just live the life and survive, sometimes. The notion sometimes called ego is useful, but in moderation and when seen by us as a separate concept.
"Absorbed In This World, You‘ve Made It Your Burden ,Rise Above This World , There Is Another Vision"(Rumi) “Don’t you know yet? It is your light that lights the worlds.” Rumi Cheers
Amazing stuff! I came across your book a couple years ago in a gem shop I went to with my mom and sis. I wasn't even shopping but your book, Presence: Volume 1, it was sitting in a glass case. Surrounded by a whole bunch of shiny gems, etc. It was a tattered, used book and I was absolutely drawn to it. I asked them to open the case so I could look at it, and I bought the book. Never heard of you, but it was the best decision I ever made. This book has made me and continues to make me look at everything differently anew.I still read it and will be reading Volume 2 soon. Thank you for your amazing teachings.
I wrote a poem explaining exactly what RUPERT is saying. Enjoy! If we inspect what we expect we see that what we expect is suspect! Then suspicion becomes superstition At least that is what I can find! The workings of insanity that comes from a finite mind! And while looking for bliss What's obvious we miss! But through careful observations We let go of expectations and behold the inner kiss! Through revelation comes salvation the return from darkness to light! But I suspect it, yes I expect it! It will come like a thief in the night! And on that day I'm sure we'll say I've discovered Love's infinity! We'll try to reach out To those who doubt They ARE the Holy Trinity! The light we bring And the song we'll sing To those who live in the night It wasn't belief but rather a thief that brought us from darkness to light! All that He stole Was a golden goal That I could wake MYSELF from the dream! With intuition you'll see the suspicion as they walk away and scream! Then suspicion becomes superstition At least that is what I can find! The workings of insanity that comes from a finite mind! ~Rick Willey 9 December 2016
Hey Rick, i love your gorgeous poem and would love to set it to music if you'll allow it. Would be delighted to hear from you by email, jjayberthume@gmail.com - but in any case have a lovely day and thank you for enriching my morning with that delicious read. 💖
Reconditioning my mind seems to me like a battle of a lifetime. The separate self, over decades, have grown in strength and it's foundation is now very strong. My true essence is probably no match for it. It's an endless struggle. One that I'm willing to undertake.
Your true essence IS absolutely a match for it but you will need to acknowledge that to be able to fight the good fight and overcome. When we let go of ego the battle subsides.
Sidenote: I really feel the language struggles while speaking about spiritual. To an outsider not having experienced any of this we must sound (read) like a bunch of wackos. Mr Watts touched om this subject a lot!
Also be careful that when you notice thoughts that come from the separate self, that you don't begin to judge yourself and feel guilty about them. That way you are actually enhancing the separate self by a mislead self-enquiry.
I battle with this. As i notice self criticizing thoughts i pay attention to the feeling and try to stay with my breath. But it is hard to allow those thoughts without immediately resisting what has always been seen as a bad habit. Then i criticize my criticizing thoughts as i try to ignore and not give them power i can feel my resistance to my Habits which is sending me in circles as im trying to slow down
@@hdjrnekro I have the same problem and I just realized 10 mins ago via another video of Rupert Spira that whenever anxiety and anxiety ridden thoughts appear I impulsively try to engage myself on RU-vid- reading Eckhart Tolle's book, watching Netflix... Something anything that's pushes the feeling down and in a day or two it springs up again. Every time I think, I had beaten it.. The feeling appears with a new thought and I began to resist it, by engaging in activities.... The feeling is the constant but the thought varies. Any suggestions?
This reminds me of the slogan or cliche= In it but not OF it. I'm glad Rupert shows us how to stay in and with the world/life but not be consumed by it.
I so like how Mr. Rupert is clear how we move from intellectual understanding of these topics to embodied and existentially authentic and experienced reality via some kind of Practice.
I had the experience tonight of the sudden revealing of the lack of an actual “I” that I was talking to in my own head. I didn’t realize that I hadn’t yet become aware of the fact that the “I” is illusory. I had the sudden understanding that it is almost like the metaphorical “play of light” that is the cause of a mirage that he mentions sometimes. I have been non-doing the aware of being aware non-practice. And also once I even experienced the spontaneous melding of the objective world and my self i.e. the meaning of non-duality. That melding happened as I was walking up a hill and felt like i wasn’t actually going anywhere because it was all a part of me... or just me. But I was surprised to discover that I have not yet truly understood that the personal I really is an illusion. And the funny thing is that I was literally turning a corner when I was babbling to myself saying “I think that I should...” and the realization of that “Am I two people?” that Echart Tolle says he asked himself when he first disassociated from himself (but associated instead with everything in general I assume) and came to realize the illusory self that thought has created. I figuratively turned a corner in my understanding of what’s real while literally turning a corner! I ,the finite, illusory “I”, hope that I can keep having that understanding. Or maybe it’s the true I of awareness that hopes so. Or can the true I hope? Whatever the case, how to keep this understanding? I want to define the understanding precisely and wrap it up in a neat little package for future use... if not now.
@J.Pumpkin, be careful about defining this realisation and keeping it in a nice little package for future use. A realisation is most potent when it occurs, don’t let it rest, it’ll lose potency. The postponement to use it in future is actually a trick of the illusory self to save itself from the immediate danger of realisation. You had this realisation 1 year earlier and you would’ve already felt the result of postponement.
I still like the old term "ego" even if the new teachers don't use it but seeing that the ego "hides" in the body as FEELINGS is a powerful insight! LOL, I FEEL hungry, horny, thirsty, tired, excited, bored, on edge FRIGHTENED .....most of those are coming from my ego more the the Real me! "Who is: hungry, horny, frightened, bored, on edge, tired, nervous......????" ....... 'me'.... the EGO! Thanks, Rupert.
An inspiration to look closer, and closer yet. How wonderful to see you/Rupert, step into the tough job of helping us all move along. I'm sure there are sacrifices. Very generous of you.
Clark Kent I had severe OCD and medication, anafranil, helped my thoughts settle enough to find these teachings and follow them, something that would have been much harder to do before. These sorts of teachings based on awareness, along with psychedelics (though this is person and context dependent), and of course, meditation (I can’t stress this one enough) healed me and continue to heal me. Diet also plays a big role as well. Taking care of ourselves can be hard during a mental illness, and we may even feel unworthy, but these basic needs, like diet, movement and simple breathing can be revolutionary in their own way. My heart goes out to anyone who has had or has OCD or any other distressing mental hurdle. I know from experience that OCD can be cured, and the moment it is cured is when one stops chasing that cure and comes into the present moment, the “I am”.
@@zain4019 serious mental illness is like the deepest possible separation from the true self... sometimes I wonder if there is ever a possibility of getting back or is it permanent in time and space... on the other hand, even a shattered consciousness is what is perceived, the only release in this/my situation... take care
WoW...How wonderful to have the fine-tuning of old beliefs exposed and dissolved...Abiding as Awareness simply 're-aligns and re-wires' any and all seemingly appearing issues...Thanks for posting !!!
Rupert has said that "abiding as Awareness" isn't actually correct as it implies something that can or cannot "abide"-something conditional in other words and Awareness isn't conditional-Awareness is eternally Awareness. :)
saidas108 In using our limited language, concessions are made and understood when discerned. Actually, 'no- thing' is absolutely correct when language or the spoken/written word is used, but that's a given !!!
Roger Drayton I didn't say anything about "nothing" or "no-thing"; I did about "abiding". I was just making the same point about the word that Rupert has, but as you please. :)
saidas108 When we talk, I have lots of questions on this video. Please be prepared because I feel that there is important steps to be learned and questions as to what happens when the body/mind gets it (knowing past the deepest roots keeping us planted in place).
The feeeling aspect of the separate self is something that few seem to recognise.... after the conscious self has recognised the situation ie,... well done Rupert...
As a new subscriber, "I" was thinking "Oh, no point of watching Rupert's older videos from six years ago, it's probably not as accurate or up to date as his most recent ones". But my gosh, his wisdom is infinite... as we all are. Much love.
Superb! Recognition of the true self as awareness; the need for mind training and body purification of the thoughts and feelings arising out of the sense of the seperate self.
I think it's okay to recognize that there's a separate body/mind/self that we are associated with and interact with. It's not "illusory" in the sense that it doesn't exist. It's "illusory" only in the sense that we are not FUNDAMENTALLY or ONLY it . . .
Jeez! Just so wild how Rupert Spira seems to have totally hit upon a clear, simple, contemporary way of talking about the human experience of reality. It is astoundingly validating and helpful and encouraging and motivating. Ha ha! Thank you! The thing really then sticking out is the "realignment"... "be relentless about that... eventually you will erode that..." I totally get how it "takes 20 minutes" to think things through to reality... it'll be great when I'm actually myself again! lol!
It can take a lifetime to live as pure Consciousness/God in the world. It's an ongoing, re programming of beliefs that we are more than just our separate selves...eroding these thoughts and feelings thru Meditation takes time
Precisely! It’s not enough to know. The target is to live second by second with this knowing. And this should be natural and easy, but ... Meditation helps. I don’t know why.
It can be a pretty tall order to reach the point of successfully diminishing the influence of the limited self's thought generation as I can attest to even after years of Self Inquiry. They can readily have a disproportionate influence since they have been associated with our habitual conditioning for so long.
Nice piece of advice , just backtrack the origination of rising thought , and come to the point from where it rose . Glad I watched this video , I got validation of a silent yet unlabelled ways I was doing it , sometimes , just sometimes. Now I know.
I would say it is even simpler than that, in my experience. When a thought arises that we immediately feel we should reject, or that raises an uncomfortable sensation or emotion within us, whenever a thought arises that there is any resistance to in the body or the mind, whenever there is a perception in the world we see ourselves resisting, whether it be a person or a happening, notice this space in which the experience arises, this thought, that sensation, that perception. Notice the space in which this resistance arises. What is this experience made of? What is this thought we resist, this sensation we run from, the perception we reject made of? What is this experience made of? It is pure experiencing, pure knowing, pure awareness that this experience is intimately made of. It is the thread and yarn of which all experience - including the sensation or thought that rejects this experience - is made. Simply see the pure experiencing of which all experience is made. All perceptions, all thought, all sensations take on the qualities of knowing, of awareness, of God: peace, joy and love, *no matter what they may be*.
I just came upon this video. This is simple yet powerfully liberating. Is that simple question all you need as an inquiry, or is there more to the process of recognizing finite self ramblings?
Gary Bentlage yes I can relate to what you say here ....my background is buddhist meditation but am open .....Byron Katie's work done properly is brilliant ...have spent time in Burma and currently there ...these amazing people find that the very difficult full lotus meditation is the quick way ...the teachers may believe that westerners ...conditioned to looking outwards can't do it ....the attitude is the results are so good but there is a price to pay .....intense bodily pain .....I'm combining these ways ...but have realised that being in a monastery ...a good one, where indulgence in sense pleasures isn't available, is of massive benefit in cultivating mindfulness .....
"What is living in the light of this awareness look like?" It's certainly not focusing on a litany of thoughts. Gary, when asked the question: "Are you aware?" -- have you noticed a very subtle yet distinct shift in perspective? A gentle yet vivid awareness that you are consciously aware? A sense of closer than close non-objective alive openness, as opposed to a narrow and constricted awareness of only phenomena or other? Notice that everything lives, moves and has its being in this Awareness. Abide here, and your question will be answered (it often takes some time to see more clearly and dissolve deeper into it -- but that's not a problem unless we think ourselves into one;-)
@Gary Bentlage I think he goes on to say as allow teachers of non duality do to say you integrate the feelings you don,t push them away you bring them closer and dissolve them over time have you ever seen some of emerald on the diamond net she is young but very good at explaining ideas such as these.
@@loraly3271 - so true and beautifully said. Stephen, once you get it surrender yourself completely to your true self (AKA- awareness, consciousness, god, truth, reality, what is). This "self" is everything and it is you. Once you wake up to this realization you will understand the poignant reality that you are everything and nothing....If someone would have said this to me even a year ago I would only understand it intellectually, but once it becomes your experience even though it is a simple realization it changes everything. Love and blessings!
So the question still remains. How can one be certain of the origin of the thought. How can one really tell or be sure of the origin of the thought? Every time hear someone try to explain the origin, the answer is always presented as a question.
+jamesvhawk Well, isn't the laboratory to find out the origin is readily available to you right now. Given that you are experiencing "having" a mind and that you seem to be experiencing thoughts "in" that very mind, where do they come from as you observe them? Where do they stay? Where do they go? If you follow them around, you get lost in the forest chasing the butterfly. If you repress them, you are grabbing and crushing the butterflies of thought. Either way, indulging or suppressing them is an involved activity that will distract your attention and thus, occlude the nature of thought. So, it is a matter of relaxing in your lab. Pay attention. Are thoughts solid? Can you hold them? Are they transparent? An energy? Do you own them or make them arise all the time sometimes? Are you comfortable with exploring it and able to accept a direct recognition of their origin? Why does that matter? Well, you may think about the thoughts you are thinking and not notice that you are generating more thoughts about thoughts. If someone attempts to tell you about the origin and nature of thoughts, they can describe processes and kinds of thoughts, but you only get more thoughts about thoughts and that will not be totally accurate or satisfying. Hence, you get questions that often are meant to inspire you to look for yourself...look right into it without expectations.
You don't experience a mind, and you don't have a mind either. You dont even experience thoughs. If you take a thoughs in slowmo you will see that it's a series of letters.
Ya know, I feel like I get this, but when people like Rupert say: "You are awareness", it trips me up. Who or what is this 'I' that is aware beyond the illusory self? I do not see it, I cannot feel it, I cannot touch it or imagine it. So what is awareness? This perception from this body, which is a manifestation of consciousness...is what then? How can I be the infinitely formless, and yet be limited by form? Because infinite can only know itself through the finite? If 'I' were to disappear, what disappears? If consciousness is formless, and I am consciousness, then I disappear once I become one with consciousness right? Appearance or if you prefer, manifestation, is object; so if the illusory self disappears, then nothing is left. Nothing is the basis of everything (obviously) because nothingness cannot by definition ever exist. So...How, given that, can consciousness exist or be experienced independent of object? This used to make so much sense to me and now recently it just feels like I never really understood it, I just thought I did. So, was that all an ego trip? I felt like I was just awareness, many times, it was all so clear. I don't really know what's happened.
I presume the enquiry/questioning relates to meditation and not in hectic day to day life. Pretty hard to question thoughts in a busy work day and can we retrain our thoughts by meditation alone ? I presume not
What I find strange is that lot of spiritual talks talk about ego/the separate/false self like it is an entity in its own right. E.g. "It feels threatened" in this video. And next we are going to talk about it how it is an illusion. How can an illusion feel for itself? An illusion only exists when an observer is misconceiving what is real. Is there still an illusion when you know and see how David Copperfield pulls it of? Because you misconceive, you create the illusion. The illusion doesn't exist in its own right. So don't talk about the ego feeling threatened like an entity in its own right. Yes, the self exists as an illusion, created by the mind. Because your are not seeing the self for what it really is.The false self illusion doesn't feel threatened because it is not there for real. You feel threatened when you believe you are something, and just learned that that something isn't absolutely real. The self is a projection of the mind with a past and possible future. Yet you are awareness which only exists right now. As awareness you can view the self, the self is not false persé. What is false is that you believe that you are that self. View the self for what it is, a projection of the mind. What or who is aware of this projection?
Awareness does not misconceive anything or create an illusion. It simply is not present for most body/minds and until it becomes aware of itself, the false self is the one with the identity of the body/mind. I think Rupert knows exactly what he is talking about and he has to use words to try to explain it and it can be tricky because the separate self keeps jumping back in for most of us.
That is what I mean. For me there is no separate self that keeps jumping in. It is me, and always have been me, and will always be me. I jump back or forth or whatever I do. It is me, me and no one else or anything else but me. Not a separate self or ego, that is not part of me or outside me, or something that I have to fight or make it shut up. It is just me. I identify myself with whatever I identify myself with. It is not like there is an ego that is identifying for me or whatever. I identify. It is me. Seeking holism for me is not looking at things as separate. It is finding those things within myself, that I first thought to be outside of me.
Lori Stark To me it seems you feel threatened by what I wrote. I know Rupert knows what he is talking about. That is not what I doubt. I think the words he has chosen can be confusing with respect to discussing the self as an entity in its own right. At least to me it was. Until I saw through the illusion of self. The existence of the illusion dependends on the observer observing it. The self cant feel by its own as it does not exist on its own. You feel.
Hi Mike, I am so sorry. I really thought I had deleted that comment. After I posted it, I decided it did not come across well. This is all very deep stuff and certainly not a science (yet). lol. It sounds like what you are saying is that there is only one entity. So if the mind is a part of that entity and it creates thoughts that upset us, then who we are is upset. What if the mind is something separate from who we are and we can use it to express who we are and just observe it when it causes havoc. What if the emotions are just things that we can watch and let pass through our human form? I am hoping that who I Am is a peaceful, loving, and joyful being who can experience those things in human form as I use awareness? What are your thoughts about that?
To me, emotions are not something that I simply want to pass by when they arise. To me they are indicators, like pain inside my body telling me that something has to change. Something has to change, that can be me, the situation of what someone else is doing. So te me, emotions are like tools. You can use them. The analytical mind (as a tool) I can use to listen carefully and analyze what the origin of that emotion is and what can or should be done in order to relax it. My intention here will yield a result which I get fed back through life. If my intentions are good, then the result will be as well. If the source of my acts are fear based, then I probably cause more harm than I do good. I have no bridge to the "what am I" question. What I am changes every moment. When I learn to trust and see that I have no beginning nor end, I feel more free to act according to what I really want to be. I really want to be happy and love vs frustration, anger and what not. Sometimes I use the emotion anger or frustration to express how I feel towards my spouse. It always works out well to express that. If that is what I feel, than that is what I have to act upon. No need to change that. I do however want to be cautious that I keep looking out with good intentions and not intentions which contain destruction. But expressing anger or frustration does not include per definition that I want to destruct. Keeping in mind a greater picture that the little me, I am looking out for construction. Dropping illusions certainly help a great deal with all of the above :)
If you're watching all this for fun yeah great! better then netflix n all.. It's immensely difficult to experience brahman in all let alone teaching about it to us ignorant aspirants.. Keep on it until all that separation is undone and you become one with the existence in pure bliss here and now.. Namaste!
Consciousness is like electric current through which different objects like bulb, TV, AC, Computer etc runs in our home; feeling, perception, knowing.... and problem is we try to separate them as different entities..... As no electrical equipments runs without fundamental electric current..... no feeling, thinking,seeing,knowing happens without consciousness..... As Rupert said realizing your pure BEING in experience without thinking, feeling,seeing I.e. MIND is experiencing ENLIGHTENMENT......
