Tag Archives: Rupert Spira

The Cycle Of Changing Perceptions

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This post is the result of some musings of mine that relate to my own journey, but I’m sharing them because I feel that other people will have had a similar experience and may have drawn the same conclusion. Looking back, I would describe my evolution in this life as follows: It seems as though I have gone through two stages and am now going through a third. The first stage is that I’m born into this world and immediately start to be conditioned by my surroundings. My conditioning ensures that as I grow, I lose sight of my true nature and become fully entrenched in “life” and remain completely oblivious to the bigger picture. I’m completely unaware of the grip that the ego has on me and my only understanding of reality is what I see around me and what I’m told by my parents, teachers, peers and the media.

I think that is fairly general and probably applies to pretty much all souls taking human birth. Although, I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule. The conclusion from the first stage is that “I am this body and my reality is the world around me and its inhabitants.”

The second stage starts thus: I feel uncomfortable; there is something missing but I don’t know what it is. I start to seek, but I don’t really know what I’m seeking or how to seek it. Personally, I never felt that I belonged anywhere and this period, which started during my teenage years and carried on until I reached my 50s, was a very difficult time for me. The first place I looked was towards religion. However, the Christian church didn’t do it for me and I just drifted aimlessly for many years, getting more and more confused and feeling more and more isolated. Eventually, I realised that spirituality was far more expansive than my conditioning had led me to believe. I became aware of other forms of spirituality that were more appealing. By the time the 1980s came along my experiences and contacts at that time led me towards Spiritualism. It was also a religion that didn’t do it for me and I walked away for several years.

For various reasons, I ventured back and remained involved for many years. During this time I never considered myself to be a Spiritualist, but through other contacts that I made became drawn towards Eastern religions; particularly Buddhism and Hinduism. In the early 2000s I also acquired a guru in the form of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. What I conclude from this stage is that although Spiritualism pointed out the truth of eternal life to me, it seemed firmly entrenched in the past. In addition and in hindsight, I realised that it encouraged me to become attached to “objects” such as spirit guides, wolves, angels and crystals etc. These things have their place along the way, but ultimately, all objectivity, being dualistic in nature, is an illusion. It was Buddhist principles in particular that brought me to the awareness of “Oneness.”

Other milestones from stage two are that I became aware also of my greatest influences, namely – Paramahansa Yogananda, Neil Donald Walsch, Ramana Maharshi and of course Sai Baba. I read quite a lot of their writings without properly understanding what I was reading.

As I embarked on stage three I was dealing with the realisation that Buddhism and Hinduism, although still very appealing, also did not complete the picture for me. It made me further realise that all religions have their limitations and are mere stepping stones along the way.

I had the knowledge of Oneness but not the knowing. There is a huge difference. We have a habit of gathering lots of knowledge, which generally speaking is the experience of others and not ourselves. Knowing is to know something through the experience of it. An example that is used very often is the fragrance of a rose. How can you know what the fragrance of a rose is like through someone else telling you? You can only truly know by smelling the beauty of its fragrance yourself. A huge help to me has been the “discovery” of Rupert Spira. His videos and writings have helped me greatly to understand in greater depth the works of Neil Donald Walsch and Ramana Maharshi. Also, it’s worth mentioning that the greatest thing that Sai Baba taught me was that at no time would I have a need to worship, or become attached to, his physical form; the physical form being akin to the objectivity mentioned above in stage two.

I can conclude this post by describing my soul’s journey as follows: From the complete knowing of Infinite Consciousness to complete ignorance on embarking on a physical experience. Then awakening to the understanding that I am not a body/mind but making the mistake of thinking that all the answers are in the esoteric and pretty much at one point believing that the world had no significance whatsoever. To the further understanding that the only reality is Consciousness, therefore the world and the esoteric are in fact One, both being projections of Consciousness, by Consciousness within Consciousness.

Will there be a stage four? I don’t know, but what I do know is that one day I will complete the cycle of changing perceptions by returning to the complete knowing of Infinite Consciousness.

Observing Our Own Fear

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According to the likes of Eckhart Tolle and Rupert Spira, it’s quite common for people who are going through a spiritual awakening process to experience the resurfacing of negative traits, which were thought to have been dealt with ages ago.  Not only that, but also to experience feelings of fear, hopelessness and vulnerability.  This is something that I have been very aware of in my own daily existence for the past few years.  However, the fact that I am actually aware of these experiences, is a very positive factor.  I decided on this as a theme for a blog post, because I thought it would be very helpful for anyone who is experiencing the same thing as me.

My understanding of why this happens is because the ego (which doesn’t really exist) knows that it is on borrowed time, and does its utmost to stay alive; as long as there is fear and the derivatives thereof, the ego will continue to thrive.  Normally, we are so wrapped up in our egoic earthly existence, we get completely sucked in by the “story” being told by the mind.  We demonstrate negative traits and feel negative emotions without the awareness of them.  Not in the context that is meant here anyway.

I have written in many previous posts about how we are “the witness” to the drama that is going on around us, and not participants in the true sense.  So, I feel that it is encouraging to know that even though past negatives may have reared their heads, and doubt and fear have crept in, it is not necessarily a bad thing.  Even though these things still don’t exactly feel good, what is good about it is that I am observing these feelings not only within my body, but also as a detached witness who knows that this is not who I am.  With this understanding, all such thoughts and feelings pass through and dissolve away.  The Self is always exactly as it is; ever still, ever the witness and ever reflecting the light of consciousness.  

 

What Meditation Isn’t

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I read something today by Rupert Spira, which is as profound as it is beautiful. The central message is that, “Meditation is not an activity.” I thought I would share it with you.

Photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash

“Meditation is not a state that comes and goes, it is that in which all states come and go.”

“Meditation is simply the natural presence of consciousness.”

Good old Rupert!

Balloons

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Whatever you are doing at this moment, I hope you are keeping safe.  I have decided not to make a personal comment on the current situation because the world and his cat has either suddenly become an expert on all things medical, or they are giving their take and perspective on the spiritual reasons and implications for what’s happening.  Instead I am going to share, what I believe, are a couple of lovely things with you that I found on the internet.  Firstly, I found this on the facebook page of Swindon Spiritualist Centre and Healing Sanctuary (author unknown):

A teacher brought balloons to school and asked the children to blow them all up and then each write their names on their balloon.  They tossed all the balloons into the hall while the teacher mixed them from one end to the other.  The teacher then gave them 5 minutes to find the balloon with their name on it.  The children ran around, looking frantically but as the time ran out nobody had found their own balloon.  Then the teacher told them to take the balloon closest to them and give it to the person who’s name was on it.  In less than 2 minutes everyone had their own balloon.  Finally the teacher said:

“Balloons are like happiness. No one will find it looking for theirs only. Instead if everyone cares about each others they will find theirs as quickly as possible.”

Secondly, I came across this video from the wonderful Rupert Spira:

I really appreciate having you as my blog followers; thank you!

A Truely Delightful Soul

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The plot continues to thicken with regard to my astral adventures.  I have now had the pleasure of the company of a truly delightful female soul, not once, not twice… but three times!  As usual, I have no clue what it is all about or what purpose it serves, but I have had much worse experiences in my life, I can tell you!  Being an advocate of the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and Rupert Spira, I know that the development of attachments to relationships such as these will do my long-term spiritual growth no good whatsoever.  However, it is also true that Zen teaches the importance of embracing the totality.  So, if this experience has come my way in the last few months, I’m going to accept it.

At first, she seemed quite excitable and a bit too playful; to the extent that I was questioning it.  But the two subsequent times we have astral travelled together she has been much more disciplined.  I’m presuming that we know each other from way back, but I don’t honestly know.  What I do know is that she is a really lovely and very affectionate soul.  I’m looking forward to sharing more adventures with her, if that is how we are going to roll; in fact, I’m hoping that even as I type, she is perusing the astral travel brochures and planning our next trip!

A Eureka Moment!

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I had a bit of a pondering today whilst listening to a very profound extract of a Rupert Spira video.  It goes without saying, especially in relation to my earlier life, that watching such videos and reading spiritual books is very valuable in helping us to see the light in this crazy world.  But the more I take in from such media, the more I realise that I never needed the media in the first place.  It’s an old chestnut, but it really is just like being an actor in the theatre who takes on the persona of their character, and when the curtain comes down the actor realises that they are in fact, someone completely different.

I’ve come to the conclusion that my experience today was like a very proficient swimmer diving into a swimming pool, but they decide to wear a rubber ring anyway; just in case.

I really love having Eureka moments.  I think today’s can be summed up thus; all the knowledge that we gain from books etc. is already contained within us.  All we have to do is allow ourselves to Be.  In doing so we are allowing the higher power to work through us on a “horses for courses” basis.  So, whatever we need in any given moment, by way of knowledge, will simply bubble up from the soul.

But, having said that, I can’t deny that I do love the process of actively seeking…

Do Nothing To Achieve Nothing

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It is said that at the final stage of Self-realisation the ego merges into the Self and disappears. However, this would imply that the ego actually exists in the first place. The ultimate reality is that nothing exists except consciousness in its blissful infinite state of pure being; therefore the separate self (ego) only exists from the standpoint of duality, which is an illusion.

The concept of a single, infinite and indivisible whole is not easy for everyone to grasp, so it is perfectly acceptable to approach spiritual practice from a dualistic perspective. However, all of our spiritual practices; meditation, yoga, chanting and the study of spiritual texts, to name but a few, are nothing more than stepping-stones to finding what is already there. I have come to the conclusion that the simplest way to spiritual evolution is to do nothing in order to achieve nothing.

There is a Zen saying that says, “allow yourself to be as a hollow bamboo”, or words to that effect. What it means is to simply allow that higher power, which is your true nature, to operate through you. It is only the ego, the small “I” that needs to “do”. It knows that it ultimately does not exist and is on borrowed time, so it will do all it can to trick us into believing that we are the separate self. The individual soul was formed out of the nothing of the silent and blissful wilderness of Self, but there is never a time when it is not the Self. The trick, for want of a better word, is to understand that it is the individual soul as an ego/body/mind that is the illusion, the individual soul as Self is very real.

So allow yourself to be as a hollow bamboo and let your true nature work through you(do nothing), in order to experience your true nature of nothingness (achieve nothing). Rupert Spira explains this beautifully as, “being aware of being aware”.

Ticking All The Boxes

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self realizationI was browsing on facebook one day when I noticed that a you tube video by a man called Rupert Spira had appeared on my wall. I was attracted by the title and decided to give it a go. To say I was blown away is an understatement and I am now a Rupert convert. This man really ticks all the boxes as far as I’m concerned and he is my current “man of the moment”, relegating Neale Donald Walsch down to #2. He has a very calm, almost deadpan, manner about him and explains potentially complicated subject matter in a way that is mainly easy to understand. In the last video of his that I watched the point of discussion (and this is not word for word, it’s simply my way of explaining things) was about how our true nature is always present but the mind, or ego, prevents us from recognising it. He used the analogy of a cinema screen and a film; how the film is simply a series of images that masks the screen, but whilst it is showing, the screen is ever present although not visible. When the film is over the screen remains.

It is the same principle as our true nature (the screen) being ever present before and after we take birth in the world (the film). Many people still do not understand who they really are simply due to ignorance of their true nature. In the video an audience member asked a question regarding this and Rupert gave the following explanation:

“Ignorance is a point of view; it’s not something that is really there. It’s a way of seeing, it is not something that is seen”

There are many ways to describe our true nature; and they are all accurate. Truth, God, Bliss, Awareness and Consciousness are just a handful of ways to describe who we really are. In the following example Rupert referred to us as “happiness” and he said to the same audience member:

“Happiness is not a state that comes and goes, it is the true nature of consciousness and is ever-present. It reveals itself when the layers of ignorance periodically dissolve away”.

He also referred to:

“the dissolution of thoughts”

as being the cause for happiness to reveal itself. Of course, it has been stated many times before that the infinite, creative force that we know as “God”, of its own will, splits itself into billions of particles and experiences the physical life in order to know experientially what it previously only knew as concept. So, in other words, the infinite voluntarily becomes the finite on a temporary basis. Although the finite is always only an illusion. Rupert describes this phenomenon thus:

“The finite mind is infinite consciousness modulating itself”.

Rupert Spira is one of many wonderful souls on the planet right now who truly are a fountain of wisdom and wonder. I’m not on a commission; honest! but you could do a lot worse than check out this man’s you tube channel. God bless!

Rupert’s you tube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/rupertspira