The Transparency of Things - Rupert Spira

Excerpt from The Transparency of Things: Contemplating the Nature of Experience, by Rupert Spira


Whatever it is that is seeing and understanding these words, is what is referred to here as 'Consciousness. ' It is what we know ourselves to be, what we refer to as 'I.'

Everything that is known is known through Consciousness. Therefore, whatever is known is only as good as our knowledge of Consciousness.
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The mind has built a powerful edifice of concepts about Reality that bears little relation to actual experience and, as a result, Consciousness has veiled itself from itself. These concepts are built out of mind and therefore their deconstruction is one of the ways through which Consciousness comes to recognise itself again -- that is, to know itself again.

Consciousness is in fact always knowing itself. However, through this deconstruction of concepts, Consciousness comes to recognise itself, not through the reflected veil of apparent objects, but knowingly and directly.

Concepts are not destroyed in this process. They are still available for use when needed.

In the contemplations that comprise this book it is acknowledged that the purpose of reasoning is not to frame or apprehend Reality. However, it is also acknowledged that the mind has constructed complex and persuasive ideas that have posited an image of ourselves and of the world that is very far from the facts of our experience.

These ideas have convinced us that there is a world that exists separate from and independent of Consciousness. They have persuaded us to believe that 'I,' the Consciousness that is seeing these words, is an entity that resides inside the body, that it was born and will die, and that it is the subject of experience whilst everything else, the world, 'other,' is the object.

Although this is never our actual experience, the mind is so persuasive and convincing, that we have duped ourselves into believing that we actually experience these two elements, that we experience the world separate and apart from our Self, and that we experience our own Self as a separate and independent Consciousness.

In the disinterested contemplation of our experience we measure the facts of experience itself against these beliefs.

The falsity of the ideas that the mind entertains about the nature of Reality, about the nature of experience, is exposed in this disinterested contemplation.

All spiritual traditions acknowledge that Reality cannot be apprehended with the mind. As a result of this understanding some teachings have denied the use of the mind as a valid tool of enquiry or exploration.

It is true that Consciousness is beyond the mind and cannot therefore be framed within its abstract concepts. However this does not invaldiate the use of the mind to explore the nature of Consciousness and Reality.

Ignorance is composed of beliefs and belief is already an activity of mind. If we deny the validity of mind, why use it in the first place to harbour beliefs?

By reading these words, we are, consciously or unconsciously, agreeing to accept the validity and, by the same token, the limitations of the mind.

We are giving the mind credibility in spite of its limitations. We are acknowledging its ability to play a part in drawing attention to that which is beyond itself or outside the sphere of its knowledge.

It would be disingenuous to use the mind to deny its own validity. Our very use of the mind asserts its validity. However, it is a different matter to use the mind to understand its own limits.

It may well be that at the end of a process of exploring the nature of experience, using the full capacity of its powers of conceptual thinking, the mind will come to understand the limits of its ability to apprehend the truth of the matter and, as a result, will spontaneously come to an end. It will collapse from within, so to speak.

However, this is a very different situation from one in which the mind has been denied any provisional credibility on the basis that nothing it says about Reality can ultimately be true.

As a result of the exposure of beliefs and feelings that derive from preconcieved, unsubstantiated notions of Reality, a new invitation opens up, another possibility is revealed.

This possibility cannot be apprehended by the mind because it is beyond the mind. However, the obstacles to this new possibility are revealed and dissolved in this investigation.

They are dissolved by our openness to the possibility that in this moment we actually experience only one thing, that experience is not divided into 'I' and other, subject and object, me and the world, Consciousness and Existence.

We are open to the possibility that there is only one single, seamless totality, that Consciousness and Existence are one, that there is only one Reality.

The edifice of dualistic ideas, which seems to be validated by experience, is well constructed with beliefs at the level of the mind and feelings at the level of the body, which are tightly interwoven, mutually substantiating and validating one another.

In the disinterested contemplation of these ideas and feelings their falsity is unraveled. We see clearly that our ideas do not correspond to our experience. This paves the way for experience to reveal itself to us as it truly is, as in fact it always is, free from the ignorance of dualistic thinking.

We begin to experience ourselves and the world as they truly are.

Our experience itself does not change but we feel that it changes. Reality remains as it always is, for it is what is, independent of the ideas we entertain about it.

However, our interpretation changes and this new interpretation becomes the cornerstone of a new possibility.

This new possibility comes from an unknown direction. It does not come as an object, a thought or a feeling. It is unveiled, in most cases, as a series of revelations, each dismantling part of the previous edifice of dualistic thinking.

And the unfolding of this revelation, in turn, has a profound impact on the appearance of the mind, the body and the world.

The Transparency of Things: Contemplating the Nature of Experience, by Rupert Spira
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First 3-Day Silent Retreat in Costa Rica

0Our first silent retreat is finally complete with glowing results, at least it seemed so from the look on participants faces. It was small and intimate, only 5 of us and all women.

Our Zendo

We began on a beautiful, sunny Wednesday afternoon, with plenty of time to settle in private rooms, tour the grounds, and go over the schedule before dinner. After a meal of fresh fish, whole grains, and salad, we gathered for questions and answers in preparation for 3 days of silence. Everyone was ready to enter that now moment arising when we give our full attention to the Source of our Being.

Our Daily Focus

The schedule was very precise, incorporating three 40 minute sittings in the morning, a 2 1/2 hour break for lunch, and another 3 sittings in the afternoon. Sittings were alternated with 20 minute breaks for stretching and personal care. Following the evening meal, there was another sitting followed by a short satsang and & A session. Our only concern was the variable winds that sometimes are very strong in the mountains of Atenas. In fact, our first morning was punctuated by a gust that knocked down and shattered a small vase that held a bundle of sage. So we moved indoors for all of Thursday, only to realize in the evening that we preferred being out of+doors, even with the periodic blusters.

The Buddha Watches....

Though some were certain that maintaining silence would be difficult, each were dedicated to respect it as the medium for realization. We recognized collectively that every Master has pointed to the power of Silence as the gateway beyond concepts and beliefs and into experiential Oneness. Though 3 days is really the minimal amount of time within which the veil of thought becomes noticeable, everyone had a taste of that deep peace pre-existing before the mind takes one step.

Reflecting Stillness...

Saturday, the quiet was so compelling, no one wanted to leave. In silence, we discovered what is behind the rattling of our endless thoughts....just awareness. We used the Awareness Watching Awareness Method as a tool to help us focus our attention on Awareness itself, not easy when the mind is busy narrating everything you do. But all it takes is a glimpse....

Beauty Is...

Thank you to Juan Enrique and Unity of Costa Rica for your continuing support, and thank you M.S., S.V., C.M., and S.C. for your courage, sincerity, and willingness to trust me as your guide. It was truly wonderful to share this with you. Namaste.