Conversations with Avant-garde Sages - The Wizard LLC

Conversations with Avant-garde Sages
TRIP: Right on. So Rupert, is there something to do?
RUPERT: If we think and feel that we are a separate entity, doing
something is not an option. It is inevitable. And the reason for
this is the separate entity of the imaginary separate entity –
because there is no real separate entity but the entity that we
imagine ourselves to be is not in fact an entity, it is an activity
already. In other words, if we think we could be our separate
entity, we are already doing something. We are already seeking
happiness, peace and love in the future. That’s what the separate
entity is; it is the search for happiness. So there is no question, if
we feel that we are a separate entity, there is no question of not
doing something. In fact if we feel that we are a separate entity
and we think at the same time that we’re not doing something,
then we’re just fooling ourselves. It probably means we’ve been to
too many Advaita meetings [laughter] and we’ve adopted the new
Advaita mantra of there is nothing to do as a new belief and we
have just added it to our repertoire of beliefs. So, I could imagine
the entity, yes. We are already doing something and as this
imaginary one, the very best thing we can do is to explore and
investigate this entity that we imagine ourselves to be. And if we
do that, we discover sooner or later that this entity is an imaginary
entity. When we look for the “I”, the separate entity, we don’t find
it. We find I, the true Self of awareness. And what is it that finds
that? The only one that is present and aware, capable of finding or
knowing anything. In other words, when we look for the separate
I, we, I, awareness finds itself. And that is what Ramana Maharshi
meant when he said, “When the I is divested of the I, only I
remains.”
TRIP: I feel like I put you on one of those exercise treadmills and
I’ve cranked [laughter] cranked it up to 12 or 13. We’ve got three
more minutes and we’ll say our goodbyes. Okay. So, what is the
one thing the separate self cannot stand? You gave a talk on that.
I’m very curious.
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