Rupert (www.rupertspira.com) said that approximately ten percent of our sense of separation lodges in our thoughts and belief systems. Ninety percent resides in the body. This startled me. I would have said the ratio was closer to 50/50–but on closer examination, and remembering how the last seventeen months unfolded, sitting with layer upon layer of painful feelings–I see he is right. Our thought patterns, our beliefs are above ground, and the easiest to address. Feelings, lodged and locked in the body for years or decades–the root bed of the tree–may take more time to dissolve.

The mornings are dedicated to what Rupert refers to as the “laboratory”–the yoga of non-duality. (But not yoga in the traditional sense at all.) He takes us through on-the-spot exercises–sometimes a guided meditation, sometimes a process with eyes open or closed, sometimes in pairs or groups–but always designed to get to the root truth of the feeling sense of separation in the present moment of our experience. There is a lot of silence too.

He addresses the mind in the afternoon talks he gives, and the question and answer sessions afterwards. And there is silence. He calls this the “classroom.”

Silent sittings in the evenings.

Life he refers to as “going out into the field.” Fieldwork. Hence the opportunity to “remain as awareness” is always available.

And all held by the silence.

© Skye Blaine, 2011