Testing awareness in direct experience

From an early age Rupert Spira was deeply interested in the nature of reality. At the age of seventeen he learnt to meditate, and began a twenty-year period of study and practice in the classical Advaita Vedanta tradition under the guidance of Dr. Francis Roles and Shantananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the north of India. During this time he immersed himself in the teachings of P. D. Ouspensky, Krishnamurti, Rumi, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta and Robert Adams, until he met his teacher, Francis Lucille, in 1997. Francis introduced Rupert to the Direct Path teachings of Atmananda Krishnamenon, the Tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism (which he had received from his teacher, Jean Klein), and, more importantly, directly indicated to him the true nature of experience. Rupert lives in the UK and holds regular meetings and retreats in Europe and the USA. Books: The Transparency of Things: Contemplating the Nature of Experience Presence, Volume I: The Art of Peace and Happiness Presence, Volume II: The Intimacy of All Experience The Ashes of Love: Sayings on the Essence of Non-Duality The Light of Pure Knowing: Thirty Meditations on the Essence of Non-Duality Transparent Body, Luminous World: The Tantric Yoga of Sensation and Perception (Book and six MP3 CD Box Set - 30 Hours of Audio) The Nature of Consciousness: Essays on the Unity of Mind and Matter Being Aware of Being Aware (The Essence of Meditation Series) Rupert’s YouTube Channel. Interviews can be listened to here and watched here. Rupert lives in UK and holds regular meetings and retreats in Europe and USA. For all further information see http://www.rupertspira.com. Interview recorded 10/25/014 at the Science and Nonduality Conference. Transcript of this interview 1st BatGap interview with Rupert YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - The Self-Knowing Nature of Consciousness 00:03:58 - The Experience of Awareness 00:06:46 - Directing Attention Inward 00:09:32 - The Experience of Being Aware 00:13:08 - The Nature of Self-Abidance 00:19:37 - The Unnamable Reality of Experience 00:20:10 - Does consciousness need a mind or a nervous system to know itself? 00:23:45 - The Nature of Consciousness 00:26:14 - The Experience of Being Aware 00:28:31 - The Experience of Consciousness Being Aware of Itself 00:31:30 - Knowing Oneself and Consciousness 00:35:01 - Sinking Attention into its Source 00:38:26 - The Relaxation of Attention and the Shining of Peace 00:42:23 - The Illusion of Separate Self and the Fabrication of the World 00:45:10 - The Test of Reality 00:48:47 - Experience as a Coloring of Consciousness 00:52:40 - The Collapse of the Distinction between Consciousness and its Objects 00:55:43 - Compassion for those in difficult circumstances 00:59:33 - Matter as a Perception 01:02:13 - Living with Love and Awareness 01:05:21 - The Universal Feeling-Understanding 01:08:49 - Treating the World with Kindness 01:11:59 - The Longing for Happiness 01:15:16 - The Source of Longing for Happiness and Awareness 01:18:47 - Stepping in the Direction of Discovery 01:21:32 - The Mud Puddle and Living the Words 01:24:46 - The Natural Style of Functioning 01:28:01 - The Presence of Consciousness in Experience 01:32:10 - Trusting Experience and God's Infinite Being 01:35:33 - A Beautiful Gift to Humanity 01:38:07 - Listening during your commute