Francis Lucille: “What We Are Speaks More Loudly Than What We See”

Francis Lucille was (is?) Rupert Spira’s teacher;

YouTube Notes:

Interview with the spiritual teacher of the tradition of Advaita Vedanta (non-duality) Francis Lucille for Buddha at the Gas Pump.

In this conversation, amongst other things, we explore the intellectual understanding of enlightenment, how our neglected bodies change after becoming awakened and if consciousness is limited. Francis Lucille – Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview:

Francis Lucille was Rupert Spira’s teacher. See https://batgap.com/francis-lucille/

Francis Lucille is a spiritual teacher of the tradition of Advaita Vedanta (non-duality). He became a disciple of Jean Klein, a French Advaita teacher whom he met in 1975.

This was the beginning of a close association that lasted until the death of his friend and spiritual master in 1998.

Jean Klein‘s own guru, “Panditji” Rao, whom he met in India in the nineteen-fifties, was a college professor in Bangalore who taught Sanskrit and belonged to a lineage of traditional Advaita Vedanta teachers. Francis Lucille speaks about one thing: awareness, our true nature, the Absolute.

This is the ancient teaching of non-duality, the common ground of Advaita Vedanta, Ch’an Buddhism, Zen, Taoism and Sufism, the same common ground which is at the core of the message left behind by the founders of all great religions.

In a loving, open, blissfully peaceful manner, Francis leads us to a deep understanding that what we are is love, the pure awareness behind and between all the activities of the mind.

“Everything is created from moment to moment, always new.”

Like fireworks, this universe is a celebration and you are the spectator contemplating the eternal Fourth of July of your absolute splendor. – Francis Lucille’s quote.   SOURCE

What can help you to be aware that you are aware? The cobra-like Rupert Spira

Rupert Spira is a master in several ways e.g. he is a master potter/ceramicist. We often evade simplicity – and throw dust up in our own heart-minds that prevents us from the simplicity of Being and life as-it-is. In several of his videos in answering questions from students he exercises cobra-like focus on not letting the student evade her/his struggle to (not) come to ‘rest as Awareness’.  The potter shapes the pot with hands. The outstanding spiritual teacher shapes his/her students by being what they are, and by their judicious questioning.

Rupert Spira on Awareness

The Daily Quote from Rupert Spira, 24th July 2016
“We are the open, empty, allowing presence of Awareness, in which the objects of the body, mind and world appear and disappear, with which they are known and, ultimately, out of which they are made. Just notice that and be that, knowingly.”

Enrich your life by signing up to Rupert Spira’s Daily Quotes;

http://non-duality.rupertspira.com/quotes

Francis Lucille : 7 mins with Francis – highly recommended

Francis is Rupert Spira’s teacher

Rupert Spira: All that I have ever been is ‘knowing presence’

All that I have ever been is ‘knowing presence’ – Rupert Spira

Bill Carey: The Cornerstone of Reality is Consciousness & the Zen Gateless Gate

I came across an interesting insight by Bill carey on consciousness. Consciousness is a synonym for awareness for some writers on spirituality. My simple distinction is between the physical consciousness and the spiritual awareness. Awareness can be difficult to explain in a Nondual context. “Rupert Spira says;

“By ‘Awareness’ I mean whatever it is that is aware of our experience. By ‘mind’ I mean thoughts and images (although in a wider context I sometimes use the term to include feelings, sensations and perceptions as well.)”

The Bill Carey piece;

“Finally, I came to understand the nature of reality, whose cornerstone
is consciousness:

(a) it is created by the delimitation of perceptual chaos through agreement;

(b) it is unique to each individual; and

(c) we create a cultural consensus regarding the content of “reality”
using language as our tool.

Language is our willed abstraction of our experience, just as identity
is our willed abstraction of what some call “the ground of being.” A
visceral understanding and utilization of these insights constitutes,
in a real sense, the abandonment of all paradigms; at that instant,
one steps through what Zen calls “the gateless gate” (a one-way
passage, by the way.)

But everybody’s got to do it by themselves, because it isn’t teachable
in any current sense of the word, since language merely abstracts the
experience rather than describes it. Yet the experience is available
to everyone. Once again, Zen:

“It is too clear, and so it is hard to see. A dunce once searched for
a fire with a lighted lantern.

Had he known what fire was, he could have cooked his rice much
sooner.” ”

http://www.firedocs.com/carey/happen.html

Rupert Spira weaving love, beauty and presence and other wonderful no-things

‘The Seamless Intimacy Of Experience’ – Interview by Renate McNay

The two books referred to are – ‘Presence: The Seamless Intimacy Of Experience’ and ‘Presence: The Art Of Peace And Happiness’

AWARENESS: inspirations from Baha’u’llah, Abdu’l-Baha, Ken Wilber and Rupert Spira

Earlier today I posted a piece about Deikman’s ‘I = awareness’.

Here are four other teachers on the nature of awareness;

1a) “…..according to the great sages, there is something in us that is “always conscious” that is literally conscious or aware at all times through all states, waking, dreaming, sleeping. And that “ever present awareness is Spirit in us”. That underlying current of constant consciousness (or non-dual awareness) is a direct and unbroken ray of pure Spirit itself. It is our connection with the Goddess, our pipeline straight to God.” — Ken Wilber in One Taste p. 64 – -0-

1b) The one thing that we always are already aware of is….awareness itself. We already have basic awareness in the form of the capacity to witness whatever arises. As an old Zen master used to say, “you hear the birds? You see the sun? Who is not enlightened? None of us can even imagine a state where basic awareness is not because we would still be aware of the imagining. Even in dreams we are aware. Moreover, these traditions maintain, there are not two different types of awareness, enlightened versus ignorant. There is only awareness. And this awareness, exactly & precisely as it is, without correction or modification at all, is itself Spirit, since there is nowhere that Spirit is not. The instructions then are to recognize awareness, recognize the Witness, recognize the Self, & abide as that. Any attempt to get awareness is totally beside the point. “But I still don’t see the Spirit!” “You are aware of your not seeing Spirit, and that awareness is itself Spirit!” You can practice mindfulness, because there is forgetfulness; but you cannot practice awareness, because there is only awareness. Ken Wilber in One Taste: p130

2a) BAHA’I INSPIRATIONS: “Earth & heaven cannot contain Me; what can alone contain Me is the heart of him that believeth in Me, and is faithful to My Cause.” How often hath the human heart, which is the recipient of the light of God and the seat of the revelation of the All-Merciful, erred from Him Who is the Source of that light and the Well Spring of that revelation. …..Those hearts, …. that are aware of His Presence, are close to Him, and are to be regarded as having drawn nigh unto His throne. SOURCE – http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/GWB/gwb-93.html

2b)…..the Essence of God is incomprehensible to the human mind, for the finite understanding cannot be applied to this infinite Mystery. God contains all: He cannot be contained. ….. The whole is greater than its parts. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá – SOURCE – http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/PT/pt-5.html

3) Rupert Spira inspirations: Awareness cannot be found by the mind, in most cases it is deemed missing. And as a result of that, the peace and the happiness that are inherent in it are also considered missing. And hence the imaginary self goes off into the world in search of the missing peace and happiness. And as we all know, it doesn’t live there. Where does it live? In the simple knowing of our own being. It’s knowing of itself, that is, awareness’s awareness of awareness. And it is your innermost experience at all times. It’s not a new experience. It’s not something that has been lost and has to be found. At worst, we could say it has been overlooked, apparently. The screen has been overlooked due to our exclusive fascination with the body, the mind, and the world.
…….. just relax the focus of your attention from the body, mind and the world. You don’t have to get rid of them, just cease being exclusively focused on anything. It’s like withdrawing your attention, it’s like putting the camera slightly out of focus. Your attention flows back to its source which is your self. You just stand as this space of awareness. You just let the body, the mind and the world do whatever they’ve been conditioned to do. Just let them flow by. NB Rupert’s YouTube videos are here – https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rupert+spira+

Rupert Spira: How should I deal with my agitated thoughts?

Rupert in the Youtube video ‘Who is the I who chooses?’ frames the question “How should I deal with my agitated thoughts? – and reveals the ‘shocking’ truth about nondual teachings!

Who is the ‘I’ Who Chooses – Rupert Spira