The Miracle of Experience (Video) – Rupert Spira
The Miracle of Experience as described by Rupert Spira describes an approach to enlightenment where experience is explored for its own sake, because it is interesting. It’s actually the most interesting thing going on in the moment. What is this stuff called experience? What is it made of? Is it matter? That suggests that experience is inert; a dead thing. This is not the case at all. Matter begets mind, which in turn begets consciousness. Therefore, experience is very much alive and aware- not dead at all. It never changes or goes away.
Experience is not a practice or a discipline. It is not something you achieve. It is something to be explored for its own sake, simply because it is the most interesting thing going on at the moment. You can think of it like examining the wings of a beautiful butterfly simply because it is interesting and beautiful. One does not experience suffering in order to alleviate it, but simply to understand it as a phenomenon in its own right. One can’t relieve suffering by resisting it or battling it because it is already resistance. It is simply an experience just like any other to be examined because it is interesting; nothing more.
The root of suffering is actually only an illusion. It is a mirage based on the idea of a separate self. All you can do with suffering is look at it to see that it is not really there. You can’t do anything to it any more than you can collect the water in a mirage. All you can do is see it clearly as a mirage and it will vanish. Suffering can only exist in the presence of a belief in a separate self. You perpetuate suffering by trying to get rid of it. Once you realize that there is no separate self it will dissolve, just as a headache dissolves.
Suffering is actually to the mind what pain is to the body. It is a wakeup call. It tells you that something is not right and that something must change. Just as the pain of your hand on a stove tells you to remove your hand for the well-being of the body, so does suffering work towards the well-being of the mind. You have mistaken yourself for a separate being on whose behalf you are thinking, feeling and acting.
Suffering invites you to look at the mirage for what it is: an illusion that is not really there. You may be suffering, but remember that you are not the actual suffering. You at your core are so much more. Enlightenment is an exploration of who you really are and becoming aware of yourself as not a separate entity at all. Confidence and conviction grow to the degree that you realize that separate self does not exist. When you come to understand this, you will be able to relax and smile much more. You will feel lighter and brighter as the days come and go.
Enlightenment is living in an expanded consciousness, which is as natural as natural can be. A contracted state is comprised of old habits that feel natural but are not- much like a clenched fist. Awareness is living in the now, without straining for the next now. This means being fully aware of experience in the present moment without trying to create the next. All the separate self is made of is wanting to become the next moment. What we want to become is the self that is already there. It’s a matter of going backward to where we’ve come from and where we will always be.
The love of truth and the love of beauty are actually the same thing. There is no discipline in truth, as it is actually love. Like doing scales and exercises when playing a musical instrument you tune your body so you can play simply for the joy of playing. It looks serious on the outside, but it is actually very playful and fun. So can the approach to spirituality and thus experience can become much more light, creative and fun.
The miracle of experience just is. It just is.