Part Two: You Have Never Seen Reality: Discover Who You Actually Are in Only Two Minutes | Rupert Spira

Mayim Bialik (0:04)

Hi, I'm Mayim Bialik.

Jonathan Cohen (0:05)

And I'm Jonathan Cohen.

Mayim Bialik (0:06)

And welcome to part two of our conversation with Rupert Spira. He's a leading voice of clarity and contemporary spirituality. He uses the direct path approach, the epitome of the non-dual understanding that lies at the heart of all the great religious and spiritual traditions. You don't want to miss part one of our conversation, but in part two, we talk about why consciousness doesn't evolve, why matter cannot generate consciousness, and why materialism and religion both make the same mistake in trying to help us understand why we're here.

Jonathan Cohen (0:38)

We also talk about why enlightenment is one of the most misunderstood terms in modern spirituality. We also talk about how the non-dualist approach and reconnecting with the core of who we are can happen in an instant and transform how we think, how we feel, and especially how we relate to one another.

Mayim Bialik (0:57)

Do not miss part two. Here is our conversation with Rupert Spira.

Rupert Spira (1:01)

Observe the North American dad, 50s, great polo collection. He enters his vehicle information on Carvana. An offer appears in minutes. Remarkable. He squints, reads it again, smiles and says, dang, that's a good offer. The highest form of approval. No haggling, no hassle. No one called him boss.

He's still on the couch. Astonishing. Sell your car today on carvana.com. Pickup fees may apply.

Mayim Bialik (1:31)

Break it down. What I'm struck by, and this is like one of, you know, Jonathan and my favorite games. One of our favorite games in the hundreds of episodes that we have done here over the years that we've been sitting, talking to people is there are, there are a few messages that are universal.

Whether you're speaking to philosophers, theoretical physicists, healers, internal family systems folks, people like Pete Holmes who have done the work on themselves, there are a few very, very basic universal messages, and everybody's going to get them different ways. Some people are going to go to South America, and they're going to have an ayahuasca experience, and some people are going to do, you know, classic psychoanalysis with a therapist who's also doing Youngie and Shadow work, and some people are going to be in their pottery studio, and they're going to study and learn. Like, I don't know how many ways, you know, Jonathan and I can bring this information to be. I love it, because everyone needs to hear it a different way. But how many times has my therapist told me, unblend from that hurt part, unblend. Like, this is the work that you do.

Rupert Spira (2:45)

Well, Jonathan, you said something very interesting, I think, after the first experiment I did with Mayim. You said something like, that's the most direct way, or that's the, I think you said it's the fastest way that I've ever seen anyway.

If I were to give what I do a name, it would be the direct path. It's not a term that I coined. And the direct path means exactly what you referred to, Jonathan. Just that it's, you go directly from whatever you're experiencing, straight back to your being. Whereas, and I can do that with you two, because I know that you've not only are you knowledgeable and experienced and you've explored these matters, you can't do that with everyone. And that's why the traditions have elaborated so many methods. For some people, for instance, their trauma, their shame, their fear, their sorrow is so intense that they just can't get through it. They can't turn away from it and go all the way back to their being. And therefore, the traditions elaborate more progressive paths that may involve exploring your trauma, your shame, your guilt and to soften up the mind, so to speak, before it's ready to go directly back to being.

Jonathan Cohen (4:09)

The path that you provided was extremely direct. And what I was struck by was, you know, Mayim, who will say often, her mind is so busy, often with song lyrics and endless ideas.

For her to say that it was quiet is actually more striking than I think our reflection and our response to the exercise may have indicated initially. Like I do want to put a really, you know, emphasize this. It's very rare that she ever says something is quiet.

Rupert Spira (4:41)

That's a beautiful observation.

When I asked you the question, Mayim, go back to your being and tell us about it.

I didn't really want you to tell us about it. But I wanted you to go there. To ask you to tell me about it means that you have to experience it. If I were to ask you now, tell me about the tingling sensation at the soles of your feet. You would go to that experience. You wouldn't think about dinner last night. You would go to that experience. I wanted you to go to the experience of being and taste it. And it was beautiful. I didn't comment on it, but you paused. I asked the question, you paused. And then you said, it's quiet. In that pause, you had turned your attention away from the content of your experience. You were not thinking about your thoughts, your feelings, the interview. You just went back to your being and you tasted it. You recognized it and you came back. It's peaceful.