Conscious TV - programme

Programmes for Rupert Spira

» Other - Rupert Spira - 'Art And Consciousness' - Interview by Chris Hebard

Rupert is a renowned ceramic artist whose book "Bowl" was published in 2004. He works from his studio in Shropshire, England, and has his work exhibited regularly in many prestigious galleries. He is also an advaita teacher and his book on this subject "The Transparency of Things" is available on Non-Duality Press. In this interview Chris Hebard reads quotes from "Bowl" and encourages Rupert to explain in a great deal of depth his feelings about the connections between art and consciousness.

» Advaita - Rupert Spira - 'The Art Of Peace And Happiness' - Interview by Iain McNay

Rupert has appeared on conscious.tv several times before and we very much value his wisdom and clarity. He has two new books coming out on Non-Duality Press this Autumn entitled, 'Presence: The Seamless Intimacy Of Experience' and 'Presence: The Art Of Peace And Happiness' These two deep, intimate interviews are great trailers for these two books.

» Advaita - Rupert Spira - 'The Seamless Intimacy Of Experience' - Interview by Renate McNay

» Advaita - Rupert Spira - 'The Transparency of Things' - Part 1 - Interview by Iain McNay

Rupert Spira first came across the poetry of Rumi at the age of fifteen in 1975. Shortly afterwards he learnt the Mevlevi Turning, a sacred Sufi dance of movement, prayer and meditation. He then met his first teacher, Dr Francis Roles, who was himself a student of the then Shankaracharya of the North of India, Shantananda Saraswati. Under Dr Roles' guidance he learnt mantra meditation and was introduced to the classical system of Advaita or Non-Duality. This formed the foundation of his interest and practice for the next 25 years. At the same time he read everything available by the Russian philosopher, P.D. Ouspensky and learnt the 'movements.' During the late 70s he attended Krishnamurti's last meetings at Brockwood Park, close to his childhood home, and was deeply impressed and influenced by his intellectual rigor and fierce humility. Throughout these years he read and reread Ramana Maharshi and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, on a continual basis. A 'crisis of despair' in the mid 90s led him to the American sage, Robert Adams. Robert Adams died two days after Rupert arrived. However, during the afternoon spent meditating beside his deceased body garlanded with flowers, with a small group of his students, Rupert was told about another teacher, Francis Lucille. Several months later Rupert met Francis. The first words Rupert heard him say were: 'Meditation is a universal 'Yes' to everything'. Although this is the sort of phrase anyone on the spiritual circuit might come across, nevertheless it was a pivotal moment in Rupert's life. 'At this moment I realised that I had arrived home, that this encounter was the flowering and fulfilment of the previous thirty years of seeking' says Rupert. Over the next ten years Rupert spent all the spare time that work and family commitments would allow, with Francis, exploring the sense of separation as it appears in the mind in the form of beliefs and, more importantly, how it appears in the body as feelings of being located and therefore limited. Of the essence of these years, Rupert writes, 'The sense of separation is one of the most extraordinary and intricate creations that appear within Consciousness. Discovering its intricacies and subtleties at the level of the mind and the body, and its ramifications in the world is fascinating, enjoyable, humorous, absurd and sometimes painful. The power of this sense of separation lies in its obscurity. As soon as it is clearly seen for what it is, its apparent ability to obscure what we are from knowing itself is undermined. The clear seeing of ego is its dissolution.' Rupert's first book "The Transparency of Things" is available from Non-Duality books.

» Advaita - Rupert Spira - 'The Transparency of Things' - Part 2 - Interview by Renate McNay

Back to the home page