The Nature of Consciousness: Essays on the Unity of Mind and Matter

by Rupert Spira, Deepak Chopra (Foreword), Bernardo Kastrup (Afterword)

Our world culture is founded on the belief that consciousness is derived from matter, giving rise to the materialistic assumption that informs almost every aspect of our lives and is the root cause of the suffering within individuals, the conflicts between communities and nations, and the degradation of our environment. The Nature of Consciousness exposes the fallacy of this belief and suggests that the recognition of the presence, the primacy and the nature of consciousness is the prerequisite for any new paradigm that is to address these issues at their core.

Genres: Spirituality, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Psychology, Meditation, Buddhism, Self Help

205 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2017

About the author

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 Krishna Menon, 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.

www.rupertspira.com

Reviews

[Robert]

** NB - this is a long review, but this is the important piece: if you are interested in self-growth, spirituality, and understanding the nature of the world and your self, please, please read this book.**

What would happen if someone came along and proved the existence of God?
Not much, probably.
At first.

Now, I’m not talking about a booming voice from the sky. That’s a demonstration of God, not proof. And we’ve tried that kind of thing before. Resurrecting the dead and materializing objects out of thin air mostly just gets you in trouble.
No, I’m talking about proof in the mathematical sense, in the system of logic that science is supposed to be based on: philosophical proof.
I’m talking about solving the ontological problem that Western philosophers have been wrestling with for a few thousand years. You’d have to admit that would be pretty significant. At the crux of the attempt at such a thing is the primary dilemma: the question of how consciousness arises from matter. This is historically known as the “hard question of consciousness”. Many people agree that if you can conclusively solve this, you either prove or disprove the existence of spirit, and therefore, God.

You’re going to hear me get pretty excited in this review, and I’m going to make some seemingly outlandish comparisons. But the reason is this: I think Rupert Spira has just written such a proof.
I realize that I am going to come across as over-the-top. I have thought a little about how I can write about the importance of this book without you thinking that I’m just in an irrational fever. But in the end, I see that this is unavoidable, so I’m just going to go ahead and say what I think. But know that I do not write this lightly or out of impulsivity. This book may be – could be (should be?) – one of the most important books of this era.

You know that excitement you feel when you first come across a truly great idea? When you first started to understand Eckhart or Katie? Rupert is not only certainly in this league, but he performs something almost miraculous here: he explains himself using the language and parameters of logic, philosophy, and science. He has used the language of the world to undo itself in the most impressive feat of pure intelligence that I’ve ever witnessed. I have this sense that if people could possibly read and follow what he is saying in this book, it will tip us over the edge of the paradigm that needs to shift: the paradigm of materialism. This might be what we are waiting for, and who.
I mean, I’m not a betting man, but I will gladly wager a few thousand dollars that in 20 years this book will be considered a culturally significant artefact on a global scale. But I will also concede that historically, it often takes us more than a few decades to collectively recognize genius. And let’s be clear that without using that word lightly, I believe this is a work of true genius. It took us a while to catch on to Buddha, to Gallileo, but less time for Einstein – you just never know how open we are, or how sensitive is the 99th monkey. Wouldn’t it be nice if more of us could hear the voices of pure sanity, even when they fly in the face of what we know?

There are different types of genius. Some genius is insightful and creative in a particular domain, such as in music, math or sport. And then there is the genius that somehow makes essential connections across domains, creating new directions of thought that transcend and synthesize often disparate realms. Da Vinci and Shakespeare come to mind. Now, see? You’re thinking that I’ve gone way overboard. I know it. You’re thinking that Rob is just fallen in love with something and these comparisons are ludicrous. And all I can say is: let’s wait and see. Katie may be the enlightened “World Teacher” but she never wrote with pure logic – her voice is one of experience and poetry (not to downplay that!). And Eckhart is a Buddha for our age, but precisely because his teaching is so accessible to so many (which is his brilliance) does it mean that he avoids the meatier challenge of picking the whole system apart with our trickiest and most essential tool: words. Most enlightened beings avoid the philosophical argument. Buddha and Jesus sure did. But that means we are left with metaphor and interpretation. But Rupert goes right into the heart of it. People have often said, “If Eckhart is the what, then Katie is the how.” And I would like to offer this addendum: “Then Rupert is the why”.

Why is it an actual, scientific fact that matter’s essence is a consciousness that unifies all things?
Wouldn’t it be just fucking the coolest thing if someone could finally do what Socrates, Kant, Descartes, St.Anselm, and all the existential and ontological philosophers of the past could never quite get right? In just a few short dozen pages or so, Rupert presents the most airtight, rigidly logical and fiercely factual ontological argument that - to my knowledge – has ever been presented in the Western world. I’m sorry, I want to not sound overly dramatic here, but holy shit folks! Imagine how it felt to be the few physicists who appreciated Einstein’s newly published paper on the general theory of relativity? That’s how I feel.

I’ll admit: maybe this is just me. I’m a strange person. But I’m not stupid. At least not in this realm of thought! But I’m also far from a world authority, I admit. However, this man not only expresses but embodies the truths we have been talking circles around in a way that has shifted my life. Obviously, I don’t expect anyone else to have this reaction to his work. But I see that some people have.

I don’t know what else I can say here but I see that my singular motivation is this: to essentially beg you to read this book and try to understand it. It is important.
This is not just about those of us in “spiritual” pursuits. This is a book that scientists and academic philosophers need to read. And because it is intellectual in its language and logical in its presentation it might just be that the thinkers that inform the rest of the world might grasp some of these ideas and shift the platform upon which the rest of the planet rests.
I realized at the beginning of this book that this is not a “spiritual” book as I was expecting. It is a philosophical treatise. It is (at least the earlier parts of it) an academic work that I feel is akin to nailing pages to the door of the establishment. He is explaining the very old philosophy of nonduality – of advaita Vedanta, but in a way that starts from pure experience, not from belief or mysticism. If ever there was the case of a writer “blowing my mind” it’s this. It is so logical, so left brained, so elegant. It’s just incredible.

Clearly I have drank the Kool-Aid of Rupert Spira. And I will do anything I can do in my own power to meet and speak with this remarkable individual. I mean, if the Buddha or Jesus were alive, wouldn’t you want to hang with them? I’ve met Eckhart, I’ve met Katie. I even went to Ramana’s ashram, but he was long gone. But currently anyway, this feels more personal. Not that he would, but if Rupert tells me to cast away my nets, I’m pretty sure I’d follow him. All the ideas that I stand for, that I have tried to express in my own writings and research (and failed pathetically at!) he nimbly and easily speaks.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m cancelling the rest of my plans for the next while so I can re-read his work.

[Emma]

This book is outstanding. I can’t even for a moment begin to convey how incredible it is, words fall short.

If you are a seeker of truth read it. If you are not a seeker of truth, read it and find the truth anyway.

[Linda McKenzie]

Spira's best book yet. Very simply, if you have a burning need to really understand the nondual nature of reality, this book is a must. And by "understand" I don't mean just intellectual knowledge. It's not possible to have intellectual knowledge of nondual reality, since it transcends the intellect. The book is one long guided introspection that uses words very skilfully to point to that which can only be known directly, non-conceptually. And it's all in very clear, plain English that almost anyone could understand. You feel yourself slipping into a very clear, obvious awareness of being awareness quite effortlessly while reading it. Like Spira's previous books, it's one to take slowly and contemplatively.

Spira also addresses here some common misconceptions and seemingly gnarly issues that crop up for many on this path. He's rendered a great service to all genuine seekers of nondual truth by demystifying it and making it as simple, clear and accessible as it could be without sacrificing depth.

[David McDonald]

A fantastic but flawed piece of philosophy, from the very start Spira lays out an interesting but misguided interpretation of consciousness; playing the sceptic game but not taking his scepticism far enough.

Spira addresses the “mind/matter first” problem by pointing out that everything happens within consciousness (mind), and therefore matter is an unjustified assertion. On page 17, Spira says;
"Any intellectually rigorous and honest model of experience must start with awareness, and indeed never stray from it. To start anywhere else is to start with an assumption"
I would amend "To start is to assume", that is, ANY investigation has to unjustifiably assume that something exists, we (colloquially) exist and that 'we' can make investigations of that 'something'
To pretend otherwise is to be guilty of the very thing Spira is blaming the materialist of doing.

Continuing on, Spira also just assumes consciousness (or awareness) exists. His justification: "We all experience it". Consider someone pointing out assumptions in the mind first hypothesis (like Spira does with the material first hypothesis) as follow;
"There is no such thing as consciousness, there is only chemicals performing reactions and those reactions we identify as consciousness." Any attempt to say "that only happens within a mind" can be retorted (just as Spira does with materialists) by saying "I don't believe in minds or consciousness, I only believe in chemical reactions"

And so on...

Lastly, my biggest contention within this philosophy is that it's unfalsifiable, that is, how would a non-materialistic universe be differentiated from a materialistic one?

With all that said, as a modern theological/spiritual work, this book shines bright. If you are looking for an easily digestible but applicable exploration into Advaita Vedenta Philosophy, look no further, just don't expect its ontology to be respected outside of faith-based communities.

[Martin]

Rupert in his book - The Nature of Consciousness dives into fundamental questions about the universe, the nature of experience and like in all his other books, offers a very clear and direct description of the subject. He does an amazing job describing the indescribable through simple analogies that everyone can relate to. The Nature of Consciousness will challenge the mindset of many readers but for some, it will offer a clear confirmation of everyday experience. For materialists, if read with an open mind, it will surely shake your entire belief system and make you question your interpretation of reality.

Read for the second time now. One of my favorite books on nonduality and consciousness.

[Chetan Narang]

The directness with which Rupert Spira has discussed all of this text is nothing short of a remarkable achievement.

I can definitely see that this book is easily a candidate for being the source for some of the most misinterpreted quotes ever. And that's ironical considering the fact that a significant purpose of this book is the correction of the more prevalent misinterpretations of our time.

But how it works out is how it works out.

[Preston Bryant]

Impeccable.

[Jared Archbold]

Wow

This is the most profound spiritual book I've ever read. I highlighted so many passages there's barely any text left unhighlighted

[Ansha]

Although Spira clearly has thought a lot about the subject and presents interesting ideas, I two main complaints.

First, the thesis of "consciousness is all there is" is hard to prove or disprove by scientific tennets of today and is therefore a weak claim. Spira suggests to extend the scientific method to cover subjective experience, but cannot provide an adequate proposal or means to do so, and spends the majority of his time making claims that may or may not be true.

Second, where Spira makes stronger claims (e.g. there is one infinite consciousness), he doesn't spend a lot of time arguing the logic behind it (e.g. what about the alternative of many infinite consciousnesses)? I'd like to see him spend more time on substantiating his claims, and on anticipating and addressing obvious possible arguments against them. Due to this, there are sections of the book that feel soft.

Spira also spends some time saying that God is the infinite awareness that is aware of itself, which I feel is an unnecessary claim. If he wishes to tie this God to that of monotheistic traditions, then more concrete substantiation is required. Otherwise, I don't personally see why it's necessary to include this here, since I feel it's a distraction for me as an agnostic person.

Spira also repeatedly uses the analogy of a movie playing on a screen (where the body and the movie is the mind) to point out that the screen does not produces the movie. I feel this isn't a great analogy because the movie itself requires writing, acting, directing, filming, and editing to produce, which could be analogous to a real materialistic world, which is antithetical to Spira's arguments.

A summary of some of Spira's claims as I understand them:

All there is is consciousness. We experience everything that we know. It’s impossible to talk about things independent of the experience. There is both subjective and objective experience. Some experiences are replicable by multiple people.

The mind is an activity of consciousness.

The idea that consciousness is derived from matter is hard to explain. Some scientists try to explain it by saying that consciousness is present throughout the universe, and in fact is fundamental to the universe (panpsychism). By claiming this, scientists eliminiate the need to explain how consciousness comes about. However, Spira says that in the analogy of a movie being played on a screen, the screen does not produce the movie.

Spira argues that the non-dual view finds relief from suffering in not believing in a subject of awareness, but this view is ultimately flawed. Spira introduces the topic by explaining the following. An infant doesn’t have any idea that it has a body, or that it’s separate from its mother. There’s a process of individualization that separates the infant from the mother, and forms the infant as its own entity.

Each of our innumerable separate minds is modulated by the same infinite consciousness. Spira explicitly separates his claim from solipsism by saying that is it not just "my" mind that is real.

All experience take place in the eternal now. "Here" is a manifestation of the mind's process that apparently creates an infinitesimal point in the planes of time and space, while it is in fact dimensionless consciousness. When we remember something that we previously forgot, that idea was always in our consciousness, but needed to be coaxed to be put at the forefront.

Spira makes the point that a person X dreaming that they are another person Y living out their full life is analogous to our mind being a process of the collective consciousness. From the perspective of X, Y is fully in her mind. From the perspective of Y, thoughts and feelings are in the mind while the X's dream world is outside it.

A lot of happiness is incorrectly attributed to acquiring of some good, achievement, activity, or relationship, when in fact, it is in the ceasing of the cravings of the mind.

[John]

An exceptionally important book to read. The book is exceptionally repetitious, and could easily have been written in much less than 100 pages. It draws from several Indian traditions, including J. Krishnamurti, and the tantric traditions of Kasmir Shavism, Dzogchen Buddhism. It attempts to be a step by step logical approach to the nature of consciousness. However there are several significant non sequiturs in his logic, as well as some false assumptions, which lead to nebulous conclusions. It almost feels as though the author already had pre-drawn conclusions and attempted a logical path to reach those conclusions. I still feel that it is still valuable, in the sense that it allows the reader to reach new understandings about the nature of consciousness, and that some of the conclusions are not too far off the mark. Just be aware that, although it all sounds quite logical and complicated, based on my own very intense reading, background understanding, and logical progression, it actually is not. As always, each reader must come to his/her own conclusions, which may be even more profound than that which is expressed by the author.

[Phil Calandra]

"The Nature of Consciousness....." is one of the most comprehensive and compelling books written on Advaita Vedenta Philosophy. From my prospective many questions have been answered that other books have failed to address. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this is not an easy book but must be read slowly and diligently; however, in my opinion, it is not beyond the comprehension of the average reader. I would highly recommend it.

[Paul]

Talk about getting real!

This book addresses the question of what is real, what is true, what is this here/now we are experiencing, better than any other writing available. Strong statement, I realize. Every key point written here is verifiable in your own experience. Read this, go to the author’s website and YouTube channel for more, and see for yourself!

[Stephen Wachter]

Revolution

Long held beliefs incrementally change as the rule, but seem to evaporate instantly as Spira unveils a flipped paradigm for science and humanity. “Of course, of course”, was my inner narrative as I arrived, right side up at the end of his book.

[Jodi Kramer]

The most life-altering book I have EVER read. My mind has been blown on many levels. This spurred on an entire spiritual awakening for me. If there is 1 book I will ever recommend to any human being it is this one.

[Carole Brooks Platt]

I'll be writing a blog post on this book shortly.

[Dusica]

This is one of the best books I read in a while. I highly recommend it to those on a spiritual path of non-duality.

[Jacqueline]

I am....

[Zuzana]

Transcendental book. Must read it♥️

[Ari Lohr]

Although it's clear that Rupert Spira does not have a background in writing (this book is, at times, frustratingly redundant) this is still the most cohesive, direct, and "logical" spiritual / philosophical argument presented by any contemporary author (although I wouldn't consider this book an "argument," I do believe that thinking about non-duality in the way Spira presents it is the most useful intellectual path for a materialist to take). From an intellectual perspective, "The Nature of Consciousness" provides a clear -- and, I would argue, essentially bulletproof -- argument for the non-dual model of reality (which I must acknowledge remains, nonetheless, nothing more than a model for a truth which ultimately cannot be explained through language). Moreover, Spira is clear, repeatedly, in expressing his own insignificance as an author or spiritual "teacher" and urges the reader to seek truth, knowledge, and understanding in their own experiences. By presenting the argument in this way, Spira avoids the trap that so many other "spiritual" writers (i.e. Eckhart Tolle) fall into, in which they accidentally frame themselves as some sort of "guru" or "master" through which some sort of divine truth is being expressed. Spira makes it clear that what we consider "enlightenment" is an entirely ordinary, mundane experience, and therefore demystifies our ever-present experience which popular culture has continuously abstracted.

The foreward and afterword -- presented by Deepak Chopra and Bernardo Kastrup, respectively -- significantly enrichen the reader's experience of this book. In particular, Kastrup's afterword provides a compelling empirical lens through which readers can ground Spira's teachings, merging Spira's philosophical statements about the unity of mind and matter with the direct observation of materialist physicists. I would highly recommend reading the afterword and checking out the plethora of different writings that Kastrup references -- they're fascinating.

Spira mentions that he recommends against reading this book if you're a newcomer to the direct path, and I tend to agree. Having read some of Spira's other books, as well as tons of other writings by Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Tolle, etc., I believe that this book is most useful as a tool for supplemental knowledge, padding out the understanding that is more simply expressed in books such as "You Are the Happiness You Seek." Hence, for those of us who have engaged in self-inquiry in a while and want to dive deeper into the non-dual model of reality, this book proves itself to be incredibly useful. For newcomers to Spira's writings, I'd recommend shelfing this one and starting with "Happiness" first.

[Jakob]

What is real? This book puts forth the non-dual worldview, with consciousness as the only tangible reality. It battles the assumptions of matter and world and a separate entity within it called yourself, and through diligent looking at only what we know, agues that consciousness is all that exists, and we are all aspects of that same undivided infinite consciousness.

Rupert Spira is one of the clearest teachers of non-duality, and I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to figure out who they are and what reality is. This book puts into words things that I've wanted to express but couldn't find the words to.

I've taken off one star from my review because it feels repetitive at times, and because my Kindle version was poorly formatted. But with this much clarity and depth, including citations from poets and religious traditions which were greatly appreciated, it's never the less as clear an expounding of non-duality as I've found. I made notes on evey other page when I had that Yes, this rings so true-feeling.

"Our longing for love comes from the intuition of our shared being. It is the longing that resides in the hearts of all apparently separate selves to be divested of their separateness and returned to their original wholeness or oneness. Love is the experience of that oneness of being."

"The knowledge 'I am' that shines in each of our minds and that remains present throughout all experience is the same light of pure knowing, refracted into an apparent multiplicity and diversity of minds. Just as the space in all buildings is the same unlimited space,seemingly divided into a multiplicity and diversity of spaces of different shapes and sizes, so the knowing that shines in each of our minds is the same knowing, only seemingly divided into a multiplicity and diversity of minds by its reflection in numerous bodies".

"The mind can never find, let alone describe, the reality that it seeks, for it is itself the very activity that seems to divide that reality into a multiplicity and diversity of objects and selves, each with its own name and form that can be described in language".

There are people who will scoff at words such as these. I know because I was one. If they dare take the leap beyond their assumptions of the world, there is an abundance of peace that is very hard to describe in words. Rupert Spira does it as well as anyone I've read.

[Avicenna Lover-of-Books]

This is a really complex book to review because its purpose is to articulate a concept, which in itself is not so complicated, that is tricky given the words we have at our disposal. Rupert Spira has spent a lot of time in introspection in his desire to know the nature of "our" consciousness. He has studied a number of spiritual traditions for providing some framework in digging into the nature of his Awareness, which is our Awareness. This included Sufism - a tradition I am familiar with, and also Vedanta and Tantric practices. In his explaination he has thus had to resort to many analogies and keep re-asserting concepts to bring the reader back to his message. My problem was getting stuck with ruminating over the appropriateness of certain analogies - which sometimes was distracting. However, I think this exercise in introspection is important to share to help define and expand upon similar introspections we are undertaking in our own finite minds to "see" the same Observer in us all. This book doesn't explain why infinite Consciousness has chosen to manifest and restrict itself to the finite experience of our lives. Spira's thesis also doesn't touch upon whether Consciousness has the free will to choose, or if it is just its nature to let its creation unfold - just as a dreamer has limited control on his/her ability to dream on command. The assumption seems to be (and I could be very wrong in this assumption) that Consciousness has no agenda - just as biologists who state evolution has no goal. My finite mind seeks refuge in purpose, and it is its basic nature to try to know WHY. If it (my finite mind) is a product of Consciousness, and if we take the premise that creation is a reflection of the creator, then there is likely a raison d'etre.

[Cyrin]

The ideas discussed in this book is based on the foundation that it is only consciousness that is the ever present never changing aspect of a human being, this is self evident through mediation as one become pure observation, i.e. consciousness it self. From here a plethora of ideas emerge dethroning prejudged that has been so obvious but fundamentally wrong. Take the concept of time for example, in primary school we are taught time is something you measure on a clock, in secondary school we are taught time is a function of speed and distance, at University we are taught time is entropy, but fundamentally time is an illusion our mind creates in-order for it to order our experiences. Our bodies and all physical objects are subject to entropy (going from order to disorder), but not consciousness because it is eternal as it doesn't change. An other interesting FACT I got from this book is that we all are the same at the most fundamental level and the sooner we accept that the more peaceful we become. I did like his tangents into religious figures like Jesus epically when Jesus says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” backing up Rupert Spiras idea that consciousness is within all of us and it is the alpha and the omega, the First and Last, the Beginning and the End, Jesus realised he is consciousness or God as we all should.

[Lubomira Cerna]

Kniha je psana moc “eso” stylem. Slozitou formou popsany jednoduche veci. Precetla jsem to jen silou vule. Ale par zajimavych myslenek kniha obsahovala:
- vedomi je vse
- realita se sklada s hnoty a mysli, to je DUALITA. Vedomi je zaklad, hmota je odvozena
- jedine, co pozname je zkusenost
- JA = uvedomeni, JA RIKA MYSL, nikoliv telo!
- kazda realita, zkusenost zacina vedomim. Nevime, co existovalo pred vedomim (protoze si to neumime uvedomit, tak nevime)
- telo je jen serie fyzickych pocitu a vjemu, ktere se odehravaji v mysli! Myslenka telo vytvari!
- vedomi je vecne a vzdy pritomne, je to vecna konstanta
- existence vseho je zavisla na vedomi
- Einstein - pozorovatel muze ovlivnit pozorovane
- jedine, co muzeme poznat je zkusenost - a ta je jen uvedomovani
- W. Blake, snoubeni nebe a pekla (kniha tip)
- abych poznal sve vedomi, musim v nem spocinout. JA jsem zaklad poznani ! Mysl musi poznavat sama sebe ve vedomi. Ja jsem svuj BUH.
- mysl je zrozena z vedomi
- vedomi sdilime s ostatnimi lidmi
- minulost ani budoucnost nemuzeme zazit - jen vecne TEĎ!
- hluboky spanek - to je ciste vedomi nezabarvene mysli
- Pane, Ty sam jsi laskou, jiz te miluji
- Ego = je touzeni nebo strachovani

[Marcel Armstrong]

Hammers in the Understanding

Rupert does an incredible feat putting into words an otherwise ineffable experience. For realizing one's true nature - the nature of consciousness - must be experienced firsthand. Mere intellectual or conceptual understanding will not suffice. This book is a rare gem for those meditators out there to get an articulate formulation of what happens in meditation. And for those who do not meditate, perhaps this book will stir an impulse within to begin the journey.

Rupert has a clearly defined framework for which he bases the consciousness-only model of reality for the individual and indeed all of existence. Ultimately, the interior content of mind and exterior content of matter are reconciled as being and arising from the same source of consciousness.

In these essays, Rupert does repeat his conceptualizations over and over again in different ways. If they are not easily grasped at first, this method does hammer them in.

All in all, this is book is truly remarkable in the scope of its content and depth of its explanations. It has corroborated my experiences in meditation in words, and has compelled me to go deeper into my nature as consciousness.

[Bart Everson]

From time to time I enjoy reading a book that challenges my assumptions, and what assumption could be more deeply held than materialism? Rupert Spira gives me pause to reconsider much of what I take for granted. These essays do have a loose flow, an argument which might be said to build over the course of the book, but I think each stands on its own pretty well. I read the whole thing from cover to cover, slowly. It's excellent bedtime reading, because he returns to the theme of deep sleep repeatedly! These essays are pure, simple, clear, and direct. Sometimes parts seemed a bit repetitious, but I can't deny he drives his points home. There's not a lot of practical advice: for example, Spira talks about the virtue and value of meditation, but you won't find instructions here on how to meditate. What you will find is another way of thinking about — well, almost everything. I'd recommend anyone and everyone pick this up and read the first chapter. If it intrigues you, read some more.

[Emiliano Castillo]

Rupert Spira es tan bueno explicando que a veces puede seguir intentando argumentar un punto que ya entendimos. O tal vez sea porque ya estoy familiarizado con el tema y este es un libro que busca fundamentarlo desde cero.

En cualquier caso, este libro explica la perspectiva no-dualista para quienes prefieren las explicaciones estrictamente racionales. Spira se apoya en muchas imágenes pero sin nunca soltar ese hilo lógico. Probablemente escribió para quienes tienen inclinaciones científicas o filosóficas.

Sobre el contenido. Aunque la perspectiva no-dual que adopta me parece valiosa e incluso coherente con la verdadera naturaleza del mundo, me parece que se equivoca al pensar que con solo este conocimiento, y la practica meditativa, vamos a alcanzar la felicidad y la paz en el mundo que asume que todos queremos. El conocimiento de nuestra mente sólo alcanza para eso, para conocer nuestra mente. Todo lo demás hay que abordarlo en sus propios términos.

[Joel Gray]

WHO AM I? THIS INVESTIGATION DOESNT REQUIRE THE MIND TO DIRECT ITSELF TOWARDS ANDY KIND OF OBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE OR EXPERIENCE. IT IS RATHER A FALLING, SINKING OR RELAXING BACK OF THE ATTENTION, OR THE FOCUS OF THE MINDS KNOWING, INTO ITS SOURCE.

Beneath the restless surface of the mind there is a deeper level that is unmoving, silent and at peace.

Self-resting in and as awareness is the essence of meditation. It is the non-activity in which awareness knows its own being.

Who am I? invites the mind- like a shooting star - away from its customary objects of knowledge and experience the bounds of human thought- and towards pure awareness itself.

The opening of clenched fist is not a new effort, but rather the relaxation of a previous effort that had become habitual and unnoticed.

No experience leaves a trace on awareness. Awareness cannot be harmed, moved, modified, aged, hurt, diminished, enhanced or destroyed by an experience.

[Srinath]

May be I should have read this book earlier. May be not. Explaining consciousness is impossible in English. Any language is made for duality as explained by Ruper Spira himself . But in this book I think he comes the closest to explaining it. He removes mysticism from spirituality. His explanations remove any doubt that consciousness/spirituality is a myth.

Swami Vivekanda's works brought spirituality to the world in the 19th/20th centuries. May be Rupert Spira's works will do the same for us.

One read is not enough for this work. May be it is the new age Bhagavadgita. To be read, implemented (both as a meditation and practice), and realized every single day (using dualist words to express even though time may not exist in pure consciousness)

[Neal Javia]

One of my favorite books. I love Rupert Spira for his clarity. Many writers dabble in obscurantism, which is a form of cowardice because they know that they don't have anything profound to say. Obscurantism is done to write off criticism as a misinterpretation. Rupert Spira, on the other hand, is one of the clearest communicators, and his teachings shine a light on the highest advaita perennial wisdom.

One criticism is that the essays are repetitive. The book could have been written in 50 or fewer pages without losing anything. It feels like the author is not respecting my time. But maybe, it is because I was already familiar with the content before I read the book. For those who are new to this type of content, the repetitiveness may be useful.

[William A Black]

A new articulation of familiar themes

An arresting (or liberating) exposition on fundamental assumptions that form the basis of our current global culture and civilization brilliantly argued and logically presented. This book, and related works, hold the potential to transform the dominant intellectual and metaphysical status quo.
I felt some frustration in the implication that there are only three teachers, one school of Hinduism and one practice that are worthy of mention. Others are passed over with scarcely more than a nod and a wave of the hand.
Nonetheless, this book is a milestone in metaphysics.