The Essence of Being: Peter Russell

Speaking at SAND18 Italy, Peter Russell asks the perennial question: How can we be more at peace? He invites us to pause our thinking and doing and notice what is actually present, and reminds us of what has been reported by all the wisdom traditions - that the essence of being is resting in a natural great peace.

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[jordangould]

Peter Russell is one of the most underrated spiritual teachers of our time.

[zahraexshiatruthseeker]

I'm so overwhelmed. Mr Russell looks like my childhood friend and neighbor I used to call to play cricket with but his name was Ian. Thank you so much for this wonderful spiritual gift 🙏🌹❣️

[PietyOFpaxson]

I’ve been picking and sorting through this type topic for years, and I can’t help but really like this guy. Good to see him on SAND !

[Pindi]

Wonderful talk, as ever. You´ve become a great teacher Peter, many thanks.

[RogerDrayton]

A beautiful simple yet profound inspiring understanding expressed by Peter...Love it...Thanks for posting...
Peace, I A(nama rupa)M !!!

[Marc]

14:51 => I observed (while lying in a dark room with eyes closed) that when my mind starts to imagine something in the past or future, the muscles around my eyes slightly contract. So if you think obsessively, it will manifest as a contracted facial expression over the years....I was not aware of that at all during the last 39 years !

[sujitbaruah]

Other than a very few Indians out of 1.30 billions non of the rest will be able to grasp this outstanding speach although the content of the speach is related to the anciant Indian wisdom.

[sonnycorbi]

What a ‘job’ he has’ the highest calling possible - no matter, we are human BEINGS - we accomplish & then pause to reflect - someone, (a mentor), said to me once, “BE HAPPY IN YOUR WORK” - IF I WERE PLANT LIFE I WOULD BE ONE WITH THE SUM-TOTAL BUT I AM NOT - ACTION - THOUGHT - REFLECTION IS WHO I AM - THE PROBLEM THAT I HAVE - (AS I SEE IT), IS WASTING TIME ON SUPERFLUOUS ENGAGEMENTS (I’M BABBLING- NOT RANTING, BABBLING -

[ToddSloanIAAN]

The essence of being Todd Sloan ...agree with yourself that your mind is busy, too busy in fact. Next, look at your mind and see it wants to control more drama. Now look all through the drama realm of thinking and drop your opinions about any one thing that wants to stay there in focused thought. You are at the beginning of learning how to see Stillness. You want to know what Stillness is? Then practice this; Don't be concerned with it, don't look back into your mind that wants to think of something else instead, rather, stay neutral and empty of thought. No emotion. Now realize you need to take a better breath and put your focus there and stay only inside your body thinking about breathing. Don't worry you won't forget who you are or what your next priority would be. Right here that glimpse is your future in meditating properly. Simply losing your opinion about everything except being in your body to breathe well. All the rest will take care of itself while you meditate. Your first three seconds is great. That's the doorway. Meditating allows you to let go of unnecessary conditions thoughts so you never have to weed out a thing to change your life. Has Wayne Dyer once said, " Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change". Remember, Nobody Does this for you! Only you can meditate for you.

[mralexander]

"My Life Has Been Filled With Terrible Tragedies And Mishaps, Most of Which Never Happened." --Mark Twain....but Michel de Montaigne spoke it `before Mark Twain.

[d]

what difference does it make to just being ['the essence of being'] whether we know or not what satchitananda, and all the other mumbo-jumbo Hindu terms mean?!

[emofreetech]

God talks to God talks to God talks ...

[raycosmic]

The rhythm of Life is a movement and a rest. The optimum (Heaven), is always found somewhere between the extremes of too much and too little (hell).

Karma = sow wheat, reap wheat.

The time of day is always Now.

Our normal state is alpha.

Longer, slower outbreath as through pursed lips for 15 to 30 seconds shifts our brain wave frequency from beta to alpha.

Being For (positive)/not For is inherently sustainable. Being against (negative) is inherently unsustainable.

Resting in Being = being aware of being aware.

Reality = That which is.

What appears as separate is in Reality - Continuum.

I am That I am = I am That which is.
I = which
Am = Is

That which is/That I am.

What I am and who I am arise from and return to That I am.

[fizywig]

Too many teachings inspired by neo-Vedanta only seem to point the aspirant to "tasting" the deep rest of awareness, through such means as being in the now, meditation etc. Yoga and other such teachings can only be a mental and bodily preparation for the real task for the spiritual aspirant, the permanent extinction of the Ego. Its not the mind that is the barrier to deep peace of awareness, but the root thought of "I" or the I-thought (i.e. the Ego).

[abstubeindia]

Kama is lust or desires and karma is actions

[mikefoster]

Sadly, I'm not sure it's even genuinely plausible (for the vast majority of people at least) to assume the possibility of individual peace of mind - at least not the sort that Peter is advocating - when we live in a society which automatically, by its inherent nature, produces the very antithesis of that. In fact you could say there's a great paradox at play here: The need [for peace of mind] has never been greater, but the conditions [for its attainment] have never been more unfavourable. Presumably,  something eventually has to give!