What Is the Separate Self?

A man asks for clarity on the subject of the separate self. He says that during meditation the sense of being a separate subject of experience is preventing the peace and serenity of being, which is what initially attracted him to Advaita Vedanta.

Rupert says: ‘The separate self is a mixture of the true and only self – being, or being aware – plus the limitations of experience – thoughts, feelings, sensations, and so on. This amalgam between the only self that there is, infinite being, and the limitations of experience creates an apparently separate or finite self.

‘So each of us derives our identity from the only identity there is – being – then we add limitations to that being, and as a result, we believe that we are temporary finite selves. Awareness is the self from which the apparently separate self derives its identity but, in the awareness of being or awareness’s knowledge of itself, there is no separate self present.’

*This video is from one of Rupert’s in-person retreats at Garrison Institute, 8–15 October 2023. For more information on upcoming retreats (many of which can be attended online via livestream) go to:

▸ UK https://rupertspira.com/event/locatio...
▸ EU https://rupertspira.com/event/locatio...
▸ US https://rupertspira.com/event/locatio...