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Informationen zum Autor 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 Krishnamenon, 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. Klappentext The Nature of Consciousness challenges the prevailing materialist paradigm that is holding humanity back, suggesting that consciousness is the fundamental reality of the apparent duality of mind and matter, and that overlooking or ignoring this reality is the root cause of the suffering that pervades and motivates most people's lives, as well as the wider conflicts that exist between communities and nations. This comprehensive investigation will satisfy readers of all kinds, from the existentially minded to the rigorously scientific to the earnestly hopeful for peace. The Nature of Consciousness challenges the prevailing materialist paradigm that is holding humanity back, suggesting that consciousness is the fundamental reality of the apparent duality of mind and matter, and that overlooking or ignoring this reality is the root cause of the suffering that pervades and motivates most people's lives, as well as the wider conflicts that exist between communities and nations. This comprehensive investigation will satisfy readers of all kinds, from the existentially minded to the rigorously scientific to the earnestly hopeful for peace. Zusammenfassung Our world culture is founded on the assumption that the Big Bang gave rise to matter, which in time evolved into the world, into which the body was born, inside which a brain appeared, out of which consciousness at some late stage developed. As a result of this "matter model," most of us believe that consciousness is a property of the body. We feel that it is "I," this body, that knows or is aware of the world. We believe and feel that the knowing with which we are aware of our experience is located in and shares the limits and destiny of the body. This is the fundamental presumption of mind and matter that underpins almost all our thoughts and feelings and is expressed in our activities and relationships. The Nature of Consciousness suggests that the matter model has outlived its function and is now destroying the very values it once sought to promote. For many people, the debate as to the ultimate reality of the universe is an academic one, far removed from the concerns and demands of everyday life. After all, life happens independently of our models of it. However, The Nature of Consciousness will clearly show that the materialist paradigm is a philosophy of despair and, as such, the root cause of unhappiness in individuals. It is a philosophy of conflict and, as such, the root cause of hostilities between families, communities, and nations. Far from being abstract and philosophical, its implications touch each one of us directly and intimately. An exploration of the nature of consciousness has the power to reveal the peace and happiness that truly lie at the heart of experience. Our experience never ceases to change, but the knowing element in all experience-consciousness, or what we call "I"-itself never changes. The knowing with which all experience is known is always the same kn...
