In this conversation with an artist, Rupert explores the desire to create something of beauty, drawing from his own experience as a potter. What is this creative impulse that drives artists and creatives, and what can they focus on to be successful in this pursuit

Rupert Spira is an English teacher of the “direct path”, a method of spiritual self-inquiry through talks and writing, and a notable English studio potter with work in public and private collections. From an early age, Rupert Spira was deeply interested in the nature of reality. At the age of seventeen, he learned to meditate and began studying and practicing the teachings of the classical Advaita Vedanta tradition under the guidance of Dr. Francis Roles and Shantananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the north of India, which he continued for the next twenty years. 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 Atmanada Krishna Menon and to Jean Klein and the Tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, and, more importantly, directly indicated to him the true nature of experience.

“…But don’t try to let go of these old beliefs – they will let go of you. Just keep exploring this understanding in whatever way you feel moved to do. The way you think, feel, act and relate will be upgraded and realigned – not as a result of your doing but as an inevitable consequence of your understanding.”

Rupert Spira is an English teacher of the “direct path”, a method of spiritual self-inquiry through talks and writing, and a notable English studio potter with work in public and private collections. From an early age, Rupert Spira was deeply interested in the nature of reality. At the age of seventeen, he learned to meditate and began studying and practicing the teachings of the classical Advaita Vedanta tradition under the guidance of Dr. Francis Roles and Shantananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the north of India, which he continued for the next twenty years. 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 Atmanada Krishna Menon and to Jean Klein and the Tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, and, more importantly, directly indicated to him the true nature of experience.