MY LIFE IN PHOTOS - RUDI
This is the youngest photograph I have of Rudi. In those days he was known as Albert Rudolph. He has a glow about him in this photo that would only expand in his later years.
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Rudi is sitting on the left of the couch with his two brothers David and Arthur and their mother Rae.
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Rudi is sitting in his Asian art shop, "Rudi's Antiques," on 7th Avenue next to the Village Vanguard. His mother Rae is visiting him. When he moved his store to a much larger shop on 4th Ave. and 10th Street, Rae began to work with him and ran the shop.
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Rudi in the very early years of his antique business. He became one of the foremost Asian art dealers in New York City.
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Rudi as a joyous meditation teacher.
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My favorite photo of Rudi.
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Rudi toward the end of his life, serious and full of a vast energy I have never known in any other human being.
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A painting of Rudi by Wendel Field, one of his students in Bloomington.
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Rudi in suit and tie, a rare image for him.
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A teaching photo of Rudi used by his students during their eyes open meditation practice. It was odd to me that a photograph could convey energy, but it did.
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Me and Mimi Shore, one of Rudi’s students. We are preparing for the arrival of Rudi’s teacher Swami Mukatananda from Ganeshpuri, India. I was given to film this visit and am standing here preparing to shoot his arrival. The film was completed years later by Bob Sink and can be found at rudimovie.org. It is a remarkable document.
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Rudi sitting with Muktananda on the front lawn of the Big Indian Ashram he created in upstate NY as a welcoming space for his teacher’s visit. Muktananda is sitting far left. Rudi is beside him.
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Muktananda, his hand on Rudi’s neck, transmitting energy.
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Rudi with Muktananda. Musicians are playing in the background. The guitarist is Earl Pardini. I am filming.
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Calvin Holt, Rudi, Earl Pardini.
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Swami Muktananda and Rudi. A year after this photo was taken Rudi would visit Muktananda in India and become a Swami himself. He was given the name Swami Rudrananda, but he was still called Rudi. Two years after this photo was taken Rudi broke his relationship with Muktananda, a dramatic moment of transformation and liberation for him and his students.
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Swami Nityananda of Ganeshpuri, India. He was Rudi’s teacher and one of the great saints of India. Both Rudi and Muktananda were his disciples. Swami Muktananda became head of his ashram in India after Nityananda passed.
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Swami Nityananda in his prime.
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Rudi at the ashram in Big Indian.
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Rudi posing in his 10th Street apartment with his student Michael Austin and his mom.
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Rudi sitting in his living room. He would often give casual classes from this chair after the formal class in the mediation room downstairs.
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Rudi in the meditation hall hosting a visiting guru, Swami Chidananda, from Rishikesh, India. He often hosted many teachers to help expose his students to a wide array of teachings.
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This is an image of the meditation hall on the first floor of Rudi’s house on East 10th Street. It held about 100 people. Blanche and I are here, seated on the floor, just below the dancing shiva along the wall. John Mann, who wrote a book about Rudi, 14 YEARS WITH MY TEACHER, is seated just left of Blanche.
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Another photo of me and Blanche in the classroom. We would attend the mediation class several times a week for six years, from 1967 -1973 when Rudi was killed in a plane crash.
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A picnic gathering with Rudi’s students in the early days of our time together. From left to right, Greg Brodsky holding his son Sasha, his wife Nellie, Blanche, Jane Braswell, Jane Hendrickson, Rudi and, obscured in the background, Barry Kaplan.
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Rudi in India. He would make many trips there to buy art and visit the ashram of his teacher Swami Nityananda.
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Rudi barefoot in India. His love overflowed.
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No idea where this is—but totally unsurprising.
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This is the first Buddha I ever bought from Rudi. It is two inches tall and its base is chipped. When I went into his store to buy it I complained that it was broken. He told me to seek perfection in myself and not in external objects. I said that was a great sales pitch and bought it on the spot. It has traveled the world with me and has a place of honor in my home.
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