Talks 2006
Click on the links below to watch on YouTube or listen to the audio.
December 31 LA (listen)
"I am what I am." Just accept that truth in all of its wholeness. Just say "yes" to who and what you are.
December 24 LA (listen)
Trying to see, trying to hear, trying to be only mucks up the works. Stop trying.
December 10 LA (listen)
What is the simplest version of your life? When all else fails, it’s the one thing you have.
December 3 LA (listen)
Finding the spiritual oasis as a place and as a state of mind.
November 26 LA (listen)
The proliferation of teachers in an awakening world. Find who speaks to you—and listen.
November 19 LA (listen)
Developing the higher mind to exert control over the lower mind. In the end, one of them will win.
November 14 LA (listen)
A goal without a plan is a dream. A spiritual life is like replacing a 13" black and white TV with a 100" HDTV color plasma TV. Stop dreaming and work.
November 12 LA (listen)
Sitting in class with Rudi, working from two directions to dismantle the walls of obstruction and resistance.
November 9 LA (listen)
Dedication of new class space. The effort to bring new life and consciousness into an empty room and an unconscious life.
November 5 LA (listen)
Our world is undergoing enormous transformation. The Transcendent is increasingly present in human life. It is time to grow up and become spiritual adults.
October 29 NY (listen)
When meditating, open your chakras with conscious attention and then sit back, relax, and cozy up with your best and oldest friend—you.
October 22 NY (listen)
The teaching of the lotus. Why spiritual work roots in the muck of human experience and flowers in the sunlight above the human mind.
October 15, NY (listen)
Before you have a spiritual life, you need to have a life. So what does it mean to have a life? How do you penetrate the unconscious haze of being?
October 8 NY (listen)
Asking for help to surrender. The endless availability of help and our resistance to finding it.
October 1 LA (listen)
Getting results in your spiritual and meditative practice—and in your life.
September 24 LA (listen)
The universe cannot give you what you want if you don't know what you want. When intentions are conflicted, life is conflicted.
September 17 LA (listen)
The exquisite beauty at the core of our being and how we search for it everywhere but there.
September 3 NY (listen)
Life not working is Life working. When you're down to your last dollar—spend it.
August 20 NY (listen)
Simplicity and complexity are essential to the human condition. Transcendence embraces them both.
August 13 NY (listen)
Is there any value to seeking enlightenment? You tell me.
July 30 NY (listen)
On again-off again spirituality. Skills for developing a need and hunger for a spiritual life.
July 23 NY (listen)
Self control as a key to surrender. Passing through the eye of the needle.
July 9 NY (listen)
Life has no meaning. It is meaning itself. Only the ego craves understanding.
July 2 LA (listen)
A cup of tea and the art of letting go. The practice of going deeper.
June 25 NY (listen)
The search for the Self. How we lose our Self and find It again.
June 18 NY (listen)
The thin veneer of civilization and why, in spiritual work, everyone is on their own.
June 11 LA (listen)
Our practice is a life's work. You cannot transcend the life you haven't lived.
June 4 LA (listen)
Life is real and it is brutal. How to survive life when all our strategies fail.
May 21 NY (listen)
Awake and Sing. The power of pursuing happiness and the lessons that finding it, and not finding it, hold for us.
May 14 NY (listen)
Burning. What to do when your spiritual practice doesn't eliminate suffering. The nature of conscious pain.
May 7 NY (listen)
Failed lives. The pervasive idea of failure in human experience, how quickly we embrace it, and how it impedes our journey.
April 23 LA (listen)
Awakening. If there is a goal in our spiritual practice, it is to awaken to what is. We dream our way through our lives, and miss them.
April 16 LA (listen)
Easter Sunday, death and resurrection in each moment.
April 9 LA (listen)
How to weather the inner and outer storms of our lives.
April 2 LA (listen)
Chatter—it defines our inner world and obstructs our awareness of Oneness.
March 12 LA (listen)
Relationships. Our relationship with one another is our relationship with God.
March 5 LA (listen)
The hidden self. The ego's capacity to hide. Facing the part of ourselves we cannot face.
February 26 LA (listen)
I haven't a clue to what I'm doing and why that's okay. The value of not knowing anything.
February 21 LA (listen)
Rudi's Samadhi Part 1
February 21 LA (listen)
Rudi's Samadhi Part 2
February 19 LA (listen)
Gorceki, SYMPHONY #3 (SYMPHONY OF SORROWFUL SONGS). The exquisite nature of individual being.
February 12 LA (listen)
Creating reality. Collapsing the infinite into the Moment. Mudra.
February 5 LA (listen)
The relevance of class. There isn't much new to learn here, at least in terms of your mind.
January 29 NY (listen)
You never know what to expect in the next moment.
January 24 LA (listen)
Rudi's Birthday. Rudi as a force of nature.
January 22 LA (listen)
If there is a harder way, show it to me, because it must be wonderful.
January 15 LA (listen)
This life is your spiritual life. Not fighting your mood, your discomfort. Not trying to fight what is. Engaging day-to-day existence.
January 8 NY (listen)
Sitting still.
January 1 NY (listen)
New Year's Day class. Renewal. Vasilisa and the child within. Steering the Titanic.
"I am what I am." Just accept that truth in all of its wholeness. Just say "yes" to who and what you are.
December 24 LA (listen)
Trying to see, trying to hear, trying to be only mucks up the works. Stop trying.
December 10 LA (listen)
What is the simplest version of your life? When all else fails, it’s the one thing you have.
December 3 LA (listen)
Finding the spiritual oasis as a place and as a state of mind.
November 26 LA (listen)
The proliferation of teachers in an awakening world. Find who speaks to you—and listen.
November 19 LA (listen)
Developing the higher mind to exert control over the lower mind. In the end, one of them will win.
November 14 LA (listen)
A goal without a plan is a dream. A spiritual life is like replacing a 13" black and white TV with a 100" HDTV color plasma TV. Stop dreaming and work.
November 12 LA (listen)
Sitting in class with Rudi, working from two directions to dismantle the walls of obstruction and resistance.
November 9 LA (listen)
Dedication of new class space. The effort to bring new life and consciousness into an empty room and an unconscious life.
November 5 LA (listen)
Our world is undergoing enormous transformation. The Transcendent is increasingly present in human life. It is time to grow up and become spiritual adults.
October 29 NY (listen)
When meditating, open your chakras with conscious attention and then sit back, relax, and cozy up with your best and oldest friend—you.
October 22 NY (listen)
The teaching of the lotus. Why spiritual work roots in the muck of human experience and flowers in the sunlight above the human mind.
October 15, NY (listen)
Before you have a spiritual life, you need to have a life. So what does it mean to have a life? How do you penetrate the unconscious haze of being?
October 8 NY (listen)
Asking for help to surrender. The endless availability of help and our resistance to finding it.
October 1 LA (listen)
Getting results in your spiritual and meditative practice—and in your life.
September 24 LA (listen)
The universe cannot give you what you want if you don't know what you want. When intentions are conflicted, life is conflicted.
September 17 LA (listen)
The exquisite beauty at the core of our being and how we search for it everywhere but there.
September 3 NY (listen)
Life not working is Life working. When you're down to your last dollar—spend it.
August 20 NY (listen)
Simplicity and complexity are essential to the human condition. Transcendence embraces them both.
August 13 NY (listen)
Is there any value to seeking enlightenment? You tell me.
July 30 NY (listen)
On again-off again spirituality. Skills for developing a need and hunger for a spiritual life.
July 23 NY (listen)
Self control as a key to surrender. Passing through the eye of the needle.
July 9 NY (listen)
Life has no meaning. It is meaning itself. Only the ego craves understanding.
July 2 LA (listen)
A cup of tea and the art of letting go. The practice of going deeper.
June 25 NY (listen)
The search for the Self. How we lose our Self and find It again.
June 18 NY (listen)
The thin veneer of civilization and why, in spiritual work, everyone is on their own.
June 11 LA (listen)
Our practice is a life's work. You cannot transcend the life you haven't lived.
June 4 LA (listen)
Life is real and it is brutal. How to survive life when all our strategies fail.
May 21 NY (listen)
Awake and Sing. The power of pursuing happiness and the lessons that finding it, and not finding it, hold for us.
May 14 NY (listen)
Burning. What to do when your spiritual practice doesn't eliminate suffering. The nature of conscious pain.
May 7 NY (listen)
Failed lives. The pervasive idea of failure in human experience, how quickly we embrace it, and how it impedes our journey.
April 23 LA (listen)
Awakening. If there is a goal in our spiritual practice, it is to awaken to what is. We dream our way through our lives, and miss them.
April 16 LA (listen)
Easter Sunday, death and resurrection in each moment.
April 9 LA (listen)
How to weather the inner and outer storms of our lives.
April 2 LA (listen)
Chatter—it defines our inner world and obstructs our awareness of Oneness.
March 12 LA (listen)
Relationships. Our relationship with one another is our relationship with God.
March 5 LA (listen)
The hidden self. The ego's capacity to hide. Facing the part of ourselves we cannot face.
February 26 LA (listen)
I haven't a clue to what I'm doing and why that's okay. The value of not knowing anything.
February 21 LA (listen)
Rudi's Samadhi Part 1
February 21 LA (listen)
Rudi's Samadhi Part 2
February 19 LA (listen)
Gorceki, SYMPHONY #3 (SYMPHONY OF SORROWFUL SONGS). The exquisite nature of individual being.
February 12 LA (listen)
Creating reality. Collapsing the infinite into the Moment. Mudra.
February 5 LA (listen)
The relevance of class. There isn't much new to learn here, at least in terms of your mind.
January 29 NY (listen)
You never know what to expect in the next moment.
January 24 LA (listen)
Rudi's Birthday. Rudi as a force of nature.
January 22 LA (listen)
If there is a harder way, show it to me, because it must be wonderful.
January 15 LA (listen)
This life is your spiritual life. Not fighting your mood, your discomfort. Not trying to fight what is. Engaging day-to-day existence.
January 8 NY (listen)
Sitting still.
January 1 NY (listen)
New Year's Day class. Renewal. Vasilisa and the child within. Steering the Titanic.