Talks 2017
Click on the links below to watch on YouTube or listen to the audio.
December 31 LA (watch, listen)
A New Year's resolution, stop resisting. Powering through resistance is a source of inner growth and spiritual muscle. Have a Wonderful and Happy New Year.
December 24 LA (watch, listen)
The ghosts of past, present and future are with are with us always. Feeling them, especially on the holidays, move us into acts of kindness or debilitating stress. You choose.
December 17 LA (watch, listen)
The power of touch, physical, emotional and psychic, in the human experience.
December 10 San Rafael (watch, listen)
It is impossible to avoid the human dimension in the spiritual equation. We are not a mistake. We are the essence of What Is.
December 3 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Stillness is not a place to hide. Reality is a fluid state. There is a reason we are born into a world in flux. Accept the human condition. Embrace change.
November 26 San Rafael (watch, listen)
The hidden darkness, the inner shadow, is emerging all around us. This is not a bad thing. Better to bring it into the light than to live in the illusion that it does not exist.
November 19 LA (watch, listen, read)
"Being" is a verb. It is a higher form of "doing." A spiritual life is discovering how to "be." It allows you to truly serve the world.
November 12 San Rafael (watch, listen, read)
The portal of the heart opens out into the world and reaches inward into Eternity. Step inside and roam.
November 5 San Rafael (watch, listen, read)
I do not teach non-duality as endless bliss but as timeless/endless everything and nothing. To me the absolute is inclusive and exclusive of all that is. If you want abiding bliss look elsewhere.
October 29 LA (watch, listen)
Ask. Seek. Knock. The Universe is waiting to hear from you. This enlightenment thing is a two-way street.
October 22 San Rafael (watch, listen)
"With great power comes great responsibility." We are all imbued with the power of the Universe. Responsibility is a learned practice and it is essential.
October 15 NY (watch, listen)
Why is there a pursuit of "higher" consciousness? Why is spiritual experience called "uplifting"? What is this thing called "up"?
October 14 NY afternoon (watch, listen)
The ego is not your enemy. It is an essential expression of Oneness.
October 14 NY morning (watch, listen)
Meditation is the practice of dying. It is learning how to let go. It is the one essential skill you will need in this life.
October 1 Indiana (watch, listen)
Accountability on the spiritual path.
September 24 San Rafael (watch, listen)
A rather inarticulate talk about the inexpressible.
September 17 LA (watch, listen, read)
We are all points of access to Infinite Reality. We are all channels of Truth. Our job, should we chose to embrace it, is to clear the channel and transmit the Light.
September 3 San Rafael (watch, listen)
One of the defining words of this moment is "unprecedented." But no moment has ever existed before. Each arises from an unchangeable Reality that is worth discovering.
August 27 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Each of us is a different universe with a few aspects out of trillions aligning with others. Out of such alignments love and friendship are born. Also hatred and betrayal. What to do?
August 20 NY afternoon (watch, listen)
Asking questions in public. Why it is heroic to expose your ignorance and fragility. Embracing your vulnerability frees something hidden within you. It is a path to liberation.
August 20 NY morning (watch, listen)
Finding beauty in decay, in the loss of coherence, in the disintegration of all we have built and loved. This is Shiva energy, destruction alongside creation, the very breath of existence.
August 19 NY afternoon (watch, listen)
The thing I most want for my students is that they become independent of me, that they discover the teacher within. The ancient wisdom resides perfectly in all of us. Sit at its feet.
August 19 NY morning (watch, listen)
The idea of spiritual growth is a paradox since there is no lasting attainment. In the end we become what we have always been... nothing and everything. There are no diplomas for that.
August 13 San Rafael (watch, listen)
It is important to recognize the difference between the personal and impersonal forces in the Universe. Taking everything personally is a source of great suffering.
August 6 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Spiritual experience is the driving force behind most spiritual practice. It is also the key obstruction to spiritual awakening when it is embraced by the ego.
July 30 LA (watch, listen)
We frame everything, give it defined borders, beginning, middle, end. What happens when you take the frame away, when nothing begins and nothing ends? Welcome to reality.
July 23 LA (watch, listen)
At any given moment we are infants being born, old people dying and everything in between. We are helpless, clueless, and in need of comfort. It is always there.
July 16 San Rafael (watch, listen)
The role of feelings in the spiritual journey.
July 9 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Human aloneness reflects cosmic aloneness. In the end there is only One.
July 2 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Trust the journey.
June 25 LA (watch, listen)
There is a hard reality and a soft reality. Prepare for both.
June 18 NY (watch, listen)
On Father's Day celebrate the Father within and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It has been waiting for us since the beginning.
June 17 NY afternoon (watch, listen)
My teaching is sometimes affected by pain and suffering. I do not run from them. They are often catalysts for a remarkable transformation that opens me to compassion and love.
June 17 NY morning (watch, listen)
We all have an internal guidance system, a navigational awareness that can profoundly affect and guide our lives. It is crazy that so few people gain access to it.
June 11 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Our brains are computers with variable storage capacity and different operating systems. Higher consciousness is accessing the cloud.
May 28 San Rafael (watch, listen)
This life is your spiritual life. Going to work, getting stuck in traffic, raising children, is at the core of a spiritual practice. Awakening does not free you from life but opens you to all of it.
May 21 LA (watch, listen)
There is no advantage to spiritual practice. That which you seek is already present. The goal is not to attain anything but to realize what is and has always been.
May 14 San Rafael (watch, listen)
My mother's singular message to me was: "It all works out in the end." That is especially powerful when you realize there is no end, that the end is always now.
May 7 San Rafael (watch, listen)
We are all frauds in this life and spiritual life aids and abets that fraud. Take off your mask. Find the courage to live your truth.
April 30 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Do the work. Don't give into sadness and despair and depression. Take a breath. Out of that breath Presence arises. No one else can breathe for you. Take a breath. Do the work.
April 23 San Rafael (watch, listen)
The essential role of the ego in spiritual awakening.
April 15 LA (watch, listen)
Demystifying meditation. The sublime experience of sitting still.
April 9 LA (watch, listen)
It is easy to believe that we are perfect as we are and that there is nothing to do but believe in our perfection. But it may be that the ego mind has massive work to do to arrive at a deeper truth.
April 2 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Lessons from India. A journey of gratitude.
March 5 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Blanche and I are going to India tomorrow. I was last there 50 years ago this week. I went as a seeker and return knowing there was never anything to be found.
February 26 San Rafael (watch, listen)
IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!!! Learn that and you will understand the secret of spiritual unfolding.
February 19 LA (watch, listen)
I met Rudi 50 years ago this year. Today is his Samadhi, the day of his passing. What I've learned in 50 years of practice is that I know nothing, and that is the source of Liberation.
February 12 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Connecting to others is the core experience of human life, the doorway to Oneness and Self. Learning to connect is the secret of happiness and fulfillment.
February 5 San Rafael (watch, listen)
If Disneyland is the happiest place on earth it is not because of the rides. It's what happens standing in line.
January 29 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Rudi said that becoming a whole person is not the end of a spiritual life but the beginning. If you have not achieved wholeness, explore your heart. It will lead you there.
January 22 San Rafael (watch, listen)
The exquisite experience of knowing nothing.
January 15 LA (watch, listen)
All bets are off. How to reassemble reality when it shatters.
January 8 San Rafael (watch, listen)
In the midst of a great storm you can hunker down for the duration, surf the 30-foot waves, or put on a raincoat and go about your day. What would Buddha do?
A New Year's resolution, stop resisting. Powering through resistance is a source of inner growth and spiritual muscle. Have a Wonderful and Happy New Year.
December 24 LA (watch, listen)
The ghosts of past, present and future are with are with us always. Feeling them, especially on the holidays, move us into acts of kindness or debilitating stress. You choose.
December 17 LA (watch, listen)
The power of touch, physical, emotional and psychic, in the human experience.
December 10 San Rafael (watch, listen)
It is impossible to avoid the human dimension in the spiritual equation. We are not a mistake. We are the essence of What Is.
December 3 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Stillness is not a place to hide. Reality is a fluid state. There is a reason we are born into a world in flux. Accept the human condition. Embrace change.
November 26 San Rafael (watch, listen)
The hidden darkness, the inner shadow, is emerging all around us. This is not a bad thing. Better to bring it into the light than to live in the illusion that it does not exist.
November 19 LA (watch, listen, read)
"Being" is a verb. It is a higher form of "doing." A spiritual life is discovering how to "be." It allows you to truly serve the world.
November 12 San Rafael (watch, listen, read)
The portal of the heart opens out into the world and reaches inward into Eternity. Step inside and roam.
November 5 San Rafael (watch, listen, read)
I do not teach non-duality as endless bliss but as timeless/endless everything and nothing. To me the absolute is inclusive and exclusive of all that is. If you want abiding bliss look elsewhere.
October 29 LA (watch, listen)
Ask. Seek. Knock. The Universe is waiting to hear from you. This enlightenment thing is a two-way street.
October 22 San Rafael (watch, listen)
"With great power comes great responsibility." We are all imbued with the power of the Universe. Responsibility is a learned practice and it is essential.
October 15 NY (watch, listen)
Why is there a pursuit of "higher" consciousness? Why is spiritual experience called "uplifting"? What is this thing called "up"?
October 14 NY afternoon (watch, listen)
The ego is not your enemy. It is an essential expression of Oneness.
October 14 NY morning (watch, listen)
Meditation is the practice of dying. It is learning how to let go. It is the one essential skill you will need in this life.
October 1 Indiana (watch, listen)
Accountability on the spiritual path.
September 24 San Rafael (watch, listen)
A rather inarticulate talk about the inexpressible.
September 17 LA (watch, listen, read)
We are all points of access to Infinite Reality. We are all channels of Truth. Our job, should we chose to embrace it, is to clear the channel and transmit the Light.
September 3 San Rafael (watch, listen)
One of the defining words of this moment is "unprecedented." But no moment has ever existed before. Each arises from an unchangeable Reality that is worth discovering.
August 27 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Each of us is a different universe with a few aspects out of trillions aligning with others. Out of such alignments love and friendship are born. Also hatred and betrayal. What to do?
August 20 NY afternoon (watch, listen)
Asking questions in public. Why it is heroic to expose your ignorance and fragility. Embracing your vulnerability frees something hidden within you. It is a path to liberation.
August 20 NY morning (watch, listen)
Finding beauty in decay, in the loss of coherence, in the disintegration of all we have built and loved. This is Shiva energy, destruction alongside creation, the very breath of existence.
August 19 NY afternoon (watch, listen)
The thing I most want for my students is that they become independent of me, that they discover the teacher within. The ancient wisdom resides perfectly in all of us. Sit at its feet.
August 19 NY morning (watch, listen)
The idea of spiritual growth is a paradox since there is no lasting attainment. In the end we become what we have always been... nothing and everything. There are no diplomas for that.
August 13 San Rafael (watch, listen)
It is important to recognize the difference between the personal and impersonal forces in the Universe. Taking everything personally is a source of great suffering.
August 6 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Spiritual experience is the driving force behind most spiritual practice. It is also the key obstruction to spiritual awakening when it is embraced by the ego.
July 30 LA (watch, listen)
We frame everything, give it defined borders, beginning, middle, end. What happens when you take the frame away, when nothing begins and nothing ends? Welcome to reality.
July 23 LA (watch, listen)
At any given moment we are infants being born, old people dying and everything in between. We are helpless, clueless, and in need of comfort. It is always there.
July 16 San Rafael (watch, listen)
The role of feelings in the spiritual journey.
July 9 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Human aloneness reflects cosmic aloneness. In the end there is only One.
July 2 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Trust the journey.
June 25 LA (watch, listen)
There is a hard reality and a soft reality. Prepare for both.
June 18 NY (watch, listen)
On Father's Day celebrate the Father within and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It has been waiting for us since the beginning.
June 17 NY afternoon (watch, listen)
My teaching is sometimes affected by pain and suffering. I do not run from them. They are often catalysts for a remarkable transformation that opens me to compassion and love.
June 17 NY morning (watch, listen)
We all have an internal guidance system, a navigational awareness that can profoundly affect and guide our lives. It is crazy that so few people gain access to it.
June 11 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Our brains are computers with variable storage capacity and different operating systems. Higher consciousness is accessing the cloud.
May 28 San Rafael (watch, listen)
This life is your spiritual life. Going to work, getting stuck in traffic, raising children, is at the core of a spiritual practice. Awakening does not free you from life but opens you to all of it.
May 21 LA (watch, listen)
There is no advantage to spiritual practice. That which you seek is already present. The goal is not to attain anything but to realize what is and has always been.
May 14 San Rafael (watch, listen)
My mother's singular message to me was: "It all works out in the end." That is especially powerful when you realize there is no end, that the end is always now.
May 7 San Rafael (watch, listen)
We are all frauds in this life and spiritual life aids and abets that fraud. Take off your mask. Find the courage to live your truth.
April 30 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Do the work. Don't give into sadness and despair and depression. Take a breath. Out of that breath Presence arises. No one else can breathe for you. Take a breath. Do the work.
April 23 San Rafael (watch, listen)
The essential role of the ego in spiritual awakening.
April 15 LA (watch, listen)
Demystifying meditation. The sublime experience of sitting still.
April 9 LA (watch, listen)
It is easy to believe that we are perfect as we are and that there is nothing to do but believe in our perfection. But it may be that the ego mind has massive work to do to arrive at a deeper truth.
April 2 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Lessons from India. A journey of gratitude.
March 5 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Blanche and I are going to India tomorrow. I was last there 50 years ago this week. I went as a seeker and return knowing there was never anything to be found.
February 26 San Rafael (watch, listen)
IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!!! Learn that and you will understand the secret of spiritual unfolding.
February 19 LA (watch, listen)
I met Rudi 50 years ago this year. Today is his Samadhi, the day of his passing. What I've learned in 50 years of practice is that I know nothing, and that is the source of Liberation.
February 12 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Connecting to others is the core experience of human life, the doorway to Oneness and Self. Learning to connect is the secret of happiness and fulfillment.
February 5 San Rafael (watch, listen)
If Disneyland is the happiest place on earth it is not because of the rides. It's what happens standing in line.
January 29 San Rafael (watch, listen)
Rudi said that becoming a whole person is not the end of a spiritual life but the beginning. If you have not achieved wholeness, explore your heart. It will lead you there.
January 22 San Rafael (watch, listen)
The exquisite experience of knowing nothing.
January 15 LA (watch, listen)
All bets are off. How to reassemble reality when it shatters.
January 8 San Rafael (watch, listen)
In the midst of a great storm you can hunker down for the duration, surf the 30-foot waves, or put on a raincoat and go about your day. What would Buddha do?