Talks 2021
Click on the links below to watch on YouTube or listen to the audio.
December 19, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) This may be my last talk for a while – perhaps longer. I really don't know. For the moment, just know that you are deeply loved and profoundly appreciated. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.
December 12, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Seeing three Broadway plays this past week offered powerful lessons in how to navigate through troubled waters and what it means to be alive, well and spiritually vibrant in these challenging times.
December 5, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) There is an additive and subtractive process in the creation and dismantling of our lives. The mind and emotions weave the additive narrative. The Universe unweaves it. Ultimately everything is taken away, story, meaning, purpose, even your spiritual unfolding. Let it go.
November 28, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) It takes two to tango. We all have a Partner in this dance. Learn to let your Partner lead. Don't sit on the sideline. You are here for a reason. Dance your heart out.
November 21, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Effort and depth over time are equations Rudi referred to often. Some people work out every day, once a week, on occasion, or think about it once in a while. Results follow from sustained effort and depth. What are those results? You will know.
November 14, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom and in-person) "Deus Ex Machina" or God in the Machine, is a reference to plays in which God saves characters from a seemingly hopeless situation. It is frightening how much bad stories and badly lived lives hope for such an ending. Best of luck.
November 7, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Our primal self is a singular reality. "It" and "we" are collectively on our own. The primary guidance is to know that there is no "you" and "it". There is only "us," only "what is." The primary directives are "be good," "be kind," "let go," and "figure it out."
October 31, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Finality is the only true outcome of the human journey. But never before in history have individuals had to consider their personal demise along with the ending of the world. If ever there was a moment to reach inward, it is now.
October 24, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) In a perfect world we are loved and comforted the moment we are born, not for what we've achieved or who we might be come, but for the mere fact that we are. That's in a perfect world. Much of the meditative journey is about re-parenting, about getting it right, discovering the love and miracle of simply being.
October 17, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom and in-person) The importance of just being human. Even if you awaken, become enlightened and liberated, you will still just be human. Realizing that you are simply here and miraculously human is everything.
October 10, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) "DAYENU" is a Hebrew word translated as, "If it never gets better than this, it is enough." True awakening, whether in moments of great pleasure or profound suffering, reflects this amazing truth. Being itself is enough.
October 3, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) What it means to flower in the awakening process. How one experiences the unmanifest unfolding all around them as their own unique self. How the practice of stillness leads to the realization of God. How one comes to know that there is nothing else.
September 12, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) You may not know this but you are the architect of your own fear and responsible for its power in your life. It is a learned pattern, a programmed response to the future unknown. Live in the present and let Presence help you redesign and restructure your life.
September 5, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) We are all creatures caught in the awesome and terrifying presence of Maya (Illusion). Every spiritual practice tries to teach how to escape it. Perhaps it is better to ask who is embracing this illusion and why. Could it be that there is no one there?
Aug 29, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) What is your faith? What do you believe in? What story or narrative did it come from? How much does it shape your life? Are you willing to die or kill for it? What happens if it is taken away? Who are you without it? Who are you with nothing?
Aug 22, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Perseverance furthers. When life is tough and you are depressed and suffering, don’t see it as spiritual failure. See it as being human. Accept what is. Forgive yourself. Persevere.
Aug 15, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(Audio only. Today's class was interrupted by internet outages. Sorry for that. The 'watch' YouTube link has this audio.)
Rudi always said that the mind was the slayer of the soul. Just know that the mind is not only in your head, but in your heart, gut, sex and throughout your body. If you don’t learn to deepen, control, and transcend it, it will dominate and destroy you. Survival of the fittest. Oy Vey.
Aug 8, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Apocalyptic spirituality, searching for teachings to avoid personal and worldly calamity. The fact is—it all ends. Once you accept impermanence you begin the journey from "myself" to "ourself", to the profound oneness of our singular being.
Aug 1, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Delusional spirituality, looking for teachings to achieve escape velocity. There is no escape from this, only arrival, and the awe of seeing where you've always been.
July 25, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Life is what happens—like when a wild turkey smashes into your windshield on your way to see the doctor, splinters you with glass and total clarity arises to save and direct your life.
July 18, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) I was not born special. None of us are. The path to becoming a human being may lead through a spiritual path or it may not. All that matters is truly being yourself. You are already, and have always been, enough.
July 11, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) There is a path from human being to Being. The human part is hard, demanding, and ultimately impermanent. It doesn't add up. Stepping off the path reveals that you are already there, but only the path can lead you to that. The journey leads nowhere that you haven't always been.
July 4, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The power and substance of touch in all its metaphorical aspect, being touched physically and emotionally, being in touch physically and spiritually, being in touch with your Self.
June 27, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) "It doesn't matter." It is shocking how many things don't really matter very much, if at all. It is a great blessing to realize that and to live in the ease of knowing what is really important and what is not.
June 20, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Moods, feelings, emotions. We try to engage them, hide from them, block them or transcend them. But who is relating to them? Figure that out and true wisdom will arrive.
June 13, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The power of turning your attention to the "other" in your life, reaching out, connecting, and nourishing those who form the circle of your being.
June 6, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Presence is the great gift of a spiritual life. Absence is the great teacher. Embrace both. Surrender both. That is the essence of your journey in this world.
May 30, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Astrologers predict the next decade to be filled with the kind of upheaval that accompanied the fall of the Roman Empire and the American Revolution. What does a spiritual seeker do in such times?
May 23, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) "Be still and know that I am God." There are many paths to stillness, our practice being just one. True achievement is not an attainment but awareness of what and whom you have always been. Stop trying to get there. Stillness does not lead somewhere else.
May 16, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Depression is a common and debilitating emotional state. It is also impermanent. If you feed it or fear it, you will deepen and prolong it. Simply observe it. All things come and go. You are not the thing that arises. Be the Witness.
May 9, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)http://www.brucerubin-class.com/Audio/2021/2021-05-02-NY.mp3
(On Zoom) We all have to leave the nest, those of us who love our mothers and those who don't, mothers must be left behind. Life is impermanent and detachment is essential. But the source of all mothering is not impermanent and worth finding. Dig deep.
May 2, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)http://www.brucerubin-class.com/Audio/2021/2021-05-02-NY.mp3
(On Zoom) Are we accountable for our lives? Perhaps it is best to err on the side of "yes".
April 25, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Neem Karoli Baba says, "It is better to see God in everything than try to figure things out." This is a talk about that.
April 11, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) At play and at work in the fields of the Lord. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Your life is a rich and profound story. Step back and enjoy it.
April 4, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) An Easter sermon. What was Christ thinking about on the cross and what does it teach us about our own mind in the face of bodily pain and death? Not as depressing as it sounds.
March 28, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) What to do when old mythologies and religious dogma give way to a kind of spiritual dementia and leave you with nothing but "what is". Prepare for truth. Prepare for joy. Prepare for not knowing anything. It's waiting for us all.
March 21, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Spiritual failure. What to do when you don’t measure up, when your life doesn't deliver what you hoped and prayed for.
March 14, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) "Do you have the patience to wait until your mind settles, and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?" Lao-Tsu
March 7, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The inevitability of pain. The amazement of wonder. There is no explaining that does it justice.
February 28, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Arriving at fullness requires a knowledge of emptiness and a capacity not to hunger for one or fear the other. Embrace Totality. It is who you are.
February 21, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Today is Rudi’s Samadhi, the 48th anniversary of his passing. It is a celebration of his being and, more importantly, his ongoing presence in our lives. It is a miracle when a teacher appears in this crazy world. We have been touched by Grace.
February 14, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) What is the Big Picture and why do so few people ever see it? One clue. It cannot be seen with the eyes or perceived with the mind. It can be witnessed but never known. To witness it is to touch reality, to become one with all that is.
February 7, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The challenge of meaninglessness in human existence and the power of small grace notes to brighten and fill our day.
January 31, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Most good stories start with a character in equilibrium and then something happens to disturb that. We root for them to reestablish equilibrium before their time clock runs out. That is the story of our lives.
January 24, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) RUDI’S BIRTHDAY. I’ve celebrated Rudi’s birthday for nearly half a century. My gratitude for his teaching is unending. The only thing that’s changed is that I’m no longer trying to get anywhere that I haven’t always been.
January 17, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Finding your Self is an absurd proposition since your Self is everywhere and you are nothing but It. Your ego being is not separate. If you ask your Self for help to surrender you will find who you have always been.
January 10, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) When the balancing forces of the universe, the yin/yang of existence go out or whack, what can you do? You can cave in or grow. Your call.
January 3, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) So much of spiritual work is a desire to arrive at comfort. Real spiritual work begins when you let go of that. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Who wants comfort?
(On Zoom) This may be my last talk for a while – perhaps longer. I really don't know. For the moment, just know that you are deeply loved and profoundly appreciated. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.
December 12, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Seeing three Broadway plays this past week offered powerful lessons in how to navigate through troubled waters and what it means to be alive, well and spiritually vibrant in these challenging times.
December 5, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) There is an additive and subtractive process in the creation and dismantling of our lives. The mind and emotions weave the additive narrative. The Universe unweaves it. Ultimately everything is taken away, story, meaning, purpose, even your spiritual unfolding. Let it go.
November 28, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) It takes two to tango. We all have a Partner in this dance. Learn to let your Partner lead. Don't sit on the sideline. You are here for a reason. Dance your heart out.
November 21, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Effort and depth over time are equations Rudi referred to often. Some people work out every day, once a week, on occasion, or think about it once in a while. Results follow from sustained effort and depth. What are those results? You will know.
November 14, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom and in-person) "Deus Ex Machina" or God in the Machine, is a reference to plays in which God saves characters from a seemingly hopeless situation. It is frightening how much bad stories and badly lived lives hope for such an ending. Best of luck.
November 7, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Our primal self is a singular reality. "It" and "we" are collectively on our own. The primary guidance is to know that there is no "you" and "it". There is only "us," only "what is." The primary directives are "be good," "be kind," "let go," and "figure it out."
October 31, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Finality is the only true outcome of the human journey. But never before in history have individuals had to consider their personal demise along with the ending of the world. If ever there was a moment to reach inward, it is now.
October 24, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) In a perfect world we are loved and comforted the moment we are born, not for what we've achieved or who we might be come, but for the mere fact that we are. That's in a perfect world. Much of the meditative journey is about re-parenting, about getting it right, discovering the love and miracle of simply being.
October 17, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom and in-person) The importance of just being human. Even if you awaken, become enlightened and liberated, you will still just be human. Realizing that you are simply here and miraculously human is everything.
October 10, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) "DAYENU" is a Hebrew word translated as, "If it never gets better than this, it is enough." True awakening, whether in moments of great pleasure or profound suffering, reflects this amazing truth. Being itself is enough.
October 3, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) What it means to flower in the awakening process. How one experiences the unmanifest unfolding all around them as their own unique self. How the practice of stillness leads to the realization of God. How one comes to know that there is nothing else.
September 12, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) You may not know this but you are the architect of your own fear and responsible for its power in your life. It is a learned pattern, a programmed response to the future unknown. Live in the present and let Presence help you redesign and restructure your life.
September 5, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) We are all creatures caught in the awesome and terrifying presence of Maya (Illusion). Every spiritual practice tries to teach how to escape it. Perhaps it is better to ask who is embracing this illusion and why. Could it be that there is no one there?
Aug 29, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) What is your faith? What do you believe in? What story or narrative did it come from? How much does it shape your life? Are you willing to die or kill for it? What happens if it is taken away? Who are you without it? Who are you with nothing?
Aug 22, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Perseverance furthers. When life is tough and you are depressed and suffering, don’t see it as spiritual failure. See it as being human. Accept what is. Forgive yourself. Persevere.
Aug 15, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(Audio only. Today's class was interrupted by internet outages. Sorry for that. The 'watch' YouTube link has this audio.)
Rudi always said that the mind was the slayer of the soul. Just know that the mind is not only in your head, but in your heart, gut, sex and throughout your body. If you don’t learn to deepen, control, and transcend it, it will dominate and destroy you. Survival of the fittest. Oy Vey.
Aug 8, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Apocalyptic spirituality, searching for teachings to avoid personal and worldly calamity. The fact is—it all ends. Once you accept impermanence you begin the journey from "myself" to "ourself", to the profound oneness of our singular being.
Aug 1, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Delusional spirituality, looking for teachings to achieve escape velocity. There is no escape from this, only arrival, and the awe of seeing where you've always been.
July 25, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Life is what happens—like when a wild turkey smashes into your windshield on your way to see the doctor, splinters you with glass and total clarity arises to save and direct your life.
July 18, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) I was not born special. None of us are. The path to becoming a human being may lead through a spiritual path or it may not. All that matters is truly being yourself. You are already, and have always been, enough.
July 11, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) There is a path from human being to Being. The human part is hard, demanding, and ultimately impermanent. It doesn't add up. Stepping off the path reveals that you are already there, but only the path can lead you to that. The journey leads nowhere that you haven't always been.
July 4, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The power and substance of touch in all its metaphorical aspect, being touched physically and emotionally, being in touch physically and spiritually, being in touch with your Self.
June 27, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) "It doesn't matter." It is shocking how many things don't really matter very much, if at all. It is a great blessing to realize that and to live in the ease of knowing what is really important and what is not.
June 20, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Moods, feelings, emotions. We try to engage them, hide from them, block them or transcend them. But who is relating to them? Figure that out and true wisdom will arrive.
June 13, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The power of turning your attention to the "other" in your life, reaching out, connecting, and nourishing those who form the circle of your being.
June 6, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Presence is the great gift of a spiritual life. Absence is the great teacher. Embrace both. Surrender both. That is the essence of your journey in this world.
May 30, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Astrologers predict the next decade to be filled with the kind of upheaval that accompanied the fall of the Roman Empire and the American Revolution. What does a spiritual seeker do in such times?
May 23, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) "Be still and know that I am God." There are many paths to stillness, our practice being just one. True achievement is not an attainment but awareness of what and whom you have always been. Stop trying to get there. Stillness does not lead somewhere else.
May 16, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Depression is a common and debilitating emotional state. It is also impermanent. If you feed it or fear it, you will deepen and prolong it. Simply observe it. All things come and go. You are not the thing that arises. Be the Witness.
May 9, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)http://www.brucerubin-class.com/Audio/2021/2021-05-02-NY.mp3
(On Zoom) We all have to leave the nest, those of us who love our mothers and those who don't, mothers must be left behind. Life is impermanent and detachment is essential. But the source of all mothering is not impermanent and worth finding. Dig deep.
May 2, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)http://www.brucerubin-class.com/Audio/2021/2021-05-02-NY.mp3
(On Zoom) Are we accountable for our lives? Perhaps it is best to err on the side of "yes".
April 25, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Neem Karoli Baba says, "It is better to see God in everything than try to figure things out." This is a talk about that.
April 11, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) At play and at work in the fields of the Lord. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Your life is a rich and profound story. Step back and enjoy it.
April 4, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) An Easter sermon. What was Christ thinking about on the cross and what does it teach us about our own mind in the face of bodily pain and death? Not as depressing as it sounds.
March 28, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) What to do when old mythologies and religious dogma give way to a kind of spiritual dementia and leave you with nothing but "what is". Prepare for truth. Prepare for joy. Prepare for not knowing anything. It's waiting for us all.
March 21, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Spiritual failure. What to do when you don’t measure up, when your life doesn't deliver what you hoped and prayed for.
March 14, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) "Do you have the patience to wait until your mind settles, and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?" Lao-Tsu
March 7, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The inevitability of pain. The amazement of wonder. There is no explaining that does it justice.
February 28, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Arriving at fullness requires a knowledge of emptiness and a capacity not to hunger for one or fear the other. Embrace Totality. It is who you are.
February 21, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Today is Rudi’s Samadhi, the 48th anniversary of his passing. It is a celebration of his being and, more importantly, his ongoing presence in our lives. It is a miracle when a teacher appears in this crazy world. We have been touched by Grace.
February 14, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) What is the Big Picture and why do so few people ever see it? One clue. It cannot be seen with the eyes or perceived with the mind. It can be witnessed but never known. To witness it is to touch reality, to become one with all that is.
February 7, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) The challenge of meaninglessness in human existence and the power of small grace notes to brighten and fill our day.
January 31, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Most good stories start with a character in equilibrium and then something happens to disturb that. We root for them to reestablish equilibrium before their time clock runs out. That is the story of our lives.
January 24, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) RUDI’S BIRTHDAY. I’ve celebrated Rudi’s birthday for nearly half a century. My gratitude for his teaching is unending. The only thing that’s changed is that I’m no longer trying to get anywhere that I haven’t always been.
January 17, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) Finding your Self is an absurd proposition since your Self is everywhere and you are nothing but It. Your ego being is not separate. If you ask your Self for help to surrender you will find who you have always been.
January 10, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) When the balancing forces of the universe, the yin/yang of existence go out or whack, what can you do? You can cave in or grow. Your call.
January 3, 2021 Red Hook, NY (watch, listen)
(On Zoom) So much of spiritual work is a desire to arrive at comfort. Real spiritual work begins when you let go of that. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Who wants comfort?