Rudi (spiritual teacher)

In early 1973, Rudi published Spiritual Cannibalism, his only book.

On February 21, 1973, Rudi died in a small plane crash in the Catskills. The three other occupants walked away with only minor injuries. He was dictating a journal entry, and his last words were, "...a deeper sense of surrender".

In September 1972, Rudi traveled to India with four of his students. While in India, they visited Swami Chidananda at the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh.

By end of 1972, Rudi had established fourteen ashrams in the US, and three in Europe. His Manhattan store housed one of the largest Asian art collections in the world.

In 1971, after enduring a series of blatantly and pointless, ungrateful, abusive behaviour from his guru (snatching of students, changing Rudi's teaching methods, asking for Rudi to severe his inner connection to Nityananda, constant disregard and snubbing) Rudi had enough and finally dissolved his affiliation with Muktananda.

In 1970, Rudi arranged for Muktananda to visit the United States for the first time. Muktananda arrived with his entourage on Labor Day weekend in New York, and traveled with Rudi to Big Indian to stay for two months. Ram Dass was also present. Late in October Rudi escorted Muktananda on tour to Texas and California.

By 1967, Rudi's business had expanded. He traveled to Asia at least two or three times per year. In 1968, Rudi moved his store, Rudi Oriental Antiques. The new location was five times larger, and in attendance at the gala opening was Japanese Zen master Eido Tai Shimano.

In 1964, Franklin Jones, who later became the controversial guru Adi Da, became a casual student. For two years, Rudi's influence on Jones was pervasive. Jones eventually traveled to India to meet Swami Muktananda, who encouraged Jones to abandon his studies with Rudi and study with himself directly, which Jones did. Later, after joining the Church of Scientology, Jones severed all contact with Rudi, though they spoke again years later.

In 1962, after Bhagawan Nityananda's death, Rudi became a student of Swami Muktananda in India, mainly because of that adept's strong shaktipat powers and discipleship to Nityananda, according to several sources. In 1966, Rudi traveled to Ganeshpuri with the intention of obtaining the title of 'swami' from Muktananda. Muktananda did not want to give Rudi the title, and so Rudi spoke with Chakrapani Ullal, a Vedic astrologer, about the situation. Chakrapani Ullal agreed with Rudi and persuaded Muktananda to give him the title, 'Swami Rudrananda', thereby initiating him into the Sarasvati branch of the Dashanami Sampradaya, established by Shankara in the 8th century.

In early 1961, Rudi sat for a painting by Edith Montlack, an artist in New Rochelle, New York.

In 1961, Rudi first met Swami Venkatesananda in India, and they became lifelong friends.

In 1960, Rudi began to hold classes in his apartment, which consisted of an open-eyed meditation where he "transmitted shaktipat energy" in a group setting, followed by a lecture. Spiritual teacher and friend Hilda Charlton was frequently in attendance. Occasionally after classes, Rudi would invite the students up to his living room to play poker, or he would take them to dinner in Chinatown.

In early 1959, Rudi declared himself a spiritual teacher and began teaching students individually in his store. Rudi’s method was to sit opposite a student and gaze intently into their eyes for perhaps five to ten minutes, said to allow him to transmit shaktipat energy.

Rudi joined the Subud organization, studying with its founder, Pak Subuh, and helping to establish the group in New York. In 1958, Rudi met Swami Bharati Krishna Tirtha, Shankaracharya of Puri, during his first visit to the United States, and lived with him in New York for 4 months.

At age 30, Rudi was at a turning point in his life when a friend took him to meet Bhagavan Nityananda at his ashram in Ganeshpuri. Rudi later wrote, "My first meeting, in India in 1958, with the great Indian saint Bhagavan Nityananda was of such depth that it changed the course of my life." Rudi continued to study with Nityananda, whom he considered his ultimate guru, until his master died in 1961.

Rudi, born Albert Rudolph (January 24, 1928 – February 21, 1973), also known as Swami Rudrananda, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Rudi was a spiritual teacher and an antiquities entrepreneur in New York City.

Albert Rudolph was born January 24, 1928, to impoverished Jewish parents in Brooklyn, New York. His father abandoned the family when he was young.