“A teacher is like a temporary filling. Someday you have to toss it away and replace it with a permanent filling - god.”  -Rudi

Rudi was a spiritual master, born and raised in New York.

As a young man his need to grow spiritually had taken him to India in search of a teacher.

In India Rudi had discovered that the teachings given in the East do not work for the Western psyche. He then, with the help of God, devised a simple breathing exercise that helps open the spiritual muscles within us and connect to a higher creative force.

This meditation is not about mantras and external manifestations. Wearing long robes and beads are not an inherent part of the inner search. In the final analysis spiritual growth depends on a human being’s need and their sincere effort to evolve.

It does not matter where you come from, nor is your present situation in life relevant. It is within us to change the structure of the cosmos. Our need can alter our predestination and turn our life into a wonderful and joyous journey. One full of wonder.

Rudi practiced what he preached. Coming back from India, he opened a small antique store that became a center to many spiritual seekers. He never charged money for his teachings, saying that it was not his work but God’s work. ‘How can I charge money for something that’s not mine?’ he used to say.

Alik met Rudi over forty years ago, on the last leg of his journey on earth. He passed on a year later, on the 21st of February, 1973. In the year they had spent together, Rudi had initiated Alik as a teacher in his meditation.

Spiritual work is not something practiced only on remote mountaintops or isolated monasteries. The inner work we practice is Rudra Meditation, or as Rudi once called it laughingly, ‘Survival Yoga.’ It is a spiritual work that bridges our everyday life and our inner life. There is no separation in this work. We don’t punch a time card at the end of our day and move on to meditate. Our life is a meditation and a deepening of our consciousness.

The lotus flower is a beautiful and stunning flower. Its roots are sunk deep in the scum of the lake, sucking its nutrients from mud and dirt, only to manifest such a magnificent crown. We can live life this way. We can consume the roughage of life, all its pain and difficulties and use it as raw material for our growth. That way, no one else is to blame for our situation. We assume full responsibility and move on to grow.

We grow from encompassing the challenges, not from dealing with what is easy. We need to welcome that which forces us to change.

This spiritual practice is not for everyone. The meditation we practice is an open eye meditation. The eyes are the channels through which we absorb energy that is essential for our growth. The teacher serves as a catalyst for this energy.

Why do we meditate? Almost everyone will tell you that they practice meditation to relax and get a sense of quiet. That is the truth but not the whole truth. Once we are quiet, what’s next? Where do we go from there? How do we sustain this inner peace? We need to build inner strength so this feeling of inner peace is sustained. That requires building a discipline. The simple breathing exercise we practice in this meditation provides us with this strength.

All human beings possess within themselves seven main spiritual centers. They are known in Sanskrit as Chakras. These chakras are the direct connection between us and the universe. The practice of meditation is aimed at opening these centers and helping us make this connection.

We have three tools to help us along the way:

• The mind, when used as an instrument to focus our attention within us.
• The human breath, which slowly expands and stretches these centers.
• The need to grow. Without which, this meditation is purely mechanical. The meditation practice that Alik's teachers passed on to him encompass these three elements. They are our gateway to freedom.

Rudi’s double breathing technique is direct and powerful. It is an open eye form of Kundalini Yoga that teaches one to absorb energy directly into his or hers psychic centers/Chakras. In this meditation the teacher serves as a vehicle to higher energies.

In doing so one learns how to burn away the tensions of our existence on earth and turn them into a life giving energy.

In his many years of teachings, Alik found that a human being’s greatest obstacle is not his fear of failure, but of the greatness that lies within him. Once we tap our greatness, we have to be responsible enough to maintain it.