The Rudhyar Audio Archives were created by and are curated by Nicki Michaels. Recordings shared with permission from Leyla Hill.
Between 1917 and 1928 Rudhyar made an in-depth study of occult and various Oriental philosophies. His studies confirmed his early intuition about the importance and universality of cycles. The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky especially laid the foundations for much of his later philosophical development.
But Rudhyar did not study theosophy and Oriental philosophies to accumulate a mass of scholarly date .Through his studies he consciously tried to develop a new type of mind able to deal with universal, spiritual, and metaphysical principles and cyclic processes. He came definitely to feel that his dharma (destiny or truth-of-being) would be to reformulate ancient and traditional metaphysical and occult concepts in terms that would both nourish the development of, and and be understandable by this kind of mind which he calls “the mind of wholeness,” through a process which he calls “clairthinking”—the direct experience of ideas.
While he studied a vast number of books and met an impressive list of notable personalities, Rudhyar remained isolated from the mainstream of official and academic thought. Between 1933 and 1968, his work in reformulating astrology along humanistic and transpersonal lines was his main contact, not so much with his own generation as with succeeding ones.
Yet his astrological work cannot be understood fully unless it is seen within the context of the basic philosophy and metaphysics he formulated in the books listed in the left hand column—none of which refer to astrology.
From The Essential Rudhyar: An Outline And An Evocation (1983) by Leyla Rudhyar Hill. Read part 2 of an interview with Rudhyar originally published in the American Theosophist in September 1977 where he discusses his philosophical origins and the then upcoming decade of the 1980’s.
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Occult Preparations For A New Age
An approach to New Age concepts and true occultism seen in the light of theosophical ideas. A fascinating companion to the namesake book, which is freely available online.
Part 1 – 43 minutes – Click here to download mp3
Part 2 – 44 Minutes – Click here to download mp3
On Fate and Free Will
Rudhyar’s holistic vision integrates an ancient duality. An excellent accompaniment to The Planetarization of Consciousness.
Part 1 – 31 minutes – Click here to download mp3
Part 2 – 31 Minutes – Click here to download mp3
New Values For A New Age: Foundations For A Global Awareness
As with much of Rudhyar’s work, this talk seems even more relevant today than it did when it was originally given—in the days before the fall of the Soviet Union and the internet. Rudhyar discusses what is meant by the term “New Age,” the important difference between a culture and a civilization, the significance of cycles, and of the potential of the emergence of a “global culture” for humanity. Read the free online booklet Directives for New Life for a deeper understanding.
Part 1 – 31 minutes – Click here to download mp3
Part 2 – 26 minutes – Click here to download mp3
Rudhyar’s Philosophy Books
The Planetarization of Consciousness (1970) is Rudhyar’s major philosophical and psychological work, the concentrated outcome of a lifetime of thinking concerning the most basic problems of human existence and the meaning of the radical social-cultural and psychological crisis mankind is experiencing. Rudhyar was, for years, an apostle of world integration based on the interpretation of Eastern and Western concepts. A visionary, he imagined an emerging global society before the fall of the Soviet Union and the internet. He envisioned that through the worldwide interaction of all cultures, the development of a new type of planetary consciousness could, for the first time, reveal it its fullness the potential of humanity.
Rhythms of Wholeness (1983) has been called “Dane Rudhyar’s great opus—his masterwork—formulating and integrating his philosophical/metaphysical world view.” This book is the culmination of decades of intense research into, and creative thought about, the basic questions concerning creation and evolution
Read this book free online.
In Occult Preparations for a New Age, Rudhyar suggests that “through crisis, new beginnings. The seed must die so the leaf may grow.” He describes that we have help in the form of avatars, heroes, geniuses, all either consciously or unconsciously a part of a real Occult Brotherhood. It’s a study of humanity that recognizes that the evolution of life is a cyclic process and that to evaluate correctly the current condition of the world, we must maintain the long, aeonic, evolutionary view. This book includes a 1975 overview of the 1875 Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky. Read this book free online.
Culture, Crisis, and Creativity (1976) is an extraordinary vision of existence that explodes the popular myth of our cultural omniscience, omnipotence and permanence. There comes a time, suggests Rudhyar, when for the sake of our spiritual heritage, we should consider breaking away from established patterns and values that have been imposed upon us through our culture because “Spirit creates, culture reproduces.” The resulting crises appear to be necessary to the creative process. Order this book online.
Beyond Individualism, The Psychology of Transformation “is not a book which will come to rest within psychology. It is a book that redefines psychology—stretches it far beyond its narrow, conventional, academic and complacent limits. It is about understanding humanity and its relation to the earth…Read it to give yourself a larger set of windows to view life from.”
Dr. James Fadiman, Ph.D., Stanford University
In her well honed book The Essential Rudhyar, An Outline and an Evocation, Leyla Rael, Rudhyar’s wife in his later years, presents a well organized and comprehensive overview of Rudhyar’s entire body of work. Read the section on Rudhyar’s Philosophy to understand his philosophical writings and lectures within a greater context. Read this section online.
