Behind the Cosmic Curtain: The Further Writings of Swami Rudrananda

At the time of Rudi’s death in 1973, Swami Rudrananda’s first book, Spiritual Cannibalism, had just been published. There remained a pool of dictations and partially edited material that were, in the intervening eleven years, circulated among those evolved in preserving and developing his teaching. In Beyond The Cosmic Curtain, edited by John Mann, the book brings together much of Rudi’s unpublished material. Since it had not been previously organized by Rudi or anyone else, Mr. Mann had to put the manuscript together according to its intrinsic character, and make the necessary editorial corrections to bring it from a dictated to a publishable form. John Mann says: Whatever the risks and difficulties in such an undertaking, the importance of making this material available to a wider audience justified the effort. It is my hope that Rudi would approve of the result. But whatever changes he might have wished, the spirit of his being speaks through his words as they come to life in the reader and generate a fiery awareness. And it is this which constitutes the essence of his action. Beyond The Cosmic Curtain was first published in 1984, and was an instant hit with students and friends of Rudi. Through the generosity of the author the print version of the book is available: "The wish to grow necessitates the continual excavation of physical restrictions to extend the openness of a person to the ocean of creative force that flows through him. This flow only builds in a person through conscious service to others. It is doing, not through your will, but through surrender to God’s will or the will of your own higher creative energy, that allows you to recycle your energy so it can rise to a higher level. This recycling is essential in order to remove ego, which can limit your growth at the moment of its expression and become the limitation for others who are influenced by you."