Videos
with Brother David Steindl-Rast

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Two Old Men - Br. David retells this folktale by Leo Tolstoy, leaving us to ponder "Who really got to the goal of the pilgrimage?" 

Hymn to the Great Song 
Brother David celebrates Song born in Silence, with reference to St. Francis and the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.  Part of Michael Stillwater's documentary series from Song Without Borders, a nonprofit initiative applying the power of song to personal and societal healing and transformation.

A Good Day
This video with narration by Br. David and music by award-winning composer Gary Malkin shows how today is not "just another day.

Giver of All Good Gifts
This Thanksgiving prayer offered by Br. David, accompanied by Gary Malkin's inspired music, looks towards the possibility of our world uniting in an overflow of gratitude.

Spiritual Biography
In partnership with Commonweal, we offer this spiritual biography of Br. David Steindl-Rast, hosted by Michael Lerner.
Part 1: Early Years to WWII
Part 2: Growing Awareness - America and Monastic Life
Part 3: A Happy and Fulfilled Life
Part 4: Questions and Answers
Part 5: Shaping a Spiritual Practice
Part 6: Getting to Grateful

Beyond Religion
This talk by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, followed by discussion with Brother David Steindl-Rast and Father Thomas Keating, is a historic meeting of three elders, moral authorities of world standing, who together envision nonsectarian ethics of human well-being.

Love and Forgiveness
Brother David shares his thoughts on love and forgiveness in his opening address to the Fetzer Institute's "Global Gathering: A Pilgrimage of Love and Forgiveness" in Assisi, Italy on Sept. 19, 2012.

Money and Life interview
In Katie Teague's documentary, Br. David says that trust and lack of faith are at the core of the economic crisis.

Neuroscience and Contemplative Practice
In this webcast from the International Symposia for Contemplative Studies with Tanja Singer and Sharon Salzburg, Brother David talks about Cultivating Compassion in Christian Contemplative Tradition. Once you click on "View Webast" you must do a brief registration to view it.

Every Moment Is a Gift - In this newly HD formatted film by Daniela Haskara, Br. David speaks of the connection between peace and gratefulness at Esalen in 2003.

Spirituality for the Future
These clips of Br. David's talk are from the Tenth Annual Choices for the Future Symposium, Hosted by John Denver,  August 25-27, 1995 (© The Windstar Foundation). 
Introduction: Chungliang Al Huang introduces Brother David
Part One: Choosing to Come Alive
Part Two: Openness to the Unimaginable
Part Three: Reconnecting to the Deepest Part of Your Being

Human and Divine Nature
In this 1999 excerpt from the Thinking Allowed television series, Brother David talks about how the genuine spiritual basis of all religious traditions encourages the cultivation of independent conscience.

Meditative Moments
Br. David shares how he discovered meditation, how nature's calming influence helps, how he perceives the quiet, and how stillness pertains to action. 

Search for Spirituality
Filmed in Big Sur during the 1990s through the National Council of Churches.
Clip 1: Two ways of relating to God
Clip 2: Depression - waiting and trusting

Br. David Steindl-Rast on Gratitude
For Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Kate Olson brings us interviews as well as workshop footage of Br. David from his July 2010 weekend with Sam Keen on "Spirited Life in a Secular World." This video gives a deep perspective on gratitude and a contemporary God-view. (7:32 min.)

The Mystical Experience 
Phil Cousineau on Link TV’s “Global Spirit” program, filmed in summer 2010, examines the nature of mystical experience with Br. David Steindl-Rast, Maata Lynn Barron, and Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man.
Clip 1: On Gratitude & the Now
Clip 2: On Fear and Fundamentalism
Clip 3: Listening to God
Clip 4: The Illusory God

"Death & Spirituality"
Dr. Kenneth Kramer interviews Brother David at San Jose State University, March 1990. *These all have English captions now.
Part 1: Br. David answers "What is missing in our perception of death that would transform our feelings about it?"
Part 2: Reincarnation, purgatory and finding fulfillment
Part 3: Br. David addresses the question "What is going to happen to you when you die?"
Part 4: Dr. Kramer asks Br. David how he would support someone who is dying.
Part 5: Dr. Kramer asks Br. David how he would support someone who is grieving, and how he would like to die.

"Thawing the Life-giving Waters"
Br. David speaks about the ethics of inclusion and the elements of grateful living practice at the June 2010 International Transpersonal Conference in Moscow, Russia.

Spiritual Directors International Learns from Br. David Steindl-Rast, OSB
Clip 1: Finding a spiritual guide (sometimes it's a challenge!).
Clip 2: How do I pray?  Where does spiritual guidance lead us?

"Spiritual Practices for Everyday Living"
A retreat with Br. David at Roy's Retreat in Adelaide, Australia, June 2009
Part 1: The meaning of "retreat"
Part 2: Contemplation: Bringing together vision and action
Part 3: Three aspects of "meaning": Word, Silence and Understanding.
Part 4: Accessing meaning through poetry.
Part 5: Manna: What is it?
Part 6: Some (unusual) words to live by
Part 7: In the present is our true self.

"Spirit, Soul, Mind, Body: A Universal Call to Contemplative"
Br. David speaking at a retreat held at Boulder Integral, in Boulder, Colorado, June 26-28, 2009
Part 1: Mysticism as a personal "peak" experience
Part 2: James Wright's "A Blessing" - feeling really human
Part 3: "God View" as an approach to the Divine

A Documentary on Br. David Steindl-Rast
Ryan and Warren Anderson composed this biographical film - much of it on location at Mount Saviour Monastery - from 2003 footage taken by Sam Rider and Aishwarya Kancharla, thanks to a generous financial gift by Candice Fuhrman.
Part 1: Early days at Mt. Saviour Monastery, Elmira, NY
Part 2: Br. David's years in Buddhist monasteries
Part 3: From dishwashing to lecturing to web-designing

Talks during Greek Isles Cruise - October 2007
Video footage shot by Dutch Journalist Luc Sala
Part 1: Three ways we find the Divine
Part 2: Grace and finding the space between thoughts
Part 3: Buddhist and Christian traditions meet
Part 4: Understanding our religious traditions
Part 5: Interdependent Arising as Divine

"Gratefulness in the Now"
With Br. David and Joan Halifax Roshi
Upaya Zen Center, May 2, 2007
Part 1:   Introduction
Part 2:   Compassion fatigue
Part 3:   Grateful living practice
Part 4:   What is essential for gratefulness?
Part 5:   With gratitude, you are never not wealthy
Part 6:   Altruism
Part 7:   Complaint-free world organization
Part 8:   The opportunity to change
Part 9:   Complaining vs. statement of fact
Part 10:  Letting change guide you

What Good is the Church?
Integral Christianity Seminar, Denver, Colorado - 2006

With extraordinary humor and grace, Br. David and Fr. Thomas Keating discuss the value and limitations of the institutional church.

Living Yoga (2006)
In these two segments of a tribute to Br. David's friend Swami Satchidananda, Brother David discusses fundamentalism in the context of war and on a lighter note recalls a story with a surprising punch line.

The Monk and the Rabbi, 2005
Bokara Legendre talks with Br. David and Rabbi Lawrence Kushner about mysticism and religion.

Synthesis Dialogues interview - Rome, 2004
Part 1: Gratefulness as the heart of every spiritual tradition
Part 2: Opening ourselves to surprise
Part 3: Blessing is the cosmic bloodstream
Part 4: What keeps humans going in spite of ourselves?
Part 5: A new Godview
Part 6: The basis for a healthy self image
To learn more about the Synthesis Dialogues 2004 and order the entire DVD, which includes footage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and many other influential voices, please visit this page.

Thanks-Giving World Advisors Meeting, 1996
Br. David answers three questions:
1) How vital is thanksgiving to the life we lead?
2) How important is Thanks-giving Square for gratitude worldwide?, and
3) How vital is our support of the thanksgiving message?

Many Paths, One Truth
In excerpts from this 1977 film by John D. Goodell, an ecumenical gathering led by Swami Satchidananda, Br. David Steindl-Rast, Rabbi Joseph Gelberman, Rev. Gesshin (Roshi Prabhasa Dharma), Father Robert Beh, and Mushida Taj Inayat explores how a universal vision can bring change into the world.

International Videos

Video on Dankbarkeit.org - We have a German-language branch of the website that includes video presentations by Br. David (scroll down the page to the "Audio/Video" section). For longer German videos, see this page.

From a visit to Romania, October 2011
Video 1 - Brother David Steindl Rast la Bucuresti, partea I
Video 2 - Brother David Steindl Rast la Bucuresti, partea II
Video 3 - Brother David Steindl-Rast la Timisoara
Video 4 - Brother David Steindl-Rast la Iasi

A Good Day -This beloved video has captions in several languages.  A separate version with only Romanian captions can be found here.

Favorite Films - Here we offer descriptions of favorite films from more than 20 years of Esalen film seminars led by Francis G. Lu, M.D. and Br. David Steindl-Rast.