About Herman Rednick

Herman Rednick was born in Philadelphia in 1902 and studied at the National Academy of Art in New York City, graduating with honors in 1927.

In a preface to one of his books, Herman wrote of his study of art and pursuit of inner development:

"At the time I studied the technique of painting I was also studying religion and philosophy. My interest in religious philosophy was not an intellectual curiosity but a burning search for spiritual understanding. I studied many religions and finally became deeply interested in Hindu philosophy and yoga. It was through the application of the spiritual philosophy from India that I awakened certain faculties within me. I developed a state of sensitive awareness with the ability to pierce beyond the superficial aspect of nature..."

Herman also meditated on the life of Christ, recording his experiences in a series of forty-two watercolors. Shortly after this, at the age of forty, he was inducted into the army and served for three years in the Pacific in World War II. In 1949 Herman moved to Taos, New Mexico, where he continued his meditations and his painting.

In the 1960's students began to seek him out for advice and he started a small class in meditation. During this period he traveled to India twice, spent time in the Himalayas, and met Lama Govinda and W.Y. Evans-Wentz, early writers on Tibetan Buddhism. While in India Herman realized his purpose lay in the United States and he returned to Taos to continue teaching meditation classes through the 1970's and 80's. He gave one or two lessons a week on the spiritual path - inspiring and instructing students - until his death in 1985 at the age of 83. Throughout Herman's life and teaching he focused on the Christ. In his last years he also introduced elements of Tibetan Buddhism.

A meditation building was constructed by his students in 1982 and it houses many of his paintings.

In the 1990's several of Herman's students, under the direction of a lama of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, constructed a Tibetan stupa, the Kagyu Mila Guru Stupa, as a memorial to him.