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    Richard Alpert / Ram Dass   

 

Biography  klik hier
Here and Now
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Meditation  klik hier


Richard Alpert / Ram Dass



Biography
Ram Dass first went to India in 1967. He was still Dr. Richard Alpert, a prominent Harvard psychologist and psychedelic pioneer with Dr. Timothy Leary. He continued his psychedelic research until that fateful Eastern trip in 1967, when he traveled to India. In India, he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharajji, who gave Ram Dass his name, which means “servant of God.” Everything changed then - his intense dharmic life started, and he became a pivotal influence on a culture that has reverberated with the words “Be Here Now” ever since. Ram Dass’ spirit has been a guiding light for three generations, carrying along millions on the journey, helping to free them from their bonds as he works through his own.

Since 1968, Ram Dass has pursued a panoramic array of spiritual methods and practices from potent ancient wisdom traditions, including bhakti or devotional yoga focused on the Hindu deity Hanuman; Buddhist meditation in the Theravadin, Mahayana Tibetan, and Zen Buddhist schools, and Sufi and Jewish mystical studies. Perhaps most significantly, his practice of karma yoga or spiritual service has opened up millions of other souls to their deep, yet individuated spiritual practice and path. Ram Dass continues to uphold the boddhisatva ideal for others through his compassionate sharing of true knowledge and vision. His unique skill in getting people to cut through and feel divine love without dogma is still a positive influence on many people from all over the planet.

Richard Alpert Transforms into Ram Dass
In 1961, while at Harvard, explorations of human consciousness led him, in collaboration with Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Aldous Huxley, and Allen Ginsberg, to pursue intensive research with psilocybin, LSD-25, and other psychedelic chemicals.

Out of this research came two books: The Psychedelic Experience (co-authored with Leary and Metzner, and based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, published by University Books); and LSD (with Sidney Cohen and Lawrence Schiller, published by New American Library). Because of the highly controversial nature of their research, Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary became personae non-grata and were dismissed from Harvard in 1963. Tim Leary and Alpert then went to Mexico, ate mushrooms, and went from being academics to counter-culture icons, legends in their own time, and young at that. For Ram Dass psychedelic work turned out to be a prelude to the mystical country of the spirit and the source of consciousness itself. Mind expansion via chemical substances became a catalyst for the spiritual seeking. This naturally led him eastward to the traditional headwater of mystical rivers, India. Once there, a series of seeming coincidences led him to Neem Karoli Baba and the transformation from Richard Alpert to Ram Dass.

Ram Dass’ Works and Seva (Spiritual Service)
In 1974, Ram Dass created the Hanuman Foundation, a non-profit foundation meant to embody the spirit of service inspired his Guru. The Hanuman Foundation developed the Prison-Ashram Project, directed by Bo and Sita Lozoff, which helped prison inmates grow spiritually during their incarceration and the Dying Project, conceived with Stephen Levine, which helped many bring awareness and compassion to the encounter with death. Also as part of the Hanuman Foundation, Dale Borglum founded and directed the Dying Center in Santa Fe, the first residential facility in the United States whose purpose was to support conscious dying. The Prison-Ashram Project, now called the Human Kindness Foundation, continues under Sita Lozoff in North Carolina and the Living/Dying Project, now a separate non-profit headed by Dale Borglum in the Bay Area, provides support for transforming the encounter with life-threatening illness into an opportunity for spiritual awakening.

Ram Dass In the Here and Now
In 1996, Ram Dass began a talk radio program called “Here and Now with Ram Dass.” Seven pilot programs were aired in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, and Ram Dass planned to launch the show on a nationwide basis the following year, but it was not to be. On February 19th 1997, Ram Dass suffered a near-fatal stroke, which left him paralyzed on the right side of his body and expressive aphasia limiting his ability to speak, along with other challenging ailments. Though the radio show did not last, his Here and Now podcast (over 100 episodes) lives on today at Ram Dass’ Be Here Now Network.

The after-effects of the stroke once again changed his life, but he was able to resume teaching, writing and sharing his heart. In 2004, following a life-threatening infection, Ram Dass was forced to curtail travel and focus on recovering his health.

Ram Dass moved to Maui in 2004, and began hosting personal and public retreats and events for spiritual seekers, continuing his long-standing legacy of sharing his heart and life with anyone who wanted to access his teachings and his heart. He accessed people through weekly Skype sessions and through a vast library of his teachings hosted on RamDass.org and through social media, books, online courses and podcasts.

His most recent books included Be Love Now (2011), Polishing the Mirror: How to Live from Your Spiritual Heart (2013), Cookbook for Awakening (2017), Walking Each Other Home (2018), Changing Lenses: Essential Teaching Stories from Ram Dass (2018), and Being Ram Dass (2021).

Honoring Ram Dass into the Future
Ram Dass passed away at his home on Maui on December 22, 2019. Leading up to his passing, he continued to teach at his semi-annual retreats with other esteemed Bhakti and Buddhist thought leaders.

In the spirit of his wishes, the Love Serve Remember Foundation plans to continue and expand many of the programs, content and offerings you’ve come to know and love. More specifically, we plan to

  • continue the bi-annual retreats on Maui and in Ojai with teachings from Ram Dass and friends;
  • expand our Immersion Retreats to other parts of the country;
  • nurture the growing Ram Dass fellowship communities across the country;
  • initiate educational programs and curricula at universities and colleges;
  • continue and expand our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion overall and to expand scholarship programs to include diverse cultural groups in all of our offerings;
  • create a traveling exhibit of Ram Dass’s life work and personal library;
  • expand the Be Here Now podcast network to include teachers and thought leaders from diverse spiritual traditions;
  • in alignment with Ram Dass’ essential work on service, engage with other service organizations to support and expand their impact.

The Jewel of Maharaji
Since returning from India in 1968, Ram Dass has shared what he called “the jewel of Maharaji”. Love Serve Remember Foundation aspires to carry on these teachings of unconditional love and deep wisdom, as Ram Dass did until his last breath.

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More about Ram Dass and his work www.ramdass.org

 

 


Here and Now

In 1996, Ram Dass began a talk radio program called “Here and Now with Ram Dass.” Seven pilot programs were aired in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, and Ram Dass planned to launch the show on a nationwide basis the following year, but it was not to be. On February 19th 1997, Ram Dass suffered a near-fatal stroke, which left him paralyzed on the right side of his body and expressive aphasia limiting his ability to speak, along with other challenging ailments. Though the radio show did not last, his Here and Now podcast (over 100 episodes) lives on today at Ram Dass’ Be Here Now Network.


Episode 55: Sex & Spirituality
38.40 min

Sex and spirituality are cosmically intertwined. The more evolved you become spiritually, the less boundaries there are between my energy and THE energy. When your energy is used in a way that is destructive, meaning that it creates suffering to you and other people and creates pain of separation, you want to keep working to move that energy in other ways, to create a more compassionate environment.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 55:  klik hier


Episode 54: Invite not the Future
28.03 min

Can we take anticipated suffering and turn it into something that enriches the present moment? For those of us who want to approach future suffering with some degree of equanimity, mindfulness and open heartedness, the earlier we start, the better. The more we come into the presence of these phenomena, working with these struggles even though they are not ours yet, the more we will have eaten what we have to eat and digested our reactivity to be able to keep our hearts open.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 54:  klik hier


Episode 53: Devotion & the Guru
49.40 min

The Guru as a separate entity only exists within the illusion of separateness.The minute it has worked to awaken you, it ceases to be anything. It is a self destructing mechanism.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 53:  klik hier


Episode 52: Transcending Individual Differences
46.14 min

When you are no longer laying trips on anyone, not judging, or discriminating individual differences, you become the environment in which the optimum growth is available to all human beings you come into contact with.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 52:  klik hier


Episode 51: Greed & Consciousness
58.17 min

Most people in society are pushing away experiences that indicate that they have an identity on other planes of reality, in order to hold tightly to the plane of reality that they are comfortable with.

A liberated being is someone who has moved out of the reality that they initially thought was the absolute reality in their life, into subsequent realities. They are then liberated from being stuck in any single reality.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 51:  klik hier


Episode 50: Sharon Salzberg on Loving Kindness
52.41 min

Sharon explores the question of What is loving kindness? It is the spirit of friendship toward yourself and others. Interdependence is not romantic, but it is the truth of things, that our lives have something to do with one another.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 50:  klik hier


Episode 49: Sharon Salzberg
62.51 min

There are tools and techniques that one can make use of to have a happier life, and these tools do not require a belief system. It’s about the possibility of re-training the condition of the mind in a way so that old patterns of pushing away or holding on can be challenged and relinquished into a whole new way of relating to our experience.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 49:  klik hier


Episode 48: Living the Mystery
60.07 min

The process is realizing that you and I exist on more than one plane of awareness simultaneously and on one plane suffering stinks, and on another plane suffering is grace. The question is, Can you balance those two things in your consciousness?

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 48:  klik hier


Episode 47: Universal Energy and Miracles
51.18 min

What is awesome is the amount of energy that is available to a human being. The paradox is, as long as you are a somebody you are dealing with a finite amount of energy that is able to function through somebody-ness. Only when you become nobody can you be one with universal energy.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 47:  klik hier


Episode 46: ...and That too
47.13 min

Our journey is about totally embracing life, but doing it with non-attachment. By embracing the ten thousand horrible visions and the ten thousand beautiful visions, you go through the doorway of nature to go beyond nature at the same time as being fully in it.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 46:  klik hier


Episode 45: Conspiracy of Consciousness Pt. 2
38.20 min

How do we bring spirituality and business together? How do we bring sustainability and justice into business? We must fulfill our roles to use them as vehicles to become free. Ram Dass uses the Social Venture Network and their honest social action as examples of conscious business practices.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 45:  klik hier


Episode 44: Conspiracy of Consciousness Pt. 1
47.49 min

How can we look at our life experience in a way that liberates us from suffering and liberates those who we come into contact with from suffering? We begin to see our life experiences as Grace: as a set of opportunities through which we can become free. The predicament is that as you awaken you realize you have been the perpetrator of the conspiracy you got caught in.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 44:  klik hier


Episode 43: Bringing it all Back Home
67.14 min

We have built such a habitual structure of self-definition on this plane of reality. That is the model you impose with your self-definition of separateness. What does it take to bring about the full transformation so that you dance in your separateness without being entrapped by it?

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 43:  klik hier


Episode 42: Community and the Spiritual Quest
51.43 min

Community is when human beings come together in the shelter of each other. We are a community of beings acknowledging the dual intention of working on ourselves as an offering to others, and working with others as a way of working on ourselves. Our lives are training sessions to turn ourselves into instruments of true kindness and compassion.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 42:  klik hier


Episode 41: Return to the West
39.40 min

Ram Dass realized that the Western religious traditions were not profound enough to connect people to their inner selves, they did not provide man with the wisdom necessary to know inner peace and fulfillment. So he traveled to the East and connected with yoga (union with God). After encountering yoga, he was able to come back into the Western traditions and hear the inner message. He went to the East to break the barrier of cynicism around Western religions.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 41:  klik hier


Episode 40: Trungpa Rinpoche - Pt 2
25.51 min

Ram Dass interviews Trungpa Rinpoche at the Dharma Festival in 1973.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 40:  klik hier


Episode 39: Trungpa Rinpoche - Pt 1
37.03 min

Ram Dass talks about his relationship with the great Tibetan Lama, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Includes detailed moments with Trungpa and Ram Dass at different events and venues in the early 70’s where Trungpa was teaching- the methods he used with his students and the dismay of many who were offended by his unusual behavior and teachings that were enigmatic to say the least. Ram Dass delves into a substantial issue around teachers in the West that are unconventional and sometimes divisive yet can provide students with a path that allows for real growth.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 39:  klik hier


Episode 38: Swimming with Dolphins
54.24 min

Swimming with the dolphins connected me immediately to my intuitive heart space. They were a mirror of non-judgmental awareness that reminded me of being with Maharaji. Being with him felt like being with someone who was human but not human, like a wild animal. I was removed from my conceptual conspiracy of relating to the world through attachment, greed and anger. - Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 38:  klik hier


Episode 37: Aldous Huxley
39.44 min

Aldous Huxley preceded Ram Dass and Tim Leary in explorations of the remote frontiers of the mind and unmapped areas of human consciousness. In Doors of Perception, Huxley studied the profound effects of mind-expanding drugs. In the book Island, he described an ideal society that flourished on a remote South Sea island. An outsider is shipwrecked on the island and is shown the values of this ideal society, and learns about hope.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 37:  klik hier


Episode 36: Promises and Pitfalls - Pt 3
39.31 min

The spiritual journey is a different path than what you thought you were on. It’s very hard to make the transition to that path because we tend to take the power from the spiritual work we do to make our lives nice, but that is not what the path offers. The path offers freedom, but freedom demands complete surrender. The dialogue between the mind and the heart has become out of balance in our culture.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 36:  klik hier


Episode 35: Promises and Pitfalls - Pt 2
35.37 min

The quality of a really good teacher is rascalism. All you need to know is this: If you want to be free, use the teacher to the fullest extent. Their karmic problems are their karmic problems.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 35:  klik hier


Episode 34: Promises and Pitfalls
52.19 min

Ram Dass talks about the promises and the pitfalls of the spiritual path, and the shift of reality that happened in the sixties that was predicated by psychedelics. This shift blew apart the traditional religious systems that were in place at the time, and the psychedelics gave people a connection that they had never experienced before: a feeling that they were interconnected with the universe. When we see how much of our behavior is a defense mechanism to alleviate the pain of separateness, we begin to realize the importance of healthy intuitive and compassionate hearts.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 34:  klik hier


Episode 33: Love Beyond Time
49.59 min

Being in the presence of dying people keeps me close to the edge of my own awakening. Love touches time and turns it to dust. Love is beyond the reach of time. - Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 33:  klik hier


Episode 32: Battle between Mind and Heart
54.45 min

There is another way of being in the universe. The Chinese call it The Heart Mind, or as we may call it The Intuitive Mind. Rather than knowing through dualistic means or thinking about it, one subjectively merges with it, becomes one with it. It is like the difference between wisdom and knowledge.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 32:  klik hier


Episode 31: Aging and Awakening
77.16 min

The nature of aging is change. We are fascinated by watching that which changes. When change starts to happen to who we think we are, the fascination turns into fear. We are living in a system that is out of balance; the zeal for independence and individuality has left us alienated from the structures of family, community and nature.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 31:  klik hier


Episode 30: Risk Being Human
55.00 min

Ram Dass talks about how we all need to risk being human. What we offer each other is our truth, which includes all of our stuff. We have to allow ourselves to be human. The way to the truth is through acknowledging the fullness of where we find ourselves to be, which is through our humanity and our divinity.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 30:  klik hier


Episode 29: Personality & Emotions
59.02 min

One cultivates spaciousness or awareness which allows you to acknowledge the emotions and see them as part of the human condition. Emotions are like subtle thought forms and they all arise in response to something outside yourself. They are all reactions. You cultivate a quietness in yourself that watches these emotions rising and falling and passing away.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 29:  klik hier


Episode 28: Hanuman Heart
49.12 min

Media can destroy the message in the way it delivers it, similarly, as long as I have a price I am transmitting fear, because I have something to lose. The minute I have no price, I can transmit perfect joy of presence and freedom.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 28:  klik hier


Episode 27: Spirituality and Politics
31.12 min

The world is a reflection of our internal state; if we dwell on turmoil, anger and confusion then that is how the world will be perceived to an individual. You have to work on yourself first before you can effectively take any social or political action. A quiet mind and and an open heart are important attributes to project into the world.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 27:  klik hier


Episode 26: Suffering Pt. 2
36.26 min

Raghu reveals an interesting confession about an LSD experience he had involving the death of his ego and the birth of a very specific concern. Ram Dass discusses the art of dying and suffering. Suffering only happens to a somebody, if you are not attached to your somebodyness you do not suffer because there is nothing for that suffering to cling to and manifest within you. The suffering that has occurred in your life is part of what allows you to be here today, the way that suffering burns into you and deepens you makes you less superficial.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 26:  klik hier


Episode 25: Suffering Pt. 1
36.55 min

The clinging of mind is the cause of suffering. Suffering gives you clues to the ways you are clinging, and we make the nature of things our enemy. If you are going to be available for someone elses suffering you have to be able to acknowledge your own suffering.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 25:  klik hier


Episode 24: Rama Rama
52.43 min

A guru is somebody who is a pure mirror, so pure that when you meet that being you immediately see where you are caught. Ram Dass talks about the mirror of the guru, mentioning: I know more than I understand, and I am intellectually ahead of where I am intuitively. He ends the lecture with the first chant that he brought back to the states from India in 1967.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 24:  klik hier


Episode 23: Siva's Dance of Life
38.45 min

In this dharma talk Ram Dass discusses Shiva’s dance of life, reflecting on methods for centering ourselves, serving others, and tending to the part of us that isolates ourselves from the world.

The Dance of Daily Life
Ram Dass expounds on how we can reconcile our spiritual practices with our daily lives and social responsibilities. In a world where we are being pulled in every direction with work, children, and finances, how can we possibly get away? Ram Dass explains these are not things we can escape from because they are in our own head, so if we want to change our environment, we have to change our own head.

“Either you do it like it’s a big weight on you, or you do it as part of the dance. When you understand the thought is the thought of the thoughtless, your singing and dancing is no other than the voice of the dharma. Singing and dancing-insurance, savings accounts, jobs, responsibilities- Shiva’s dance of life. Do you do from ‘unk’ or do it like ‘ah?’ Do you surf through it all, or do you carry it around like its a load?” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 23:  klik hier


Episode 22: How may I Serve You?
47.04 min

How may I serve you in the journey we are all on to come to the light? That is the only possibility we have as humans. As Hanuman said in the Ramayana: When the cloud of duality covers me I serve Ram. When the cloud is lifted, I am Ram.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 22:  klik hier


Episode 21: Energy
34.36 min

In this dharma talk from 1969, Ram Dass shares on the concept of energy. Using the examples of Hanuman and Maharajji, he explains that through surrender, renunciation, and service, that you can get it all, but only when there is no ‘you’ to have it.

Surrendering Our Model of Energy
Your model for handling energy defines which energy you can use from the universe, and how it can be expended. Surrendering your model of energy can allow you to become ‘part of it all,” dissipating the constriction of the ego, and opening your connection to universal energy.

“The whole process of tuning in on all of the energy of the universe, so it all is part of you, is extricating you from you. That’s what non-attachment means. That’s what renunciation means.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 21:  klik hier


Episode 20: Embracing it All
44.13 min

In this dharma talk from the late 1960’s Ram Dass, just coming back from recent psychedelic explorations, shares his insights on embracing it all, non-attachment, and his namesake of service, Hanuman.

Turn Off Your Mind, Float Downstream
During an overnight psychedelic inner-exploration in the Taos, NM desert in which his energy channels were staunchly blocked, solace only came when Ram Dass was finally able to say, “Yes, and this too. I will embrace this. I will become one with the stars.” It was this acceptance that opened him to greater planes, and helped him through to the morning light. It was in this light, that Ram Dass was able to embrace his own family tradition of Judaism. He could now see it as part of a heritage, and something that he was inexorably involved with.

“Turn off your mind, float downstream. Embrace the ten-thousand horrible visions and the ten-thousand beautiful visions. Embrace life. Go through it. Embrace it all. Be one with it all.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 20:  klik hier


Episode 19: Karma Yogi
36.51 min

Karma Yoga is the transformation of being that is based on your daily work in the world. Raghu describes this talk from Ram Dass, which was recently discovered in our media archives from 1974 when Ram Dass was interviewed at a NY radio station. Ram Dass talks about taking what you do everyday and using it as material to transform yourself. The central theme of the Bhagavad Gita is to do what you do in the world, but do it as an offering to God without looking for results.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 19:  klik hier


Episode 18: Indian Stories
48.54 min

Ram Dass tells stories of his experiences in India that expanded his consciousness and allowed him to see the true potential of human beings. The miraculous events that happened with Maharaji led Ram Dass to understand that the laws of the universe worked in a vastly different way than he had perceived before coming to India.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 18:  klik hier


Episode 17: Yoga of Relationships
50.28 min

Ram Dass talks about relationships as a triangle with the third side of the triangle being shared awareness. He also talks about how the relationship of Guru and devotee has nothing to do with intellect. Raghu talks about Maharaji marrying westerners and relates a story of first being in India and meeting a Swami and confronting the idea of touching his feet.

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 17:  klik hier


Episode 16: Little Shmoos
25.27 min

Ram Dass talks about the somebody training we all go through in life, and how he turned his big, frightening neuroses into friendly, little Shmoos.

Raghu Markus introduces the talk from Ram Dass. He tells the story of how his father went to India to meet his guru, Maharajji, and was promptly sent to the burning ghats of Benares for an acid trip. Raghu talks a bit about his own little Shmoos.

“We were on a houseboat, rats all over, brushing your teeth in water with poop coming by, and dead bodies that weren’t completely burnt. I mean, it was a trip. Benares is a trip.” – Raghu Markus

Somebody Training
We all think we’re somebody, but the trick is becoming nobody. Ram Dass guides us through the process of somebody training we all go through in life that leads to feeling alienated and separate. He talks about how truly unhappy he was, even though most people thought he was leading a happy life.

“Now I, like most of you, when I was born, went into what could be called ‘Somebody Training.’ That is, my parents were somebody, and they set out to make me somebody as well. It’s called the development of ego structure.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 16:  klik hier


Episode 15: Samadhi
24.58 min

Ram Dass takes us on a journey outside of time and space as he explores the trance-like state known as Samadhi and what it might be like to be the guru.

Raghu Markus introduces this talk from Ram Dass and shares his own experience of seeing his guru, Maharajji, put someone into Samadhi.

“Tewari, though, used to be one of the examples of Maharajji’s people that he would just glance at and tap him on the head and he would go completely utterly rigid, into an altered state where he was not aware of his body or anything around, in a trance state. In Hindi, it’s called Samadhi.” – Raghu Markus

Into the Atman
In order to reach Samadhi, one must give up the ‘I’ thought and go into the Atman. Ram Dass introduces the concept of Samadhi, which can be a hard thing for the rational mind to grasp, and tells the story of Maharajji putting a soldier into Samadhi. He examines the relationship between the mind and the Atman.

“It’s so far out, so much farther out than you even think it is, that’s what’s so far out about it. No matter how far out you get, it’s never as far out as this thing really is.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 15:  klik hier


Episode 14: Meditation
27.47 min

In this talk from 1969, Ram Dass shares several meditation methods to help go behind the rational mind to the next state of consciousness.

Keep It Light
Raghu Markus introduces this talk from March of 1969, right after Ram Dass had returned from India for the first time. Raghu tells a story from his time in India when he and several other Westerners tried to impress their guru, Maharajji, by showing what they had learned at a Vipassana meditation course. In the end, Maharajji always kept it light with the Westerners.

“God knows what any of us were doing at the time, but it wasn’t meditating, I’ll tell you that.” – Raghu Markus

One-Pointedness of Mind
Ram Dass leads a brief meditation centered around feeling the rising and falling of the abdomen. He talks about developing one-pointedness of mind, which is the first stage of going behind the rational mind to the next state of consciousness. He describes another meditation method involving a candle flame, which is designed to help extricate your awareness from the time-space locus.

“All you have to do for the next three minutes is attend to your abdomen, that’s all you’ve got to do. You don’t have to listen to the sounds outside, you don’t have to think about your body, you don’t have to do anything. Just put it all in neutral.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 14:  klik hier


Episode 13: Fast Forward
34.20 min

Fast forward from 1974 to present day – though the year has changed, the questions asked of Ram Dass during this recording of the ‘Love Serve Remember’ box set are as relevant as ever. Raghu Markus introduces this questions and answer session from the ‘Love Serve Remember’ boxed set of LPs that was made in 1974. Though this was from the time of Nixon and Watergate, you can fast forward all these years and the questions asked of Ram Dass are just as pertinent today.

“Although there are references that are dated, the questions are extraordinarily relevant.” – Raghu Markus

Money and Spirituality
Ram Dass answers questions about the intersection of money and spirituality, the ideas of good and evil, and using incarceration as a time to awaken. He talks about taking a more dispassionate view of suffering in order to help relieve it, rather than add to it.

“You learn more and more that acts, per se, are neither good or evil, but rather the attachments of the people that are performing the acts that determine whether they are good or evil. It’s not the people that are good or evil, it’s the attachments that are good or evil.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 13:  klik hier


Episode 12: Behind it All
45.25 min

Buckle in for a journey with Ram Dass to a place behind it all, beyond the grand illusions, beyond the groovy trips of the mind, and beyond desire and attachment.

There Is Only One
Raghu Markus opens the show with some stories of Ram Dass’s guru, Maharajji, and his tremendous love and compassion. He talks about how one of the main teachings passed down by Maharajji was the idea that all spiritual traditions are one and the same behind it all.

Behind It All
Ram Dass guides us to a place behind it all, beyond the grand illusions and groovy trips of the mind. He talks about clinging to desires, and how renunciation truly means letting go of all attachment. He explores the Witness, and how there’s really no way out of karma.

“Compassion is being conscious at all levels. That’s what compassion is. Understanding how it all is, everywhere, all the time.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 12:  klik hier


Episode 11: Letting it All go
38.30 min

Ram Dass examines the evolution of consciousness and explores the many dimensions of consciousness available to us through practice.

Learning to Let Go of Anger (Opening) – Raghu shares a story of Ram Dass becoming angry with the Westerners he was looking after and the lesson he learned from Maharaj-ji about letting go of anger.

“This was a key teaching – having the intention to want to let go of anger.” – Raghu Markus

The Unity of Yoga (6:15) – In his lecture, Ram Dass discusses the meaning of yoga. He explores the idea that energy is the same exact thing as what we call “consciousness”, the universe is conscious – not self-conscious.

“It does not know it knows, it just is.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 11:  klik hier


Episode 10: Seeing through the Illusions
39.12 min

Ram Dass talks about seeing through illusions of the ego while still carrying the burden of one’s personality through life.

Seeing Through Illusions (Opening) – Ram Dass explores the realizations about the ego which comes from looking at ourselves and reality through the lens of altered states of consciousness. He discusses the implications of this perspective and talks about the role that our perception of suffering plays in our awakening.

“So what happened to me is that I went through the doorway of perception and I thought ’Oh wow, reality isn’t like I thought it was at all. If I am going to spend my whole life manipulating this puny ego through a set of power gains and sensual gratifications, what’s the pay off if it’s going to all end anyway?” – Ram Dass          

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 10:  klik hier


Episode 9: The Tibetan Lama

29.27 min

Ram Dass discusses the seductiveness of the rational mind and explores another option we have for interacting with the world.

The Tibetan Lama (Opening) – Raghu has a serendipitous encounter with a Tibetan Lama after he visits Maharaj-ji in Kainchi. He describes the intense teachings that he received from this Lama and how they left his rational mind blown.

The Rational Mind (4:55) – Meanwhile, Ram Dass reflects on the teachings of P.G. Ouspensky around reconciling the realized being and the rational mind. We take a closer look at the promise of the rational mind and its shortcomings in practice.

“The funny thing about the rational mind is that it has taken us so far and then it became the lion at the gates. It’s so seductive, it seems like it is going to give the whole business and then, lo and behold, it holds us back at a certain point.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 9:  klik hier


Episode 8: It's All One
37.13 min

Ram Dass examines the interconnection between faiths and breaks down one of Maharaj-ji’s most essential teachings: ‘Sub Ek’ – it’s all one.

Contact High (Opening) – Raghu talks about a strange experience of unity through a “contact high” on retreat in the Himalayas with Ram Dass and the rest of the group.

“In the end, as crazy as it was, we experienced an ‘at oneness’ with each other that went beyond words. It was a reminder to us of what Maharaj-ji would say every day when he walked into the Ashram – he would point a finger in the air and he would say, ‘Sub Ek’ which means its all one.” – Raghu Markus

Bonds of Belief (5:40) – Meanwhile, Ram Dass elaborates on unity and discusses our faith in rational man and the necessity of breaking the bonds of rationality in order to expand our concept of faith. He looks at the roles we play, the identities we assume and the underlying oneness that lies underneath it all.

“We have begun to dig into who we can be, we are just moving slowly. So we play our parts, but let’s not forget that these are just parts that we have taken on for the moment.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 8:  klik hier


Episode 7: The Veil
39.13 min

Ram Dass examines our perception of identity and asks us to look beyond the veil of illusion between our true selves and who we think we are.

A Waking Dream (Opening) – Raghu, Ram Dass and other devotees travel to Kausani and rent a house overlooking the majestic Himalayas to do a Vipassana meditation retreat. We hear how Ram Dass grew from a fellow student to a teacher whom Maharaj-Ji began sending westerners to learn from.

“It was in this sacred space that I started to have real meditative experiences for the first time. All the while, in the evenings, Ram Dass would sit with us and relate stories of his journey through Psychedelics and consciousness.” – Raghu Markus

Through the Veil (5:25) – In India, all marriages are planned by the local astrologer because they know the information has nothing to do with our long-range compatibility. From this premise, Ram Dass reflects the nature of identity and the veil of illusion between our true selves and who we think we are.

“By cutting through the veil of illusion, one realizes they are not the body or the mind. In fact, we are seduced into the appearances of reality. The game is to get free from attachments to the senses by using the witness.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 7:  klik hier


Episode 6: The Four Noble Truth
31.42 min

Ram Dass teaches the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths and shares the lessons he was taught about overcoming desire while in India.

Becoming Lost in Love (Opening) – At Raghu’s request, Maharaji teaches him a very unusual meditation before he travels into the mountains to learn about Buddhism with Ram Dass and the other westerners.

“Do as Jesus did and see God in everyone. Take pity on all and love all as God. When Jesus was crucified he only felt love.” – Raghu Markus

The Four Noble Truths (3:35) – Whenwhile, Ram Dass explores the Four Noble Truths, the Buddhist teaching around desire and suffering which acts as a guide to people of all faiths on their journey of awakening.

Desire and Sādhanā (5:10) – In the Hindu tradition, making progress on the spiritual path is called Sādhanā. In doing Sādhanā, every act you perform becomes a method of taking you to this other state of consciousness. Ram Dass discusses his diet while studying at the temples in India. He explains how our diet can become Sādhanā when we look at eating from a place of practice.

“The way you work, in doing Sādhanā, is that every act you perform becomes a method of taking you to this other state of consciousness. You are trying to change your perceptual vantage point and everything you do has to be a device to take you to that place. From a Western point of view, you are doing a complete cognitive re-organization. You are changing your reference point, changing the core concept around which the whole constellation is built.“ – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 6:  klik hier


Episode 5: Darshan
29.56 min

Ram Dass relays some of the teachings around renunciation, shakti, violence and truthfulness that he received in his many months of study while in India.

This is It (Opening) – Still residing in India, Raghu and another Canadian go to share darshan with Maharaj-ji, who gave him a feeling of being home for the first time and showed him unconditional love.

“Suddenly the doors to Maharaj-ji’s room burst open and to my astonishment, I realized that I know him. I knew him because whatever I felt from Ram Dass, he was the source. It was beyond what my experience could categorize – but mostly it was the feeling of being home for the first time.” – Raghu Markus

Renunciation of Desire (2:55) – Meanwhile, Ram Dass continues his spiritual evolution and learns the meaning of “renunciation of desire” and explores different vehicles to get to and maintain a place of pure oneness.

“The whole matter of enlightenment that is required is what is called renunciation. When you think of the word renunciation, many of you probably think in terms of people living off in the woods with no possessions. That’s an external manifestation of renunciation – renunciation here means not the renunciation of action but of a desire.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 5:  klik hier


Episode 4: Guru Found
27.30 min

Now, with his guru found, Ram Dass continues on with the most difficult part of his journey for truth – the journey within.

Frozen in Time (Opening) – Raghu struggles with two deadly diseases in India while awaiting word from Ram Dass about his Guru, and ends up visiting “the Mother” at the Kainchi Ashram – where he finds peace and restfulness. Ram Dass informs Raghu that he has found Maharaj-ji, his Guru, which excites Raghu because now he can finally meet him and go back to America, or so he thinks…

“With ‘the Mother,’ I recognized in me at that moment what Ram Dass had been talking about.” – Raghu Markus

Natural Surrender (3:00) – Ram Dass talks about his contact with Lama Govinda, unpacking the layers of lessons around surrender and the Guru that he took from that meeting.

“What I experienced within those first minutes of meeting Lama Govinda was the experience of surrender, which was no surrender. In other words, I didn’t begrudgingly give up my ego. It was as if I came home to a place where I no longer needed it.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 4:  klik hier


Episode 3: In Limbo in India
30.21 min

Ram Dass talks about being in limbo in India in his search for the answers he came for. We hear about the transformative lessons Ram Dass learned from one of the last people in India he might have expected – a twenty-year-old Westerner.

The Journey Begins (Opening) – Raghu arrives at his first ashram in India, disappointed because he didn’t find the answers he was looking for. He is left in limbo while he continues to seek his friend and his guru.

Culture Shock (2:40) – Meanwhile, Ram Dass ventures out of his comfort zone and follows Bhagavan Das on a transformative journey through India, leading to a very special meeting at the Kainchi Ashram. He tells about adopting the robes of the holy men of India. Quickly Ram Dass learns of the reverence this new role brings and struggles with accepting this treatment.

“These village people would call, ‘Hey, Baba-ji,’ and I would always be embarrassed. I wasn’t a holy man, I was just wearing a white cloth. I was a Western intellectual overaged hippie looking to see what was going on in India. That was who I was in my head, my fixed model of myself.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 3:  klik hier


Episode 2: Journey to the East
28.31 min

Ram Dass talks about the trials he experienced before traveling to India after he was fired from Harvard and describes his journey to the East to find his Guru. We learn about his and Tim Leary’s fascination with the Tibetan Book of the Dead and how they re-worked its concepts into a guide for the spiritual use of psychedelics.

Ram Dass describes his return to Harvard after taking psilocybin mushrooms for the first time with Timothy Leary and his efforts to integrate his new perspective through his work while working within the academic system. He shares the lessons about the offerings and limitations of psychedelics that he learned in those early psychonaut years.

“I tried to find ways within the system, within the scientific establishment, to work with these things. To work with the concepts or variables that I was arriving at.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 2:  klik hier


Episode 1: First Meeting
30.16 min

Here and Now (Opening) – Raghu Markus of the Love Serve Remember Foundation introduces Ram Dass and his transformation from a Harvard scientist looking for a deeper truth to the spiritual teacher whose teachings have affected the lives of countless individuals. Raghu briefly shares how he met Ram Dass and introduces one of the first talks given by Ram Dass after returning from India with some incredible stories to tell.

“What I would like to do is to present a model to you – that specific model being my life experience. That is really all I have to offer you are my own experiences.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass Here and Now Podcast - Ep. 1:  klik hier

 

 

Meditation with Ram Das


Ram Dass on his mantra “I Am Loving Awareness"
19.08 min

"When talking about awareness, most of us identify with our awareness through the ego, through the mind and senses. But the true self is in the middle of our chest, in our spiritual heart.

So, to get from ego to the true self I said: “I am loving awareness.” Loving awareness is the soul. I am loving awareness. I am aware of everything, I’m aware of my body and my senses and my mind, I’m aware of all of it, but I notice that I’m loving all of it. I’m loving all of the world. The self that I identify with emanates from the ocean of love. The self that is the ego is the ocean of fear.

When I am loving awareness I’m aware of everything outside, but pulling into the heart, the spiritual heart brings me to loving awareness. I’m aware of my thoughts, but loving awareness is simply witnessing them. And loving awareness is in the moment. I have thoughts about the past and future, and those are not helpful, so I dive deep into the present and the presence and in this present moment we will find loving awareness....." - Ram Das

Practice video "Loving Awareness" meditation with Ram Das  klik hier



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