Ram Dass Here And Now

In this half-hour guided meditation, Ram Dass uses concentration and mindfulness techniques to help us sit on the river bank of the mind and watch the thoughts, sensations, and feelings flow by.

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Take a seat on the river bank of your mind with this guided meditation Ram Dass conducted during a retreat in Vancouver, Canada, in February 1992.

• Ram Dass begins the guided meditation with a Samadhi, or concentration, practice. “Every time the mind wanders to any sensation or thought,” he says, “the minute you notice that it has wandered away from the breath, just very gently, non-judgmentally, draw the awareness back to the next breath.”
• The meditation shifts to a mindfulness practice. “Now just open up into mindfulness,” says Ram Dass, “just being aware of what is. Let the mind be drawn to whatever primary object it is drawn to. If it’s drawn to a feeling in your back or in your legs, notice that. If it’s drawn to a memory or a plan or an emotion, a listening, tasting, whatever sensation or thought, let it flicker to that, let it sit with it, don’t hold onto the thought or sensation, and then watch it be replaced by another one.”
• For the last part of the meditation, Ram Dass tells us to focus on the thought of “I.” He says, “Look and see if you can find out where that is. Where is the thought of I? Who is this I? In the ocean of awareness, where is I?”

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“It’s as if you were sitting on a river bank watching the mind’s stuff go by. Here comes a floating sensation from the knee. Here comes a thought about the whole process. Here comes the listening to a sound. They just come, and they go.” – Ram Dass

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How can we learn to live by changing our relationship to death? Ram Dass addresses the staff at a hospital and shares his vast perspectives on death, not getting caught in the drama of dying, and dealing with burnout.

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Today’s episode is from a lecture Ram Dass gave to the staff of Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York, on November 26, 1986.

• Ram Dass begins by exploring different perspectives on death. He talks about how the Western perspective on dying can often frame death as the enemy, then shares how the Eastern perspective contains a lot more lightness about death.
• Ram Dass touches on the hospice movement and then discusses his work with the Living Dying Center. He talks about how death is often the biggest drama in town, but the process of dying can be used to awaken rather than keep people identified with their separateness. 
• Finally, Ram Dass addresses the issue of burnout in the medical community. How can one function in the role of being a healer without emotionally being attached to whether or not the patient lives or dies? But we can approach pain and suffering in a way where we don’t get lost in it.

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“I must just encourage you to explore the possibility that you use the adventure of service as a vehicle for opening up the exploration of who you are in relation to what you’re doing. Because I think if you were less a nurse and less a doctor, and more an awareness who was being a nurse and doctor, your payoff would be improved considerably, and death would become an interesting part of nature rather than an error or a failure. And you could still do your work, in fact, perhaps even more impeccably.” – Ram Dass

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In this Q&A session from 1990, Ram Dass talks about service, karma, alcoholism, the concept of eternity, cultivating the intuitive heart, experiencing the feeling of coming home, and more.

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This episode of Here and Now is from a Q&A session during a talk in Oklahoma City in May of 1990.

• Ram Dass begins by addressing questions about Hatha yoga, the concept of eternity, and where we can start when it comes to service. He talks about listening inwardly to hear the unique part we can play.
• Next up, Ram Dass explores dealing with alcoholism, cultivating qualities such as compassion and sympathetic joy, the concept of karma and our unique karmic predicaments, and experiencing the feeling of coming home into the harmony of all things.
• Finally, Ram Dass talks about some of the figures he admires, cultivating the intuitive heart, and how to deal with the seductive appeal of intensity. What we can do is cultivate the quality of the Witness within ourselves that notices when we get taken and lost in the drama of life. 

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“I’ll tell you, I experience that as I keep opening my heart and accept my part in the sea of humanity, in the process of it, and start to allow that quality of compassion to come forth, I experience the feeling of coming home. I feel like I come home into family, I come home into place, I come home into the harmony of things. I think that the conditions are available for us to feel that feeling. I think as each individual feels it, then they become an instrument through which others feel it. I think it is a heart-to-heart process of coming home into that feeling of being at home.” – Ram Dass

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Ram Dass explores the paradox of suffering a spiritual person lives with, the perfection of it all, better living through chemistry, how we’re touched by grace, and the path of service and love.

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This episode of Here and Now continues the talk from Here and Now Ep. 254—The Up-Level. It was recorded at a meeting of the San Francisco Christian Community in 1978.

• Ram Dass begins by explaining the paradox a spiritual person lives with when it comes to suffering and the perfection of all things. He touches on karma and righteousness.
• Ram Dass talks about how he came into spirituality through his experimentation with psychedelics and better living through chemistry. He explores the power of the mystical experience, motivations for service in the face of suffering, and the limits we place on ourselves by defining who we are. 
• Ram Dass touches on our attachment to our methods, and how we’re all touched by grace. We can fight it all we want, but we can’t fall out of grace. He tells the story of how he began to give up his anger and ends the talk with an exploration of love. For Ram Dass, his path was simply one of service and of love.

“We have been touched. We have been touched by grace. That’s what we’re doing here. That’s why we’re in this room rather than at movies or out getting more and more sensual gratification at a punk rock concert or whatever. The reason we are here is because we’ve touched something. That is the grace, that is the thing. It has happened.” – Ram Dass

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In a talk from 1978, Ram Dass explores stepping onto the spiritual path, different planes of consciousness, the process of awakening, and the spiritual up-level game we can get caught in.

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This episode of Here and Now comes from a 1978 recording of a talk Ram Dass gave at a meeting of the Christian Community of San Francisco.

• Ram Dass begins by speaking about the ups and downs of stepping onto the spiritual path, and how the nature of his personal journey had to do with the relationship of thought forms to the universe. There are more ways to know the universe beyond the rational, analytic mind, including intuition.
• Using meditation as an example, Ram Dass explores how we can lessen our identification with our thinking mind and start identifying more with our awareness. He talks about the different planes of consciousness on which we exist, from the physical and psychological planes to the plane where we’re all one. 
• Ram Dass describes the process of awakening as a process of extricating ourselves from attachment to any of these planes. He talks about the confusion people encounter as they jump from plane to plane and the spiritual up-level game that people can get caught in. Ultimately, what we have to realize is that there’s no place to stand. We’ve got to allow it all, all of the time. 

“‘Peter, it’s your turn to do the dishes.’ Peter answers, ‘We’re all one.’ Now, it is true we are all one, and it’s also true that it’s your turn to do the dishes. That’s what would be called a confusion of levels, you see. That’s what was known as the up-level in the original jargon of the consciousness movement. That was the up-level. You up-level everybody. Whatever they said, you just jumped one level up. Then you get the penultimate where somebody is saying, ‘It’s all nothing, it’s all empty, there is nothing, there’s nowhere.’ Then you’d say, ‘Yes, but do the dishes.’ And that would be your new up-level, that would be the twist.” – Ram Dass

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In this 1981 Q&A session, Ram Dass addresses surrender, astrology, dharmic anger, the illusion of separateness, relative reality, love, hallucinogens, and more.

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This episode of Here and Now is taken from a talk given in Melbourne, Australia in 1981.

• Ram Dass begins the Q&A by taking questions about dealing with disturbances in meditation, the relationship between concept and perception, and letting go of our identification with different roles and stances.
• In response to a question about the role of the guru in the unfolding of his spiritual journey, Ram Dass talks about how his relationship with his guru is like that of a child with an imaginary playmate. He cautions us about getting too caught up in the concept of the guru, saying that there are no rules to this game.
• After answering a question about free will, Ram Dass takes on an inquiry about being too formless and feeling disconnected from the physical. He talks about the importance of being grounded and getting your act together. Ram Dass ends this part of the session with a question about responsibility, especially as it pertains to social action.

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“Once you are without anger, then you can get really angry. I mean, there’s nothing more beautiful than dharmic anger.” – Ram Dass

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In this Q&A session, Ram Dass talks about dealing with disturbances in meditation, letting go of identifications, seeing the guru as an imaginary playmate, being too formless, and more.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ramdass and get on your way to being your best self.

Today’s podcast is also brought to you by Magic Mind, a matcha-based energy shot infused with nootropics and adaptogens designed to crush procrastination, brain fog, & fatigue. Use the code RAMDASS at checkout to get up to 50% off your subscription: Magic Mind

Want to listen to this podcast AD-FREE? Not interested in the commentary before each talk from Ram Dass? We hear you! Join our Patreon for all this, plus weekly guided meditations from Ram Dass and friends. Try free for 7 days by signing up at patreon.com/RamDassPodcast

This episode of Here and Now is taken from a talk given in Melbourne, Australia in 1981.

• Ram Dass begins the Q&A by taking questions about dealing with disturbances in meditation, the relationship between concept and perception, and letting go of our identification with different roles and stances.
• In response to a question about the role of the guru in the unfolding of his spiritual journey, Ram Dass talks about how his relationship with his guru is like that of a child with an imaginary playmate. He cautions us about getting too caught up in the concept of the guru, saying that there are no rules to this game.
• After answering a question about free will, Ram Dass takes on an inquiry about being too formless and feeling disconnected from the physical. He talks about the importance of being grounded and getting your act together. Ram Dass ends this part of the session with a question about responsibility, especially as it pertains to social action.

Would you like to participate in the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join us for the SoulPod Meet-Up on June 4th at 8 p.m. EDT.

“It’s like having an imaginary playmate as a child, but then as you grow up you realize that the playmate was real and you were imaginary. It’s sort of that way with the guru. I mean, you realize that who you thought you were that was following the guru, that was the hype in the first place. And that it all just is. So Maharaj-ji and I are buddies, lovers; I hate him because every time I try to sneak something by, there he is. And I can’t even describe how much I love him.” – Ram Dass

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In this classic talk, Ram Dass explores resting in ‘I am,’ a place where we can see the perfection of all things, including suffering, and how we can balance that place with an open heart.

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This episode is a continuation of the talk from Here and Now Ep. 250 – Eat It Like It Is, which was given in Austin, Texas, in the early 1990s.

• Continuing to take his cue from Swami Ram Tirth’s words, “I am without form, without limit,” Ram Dass dives into the notion of “I am” and talks about how resting in that place makes the world look different than if we are busy being somebody doing something. From this place, we can see the perfection of it all, even with the suffering inherent in form. 
• The predicament is that we are not just the “I am,” we are also human beings with bodies and personalities and human hearts that cannot bear the suffering around us. Ram Dass talks about finding a balance between these two places and keeping our hearts open to the unbearable. 
• Ram Dass explores all the demands to respond to the suffering of the world and how it’s easy to get tired of being “should upon.” Ultimately, we can rely on our intuitive heart-minds to know what is the right action to take for ourselves. The quieter we get and the less attached we are to our roles, the more we will gravitate towards the things that relieve the suffering of all sentient beings.

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“If you were resting in your ‘I am,’ you would look and you would see only the perfection of it all. And you would see that what we did in the ’60s is what created Ronald Reagan in the ’80s. You would see the way polarities work; you’d see the way forces polarize… You’d just see it as law unfolding right before you.” – Ram Dass

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Who are you? What are you doing here? In this classic talk about identity and attachment, Ram Dass asks where you could possibly stand in a world filled with pain and suffering to ‘eat it like it is?’

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In this talk from Austin, Texas, in the early 1990’s:

• Ram Dass recalls a family saying from his youth, “Eat it like it is,” and asks how we can possibly apply it to the current world filled with pain and suffering.
• Exploring the nature of identity, Ram Dass talks about how we have to become somebody in order to become nobody. He discusses his experiences with expanded states of mind and how the game shifted from how to get high to wondering why he came down.
• Ram Dass talks about how the impeccable warrior is someone who exists on all planes simultaneously. He explores the nature of attachment and reads from Swami Ram Tirth, who helps us understand there is a place we can stand where we can see everything as the unfolding of law. This is the place where we can ‘eat it like it is.’

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“The signs point to Armageddon. It looks like it’s really hit the fan. Where could you stand that you could ‘eat is like it is?’ Or you could love it as it is? Where could you possibly stand? Where could you allow that to be what it is? What perspective, what vector view would you need to have? Who would you be if you were seeing it that way?” – Ram Dass

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In this exploration of suffering, death, and love, Ram Dass talks about resting in change and handling the balance and tension of inhabiting multiple planes of reality simultaneously.

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This episode of Here and Now is from a 1992 lecture in Edgartown, MA. It continues the talk started in Here and Now Ep. 248 - Patterns of Interdependency.

• Exploring his work with death and people who are dying, Ram Dass talks about how he’s learning to live simultaneously on multiple planes of reality and consciousness. To him, the art form of being human is the ability to open our hearts to suffering and acknowledge that it hurts like hell, while also appreciating the awesome nature of the mystery, which includes suffering and death.
• Ram Dass addresses aging and the nature of change. He talks about resting in change and handling the balance and tension of inhabiting multiple planes of consciousness simultaneously.
• Ram Dass opens up about the trouble he has keeping his heart open to certain people. He talks about the collaborative nature of creating environments where people won’t get trapped in their roles.
• Ram Dass ends the talk with some reflections about love and not living out of a deprivation model. He shares his classic story about the state trooper who just might have been Krishna in drag as an example of living on more than one level at one time.

“When you are able to simultaneously live on those planes of consciousness and handle that tension and that balance, then your every act towards other human beings brings to bear with it equanimity, spaciousness, and joy.” – Ram Dass

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Speaking to issues of ecology, politics, and social action, Ram Dass shares stories of compassionate action and explores patterns of interdependency we can recognize in the world.

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This episode of Here and Now is from a 1992 talk in Edgartown, MA.

• Ram Dass discusses our looming ecological crisis, politics, and living in the age of the Kali Yuga. There is change happening all around us. For Ram Dass, what’s interesting is where one stands in relation to change.
• How do we respond in an appropriate way to all the suffering in the world around us? Ram Dass shares classic stories of compassionate action and talks about the constant dialogue between the mind and the heart.
• Ram Dass explores how moving through different planes of reality can help us recognize the incredible patterns of interdependency in this world. By acknowledging that these other planes exist, we can find a way to be fully in the world and simultaneously not be trapped by it. In this way, we’re able to keep our hearts open in hell.

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“When you experience the plane of reality where everything is interdependent, it includes you, you’re part of it all. If you flip the dial and go to another plane of reality, you see that behind all of the forms, which are like cloud patterns, there’s only one of it. There’s one stuff. There’s one stuff that keeps going into these incredible patterns.” – Ram Dass

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In this Q&A session, Ram Dass talks about transcending dualism, the significance of clairvoyance, how reincarnation is part of our dreams within dreams within dreams, and more.

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This week’s episode of Here and Now is taken from a Q&A session in 1987. 

• Ram Dass begins by answering questions about his Mala beads, his spiritual lineage, and psychedelics. He shares stories about giving his guru the “yogi medicine.”
• Taking on a question about struggling with the polarities of positive and negative, light and dark, and good and evil, Ram Dass explores transcending dualism. He talks about how before he’d experienced transcendence, he had a lot of trouble with the idea of good and evil.
• What’s the significance of clairvoyance? Ram Dass talks about the very rigid set of rules we base on what our senses tell us, and how he loves sharing stories of miracles because they push everybody’s buttons. 
• Ram Dass answers questions about cultivating the Witness, why there is so much blind suffering, and connections that span multiple lifetimes. He talks about how reincarnation is as real as anything on this plane of awareness because it’s all just dreams within dreams within dreams.

“Everybody doesn’t have a guru or a physical plane guide, many people have inner guides that they experience as their inner voice, which could be their inner voice or it could be another being helping them. There are many levels of this game. Each person gets their ‘karmuppance.’ They get just what they need, just when they need it.” – Ram Dass

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In this classic talk from 1987, Ram Dass explores working with suffering, keeping our hearts open, finding the intuitive heart space, and being responsive rather than reactive. This episode is a continuation of the talk started in Here and Now Ep. 245 – Taking Off Our Spacesuit.

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In this week’s episode:

• Using his stepmother’s death as an example, Ram Dass explores how pain and suffering can become a curriculum through which one awakens.
• Ram Dass discusses how he has begun to fall in love with everyone, and how his guru opened him up to the possibility of unconditional love. If we’re caught in our separateness, it’s hard to keep our hearts open.
• Ram Dass shares classic stories of how other beings, including a dolphin, have helped him escape the trap of his own mind and find the intuitive heart space. He talks about taking care of his aging father and learning how to just be present with him.
• Finally, Ram Dass explores the difference between being reactive and being responsive, reading a story from ‘How Can I Help?’ to illustrate his point. He talks about how, when we are quiet enough on the inside, we can begin to hear how to awaken through the journey of the spirit.

“As you quiet your mind just a little bit, you get so that you’re not automatically reacting to everything. You become what’s called responsive rather than reactive. In other words, something happens and there’s a moment when it’s just happening, you’re just with it. As your awareness expands to include more than your separate self, it’s as if you’re part of the gestalt of it all, and you experience the totality of it. And then, out of that quietness comes an act that is appropriate to that moment.” – Ram Dass

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In this essential talk from 1987, Ram Dass uses his life experience to guide us through the process of taking off our spacesuit of identity and embracing the curriculum our lives offer us.

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This episode of Here and Now is from a classic talk given in April 1987.

• Using his journey as a guide for this talk, Ram Dass explores the spacesuits of ego and identity we wear in our lives. He tells us how ill-fitting this spacesuit felt for him, and the feeling of freedom he found when he was first able to take it off. 
• Ram Dass describes how he began to chase the high of not wearing the spacesuit through the use of mind-altering chemicals and spiritual practices. Eventually, though, those things became a different kind of suit he was wearing. Through the advice of a wise friend, he realized he needed to take the curriculum that everyday life has to offer and not just live with his head in the clouds.
• Once the object of the game shifted from getting high to getting free, Ram Dass chose to stop pushing away all of the things that brought him down. Instead, he embraced the many forms of suffering in the world, working with prisoners, AIDS patients, and people going through the process of dying. To get free, we need to embrace it all, the good and the bad.

“As I took off the suit, I felt at home, I felt present. It felt extremely familiar to me, even though as an adult in society I didn’t remember having been in this space before. I was always constantly checking everybody to see if I was enough ‘somebody’ so that I would be allowed to exist.”

 – Ram Dass

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In this deeply meditative recording from 1976, Ram Dass talks about going beyond form and intellect and then is joined by Krishna Das to chant a love song between formless and form.

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In this episode of Here and Now: 

• In a highly meditative fashion, Ram Dass speaks about the spiritual journey and how it is a journey of the heart. The intellect, while an exquisitely powerful tool, cannot know ultimate truth.
• Ram Dass explores the forms we must use to get beyond the intellect, including meditative practices and chanting. He talks about the identities we create with our minds and how we were born into the illusion of separateness. But the way the dance works best is that we keep shifting forms and understand that all these forms will take us to that which has no form.
• Ram Dass is joined by Krishna Das to chant “Jai Radha.” Ram Dass explains how it is like a love song between formless and form.

“This is like a love song between formless and form, between Father and Mother, between the cow herdsmen and the Gopi, between Radha and Govinda.” – Ram Dass

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In this essential talk, Ram Dass leans on the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, Ramana Maharshi, and Groucho Marx to explore identity, change, and how incarnation is the blueprint for liberation.

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This episode of Here and Now is taken from a workshop in Los Angeles in May of 1991.

• Ram Dass dives into the concept of identity and how we’ve lost the balance between our identity as individuals and our identity as part of the unity of all things. We begin by being too attached to the somebody-ness that’s drilled into us from birth and then, as we awaken spiritually, we go in the other direction and cling too tightly to the unity. The ultimate goal is to be in the world, but not of the world.
• Offering the wisdom of Groucho Marx, Ram Dass talks about learning to play with reality and how part of what we’re awakening to is that there are many planes of reality. He references Ramana Maharshi and describes how the spiritual journey is ultimately about extricating yourself from your definitions of yourself. 
• Part of the predicament of being so attached to these definitions of self is that all things change, including our bodies. Ram Dass addresses the very nature of change and reads from the Tao Te Ching to offer us a clue to the Way. Ultimately, as we awaken, we can begin to see how our unique incarnations are actually the blueprint for our liberation. There are no errors in this game.

“It’s too beautiful. It’s too beautiful that your incarnation turns out to be the blueprint for your liberation. Who would’ve expected that?” – Ram Dass

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Ram Dass explores how we can have perspectives and models about the universe without being attached to them, as long as we cultivate the state of no mind and trust our intuitive validity.

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This episode of Here and Now is taken from a Ram Dass talk at Colby College in April of 1970. In this talk:

• Ram Dass explores how it’s healthy to have perspectives and models about the universe and how things are, but it’s crucial that we don’t become attached to or stuck in that perspective. 
• Telling stories of his time in far-out places like India, Los Angeles, and heroin treatment centers, Ram Dass shares how it’s all perspective. Having a perspective is harmonious with the Tao, with the way of things, but we can’t get addicted to it and have it become our “reality.” He talks about how things like school and television are designed to keep us stuck in our roles, models, and perspectives.
• Ultimately, we can learn to trust our intuitive validity and cultivate the Buddhist state of no mind, where we have finished with our models. We can know the difference between being wise and being knowledgeable.

“As long as you are attached to any model of the universe, to any level of definition of who you are or how it works, you are closed off from the rest of it. And the state of no mind, the Buddhist state of no mind, is where you have finished with models. You don’t even be enlightened, you don’t be anything, there’s just no mind.” – Ram Dass

About Ram Dass:

Ram Dass’ spirit has been a guiding light for generations, carrying along millions on the journey. Ram Dass teaches that through the Bhakti practice of unconditional love, we can all connect with our true nature. Through these teachings, Ram Dass has shared a little piece of his guru, Maharaj-ji, with all who have listened to him.

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In this radio interview from 1977, Ram Dass explores the power of psychedelics and the importance of a guru, plus he leads a guided meditation that connects us to a place of no place.

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This episode of Here and Now is taken from an interview with Ram Dass at the local college radio station in Santa Cruz. The interview is from October of 1977, right after Ram Dass had taken part in a conference that featured Albert Hoffmann, Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and other luminaries of the early psychedelics scene:

• Ram Dass begins by sharing some of his personal history, especially as it pertains to the university audience and psychedelics
• He and the host discuss the profound experiences that can occur with psychedelics versus using them as a recreational vehicle
• They explore the importance of having a guru on the spiritual path, but Ram Dass talks about how the process of awakening is ultimately a journey that must be taken alone
• Ram Dass leads a beautiful guided meditation that aims to connect us to a place of no place and help us see that the true guru lives within us

“Any thoughts which come to your mind, let them go, breathe them out along with the out-breath. Any feelings, sensations, memories, plans… This is only going to take five minutes, you can set aside five minutes out of your busy life just to connect with a place of no place. To get behind your melodrama. Just keep the focus in the middle of the chest. Breathing in; breathing out.” – Ram Dass

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In a world that often feels like it's teetering on the edge, it's not surprising that so many of us grapple with feelings of instability and overwhelm. 

On Tuesday, December 19th, join acclaimed Buddhist meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Ethan Nichtern for a free online conversation on staying grounded, available, and engaged, even when the world is on fire.

Sharon and Ethan will also discuss the upcoming Dharma Moon Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and offer their insights on how studying Buddhism can help us show up more fully for ourselves and others during these challenging times.

Visit dharmamoon.com/event for more info and to reserve your free spot!

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Ram Dass explores the art of how to bring the past into the present as we age, leads a powerful exercise centered around the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and talks about working with grief.

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This episode of Here and Now is from a recording of a study group on aging hosted by Ram Dass in 1995.

In the face of aging and death, part of the spiritual work we should consider doing is what Ram Dass calls the art of how to bring the past into the present. Using the example of his mother’s death, he shares the importance of processing events from our past with the perspective we hold in the present.

We can also bring the past into the present in a cultural and historical context. Ram Dass leads an exercise centered around the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, having us contemplate and recognize that we are part of a culture that has models of reality that would legitimize the dropping of that bomb.

Ram Dass explores the issue of grieving, especially as it relates to aging and loss. He reads a letter he had written to a family who lost their young daughter, and he talks about the importance of moving from the realm of ego to the realm of the soul.

“There is a tendency that we do in our mind to romanticize our own existence. We become the center of ‘As the World Turns,’ we are the leading actor, we have been cast. We keep milking our history to justify our existence, to give our existence meaning. I want to suggest to you that there is a cost to that.” – Ram Dass

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In this recording from 1995, Ram Dass explores the nature of time, especially as it relates to aging, and shares how his guru helped him see that being in the present moment is all there is.

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This episode of Here and Now is from a recording of a study group on aging hosted by Ram Dass in 1995.

• Ram Dass begins his exploration of time and aging by looking at the nature of time from both the domain of the ego and the domain of the soul
• He examines the perspectives on time we hold throughout our lives in this culture, from being fully in the moment as babies, reaching for the future as kids and young adults, thinking of time as money in middle age, and finally clinging to the past in our older years
• Ram Dass reads from a book on aging that he’s in the middle of writing, sharing a tale of why time seems to work differently in India and how his guru helped him see that being in the present moment is all there is
• Finally, he talks about working on letting go of his personal history and the struggles he had with boxes of memorabilia he’d collected over the years

“And they talk about gaining awareness is like snatching the pearl of awareness from the dragon time. That’s one of the mystical ways of talking about what awakening and enlightenment are. It’s freeing your awareness from being entrapped within time. Not that you don’t use time, but you’re not used by it.” – Ram Dass

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Speaking to us from 1983, a time of widespread fear about nuclear war, Ram Dass explores how spiritual work equals social action, and yet, we can’t just wait until we are free to take action.

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This episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass speaks about:

• How spiritual work equals social action
• The two ways that the game of awakening is playing out
• How Gandhi molded his social action movement, bringing together social action and spiritual work
• How the path of social action and the spiritual journey comes down to karma yoga and using the stuff of our life to get free, but we can’t wait until we are free to take action

“And when we are strong enough to look at ourselves, then we will be strong enough to demand truth. But most of us do not have integrity in our own lives. We are all full of righteousness and good here, and right over here we have deception, we have hoarding, we have all kinds of stuff. And to me, in my life, that isn’t good enough, it stinks. I can’t have any room any longer for guilt and self-deprecation about it. I have to appreciate that’s my evolving humanity, but I see where the path of real social action comes. I see what Gandhi’s talking about when he says make yourself into zero and your power is invincible.” – Ram Dass

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In this wild Q&A session from 1976 that is teeming with frenetic energy from the audience, Ram Dass really just wants to talk about three things: God, sex, and dope.

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In this episode of Here and Now:

• Dealing with a slightly wild audience, Ram Dass answers questions about how our actions can influence other people’s journey of awakening, what commitment truly is, and how to look at our predicament from different levels.
• But what Ram Dass really wants to talk about is three things: God, sex, and dope. He talks about moving beyond the desire for drugs, how people become attached to their sexual expression and what tantra truly is, and defines God to the best of his ability.
• Ram Dass ends the evening by singing, “Rejoice in the Lord.” Again, I say, rejoice.

“Beyond all of the patterns of energy – physical, astral, causal – lies God, that which is beyond form. You aim for that, and in the course of it, if you are pure in your aim, you can do nothing which is adharmic, going against the dharma. And if you stay in the flow, in the Tao, in the dharma, then whatever needs to be for you and your fellow human being will be done, even though you may not understand what it is that’s happening to you. Your intellectual awareness of what is going on is not necessary for this journey. It can speed it up and help it, but it’s not necessary.” – Ram Dass

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In this Q&A session, Ram Dass answers questions about how to love without emotional attachment, the relationship between karma and grace, and how he defines responsibility.

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In this recording from 1976, Ram Dass answers questions from a lively Los Angeles audience:

• How to love without emotional attachment? Ram Dass explores the various levels of love, dealing with attachment, and working with the karma that exists in our life space.
• What is the relationship of karma and grace? Ram Dass talks about how he perceives grace and the ways it intersects with our karma.
• What’s his view on vegetarianism? And who is God? Somehow, those questions are connected.
• How does Ram Dass define responsibility? A responsible being lives in the Tao. 

“And what grace turns out to be is all the forces that exist in the universe that are free agents, that are available to support the process of your going back into the source. All the gurus, all the beings on astral planes, all of the elements, all of the forces in the universe.” – Ram Dass

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In this recording from 1976, Ram Dass explores the process of awakening and becoming enlightened. Featuring a musical interlude from Krishna Das and an introduction from Raghu Markus.

This episode is a continuation of the dharma talk from Here and Now Ep. 234 – The Awakening of the Soul

Ram Dass' Love Serve Remember Foundation and the Alan Watts Organization invite you to open your mind, open your heart, and tap into the living truth of Alan Watts and Ram Dass. Click to learn more about this special 4-week Virtual Course: The Presence of the Way: The Dharma of Alan Watts and Ram Dass

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In this episode:

• Ram Dass, in a very meditative fashion, explores the place of the Mother in the lineage of devotional tantra, talking about taking each experience in your life and redefining it as a form of the Mother
• Krishna Das takes center stage to invoke the Mother through music, inviting the Goddess to come down and bless us all
• Ram Dass gives a detailed breakdown of the process of awakening and becoming enlightened, from purification and opening the heart to quieting the mind and getting the energy to flow

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“The only thing that I am involved in is the game of perfection. And because of that, when I work with people, or even this teaching, I see the game as a game of moving up and then bringing up the ground with you. It’s like an inverted ’T,’ where you go up the center and then you pull the two bottom lines up with you. So that every new level of consciousness we get into, we then reassess the whole dance of life and keep it together on the physical plane.” – Ram Dass

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In this potent talk from 1976, Ram Dass explores the channels of perception of individual differences and how every experience in life is grist for the mill of the awakening of the soul.

Two cultural icons. Two unique perspectives... One understanding of the presence of the way.

Ram Dass' Love Serve Remember Foundation and the Alan Watts Organization invite you to open your mind, open your heart, and tap into the living truth of Alan Watts and Ram Dass. Learn more about this special 4-week Virtual Course:"The Presence of the Way: The Dharma of Alan Watts and Ram Dass"

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Straight from 1976 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Ram Dass explores:

• The journey of awakening and the predicament of how we perceive ourselves and others
• The different channels of perception of individual differences, from the physical level to the astral planes and beyond
• How everything in our lives, including all the joy and all the suffering, can be used for the awakening of the souls
• How a truly conscious being experiences all the different channels of perception simultaneously

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“But what we are meeting as are these entities, or souls, or essences, that are passing through a set of experiences. And we are sharing consciousness as to the nature of these experiences and what their significance is to us as souls. And from that point of view, everything in your life is grist for the mill of the awakening of your soul out of its attachments to either the body or the personality or the astrological identity.” – Ram Dass

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In this radio interview from 1985, Ram Dass touches on identity, the purpose of meditation on the path to enlightenment, working with death as a path to spiritual growth, and much more.

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In this 1985 interview from “The Questline” radio show, Ram Dass explores:

• Not clinging to identity and how to deal with shifts in consciousness
• The role and purpose of meditation on the path to enlightenment
• Astral planes, psychedelic drugs, and the spiritual heart
• Working with death and dying, and why he found the 1980s to be a much more optimum time for spiritual growth than the 1960s
• Different levels of awakening, and walking the path of service

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“In a way, I’m finding it much more interesting to remain spiritually conscious in the 80s… Like we’re much closer to facing in the daily news the issue of our potential death. And that is a major cultural vehicle for awakening. The confrontation with death is one of the – as Castaneda says, keeping death on your left shoulder – it is the vehicle that helps you awaken the most. And that’s what we’re confronted with much more now. So it seems like the optimum time for spiritual growth to me.” – Ram Dass

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In this radio interview from 1985, Ram Dass discusses the journey of awakening, how reincarnation is within the dance of forms, dysfunctional societal myths, and much more.

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In this 1985 interview from “The Questline” radio show, Ram Dass explores:

• Enlightenment and the journey of awakening
• Attachment to emptiness
• How reincarnation is within the dance of forms
• Merging the Western lifestyle with the path of Eastern traditions
• Using psychedelic drugs and the rise of cocaine use in the 1980s
• The dying societal myth that more is better and will make us happy
• Fear and suffering

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“Reincarnation is within the dance of forms… Some systems focus on reincarnation to help relieve you of your exclusive identification with this incarnation.” – Ram Dass

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Ram Dass answers a wide range of questions on topics such as free will, working with fear, and falling in love – plus, he leads a Metta meditation to help us tap into the universe of compassion.

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In this Q&A session from 1992, Ram Dass explores:

• Conscious dying, free will, and the grieving process
• Communication after death, relaxing about enlightenment, and working with fear
• Developing faith, feeling vulnerable while falling in love, and why we can’t afford to armor our hearts
• The practice of Metta meditation and how it can help us tap into the universe of compassion

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“And as this practice deepens and you recognize that you are one of the beings in that circle, as well as the heart that is sending light forth, you enter more and more deeply into the universe of compassion. And in that universe, the heart is freed to love as it must love.” – Ram Dass

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Ram Dass explores how to find the balance between emptiness and compassion in the face of immense suffering and tap into the truth of your deepest being to hear your unique dharma.

This episode is a continuation of the talk from Here and Now Ep. 229 – The Sword of Discrimination

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In this powerful talk from 1992, Ram Dass explores:

• Boundaries and the nature of love
• Belief systems and faith
• How his work with death and dying has prepared him for dealing with a dying culture and the looming ecological disaster
• His work with the Seva Foundation and the power of community
• Tapping into the truth of your deepest being to hear your unique dharma
• Finding the balance between emptiness and compassion in the face of immense suffering

“If you and I are to be instruments of the healing of the world, it is that we are quiet enough to hear our dharma, our way, and that we live our way as a statement. As Gandhi said, ‘My life is my message.’ We live our lives in such a way that the way you are in the supermarket, the way you are with your loved ones, the way you are when you’re facing pain, it is all part of the deepest wisdom statement you are able to make. It is the truth of your deepest being. For that, you have to listen inward very quietly as your offering to all beings.” – Ram Dass

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Ram Dass explores how his work with death and dying keeps him at his own leading edge of consciousness and talks about why compassion is truly the sword of discrimination.

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In this powerful talk from 1992, Ram Dass explores:

• Working with death and dying as a spiritual practice, and how it helps keep him at his own leading edge of consciousness
• How the process of learning to live simultaneously on more than one plane of consciousness is the path to dealing with death, dying, and suffering in a more spacious manner
• How two levels of love – conscious love and relational love – come into play when dealing with death, and why compassion is truly the sword of discrimination
• How we can honor diversity by sharing our pain together and grieving our way into unity

“It’s taken me a long time to learn the way in which compassion is not fuzzy-wuzzy stuff, compassion is the sword of discrimination.” – Ram Dass

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Raghu Markus returns to Here and Now to present this bonus excerpt from a talk titled “Behind the Clinging,” which features Ram Dass discussing how to deal with neuroses, fear, and family.

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In this portion of his talk about going “Behind the Clinging,” Ram Dass explores:

• Dealing with depression and sadness, and making friends with all of your neuroses instead of trying to get rid of them
• Coming to the edge of fear and embracing it in a soft way without pushing against it
• Dealing with family members who really know how to push your buttons and using those experiences as a way to grow

“Is there a way of extricating the awareness? Not by trying to be happy where you were sad, which is feeding the whole reality of that polarity, but just pulling the awareness back. So I would say if you came to me and said, ‘I’m feeling this deep, deep feeling of unworthiness and loneliness and sadness and I’ve always felt it. What should I do?’ I would say, ‘Go back and sit down and follow your breath.’” – Ram Dass

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In this episode of the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass talks about practice in daily life and answers questions about polarization and fundamentalism, integrating psychodynamic and spiritual techniques, dealing with addiction, and more.

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In this episode of Here and Now:

• Ram Dass talks about letting methods of practice such as mantras and kirtan permeate your daily life
• Ram Dass gives a detailed response to a question about the rise of fundamentalism in the world, exploring polarization and why you can’t have an “us” and “them”
• Ram Dass takes on more questions about integrating psychodynamic and spiritual techniques, the importance of rituals, and dealing with addiction

“And I said I’m not going to get discouraged because I can see that a centrist position, this is a hard one, a centrist position… That at this point in the way the world game is a falling, either everybody goes or nobody goes. You can’t polarize it again. You can’t have an ‘us’ and ‘them.’ It’s got to keep embracing people, embracing people. And I saw that would demand much more centrism than I was used to or wanted from a Democratic president and so on.” – Ram Dass

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In this Q&A session from 1993, Ram Dass explores an array of topics, including psychedelics as a method, assisted suicide, dealing with suffering, and awareness without identification.

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In this episode, Ram Dass answers questions about:

- Psychedelics as a method

- Assisted suicide

- Emptiness and form

- Dealing with suffering

- The relationship between the One and the many

- Liberation and service

- Awareness without identification and attachment

- The concept of criticism

- Pushing against form and separateness

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“The term attachment has to do with where the awareness is, what it’s identified with. Like, at this moment, your heart is beating, but you’re not beating your heart; your awareness isn’t connected with your heart beating, it’s just going on. And as your awareness draws back, and you find a way to start to remain in awareness without identification, then the phenomena of the universe continue to happen, but the awareness is no longer identified with the act. It’s what the Gita calls breaking the identification with being the actor. It doesn’t mean that the actions aren’t happening.” – Ram Dass

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In this potent recording from 1994, Ram Dass talks about the nature of suffering and how we can escape the prison of separateness created by our cultural infatuation with individualism.

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In this episode, Ram Dass explores:

• The nature of suffering and how we create more suffering even as we try to address it
• His own journey of somebody-ness and becoming a separate entity
• The connection between emptiness and compassion when it comes to dealing with suffering
• The predicament of the personality and how individualism became a cultural infatuation in the Western world
• How we can ultimately escape from the prison of separateness

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“The exercises are to cultivate awareness that is not trapped by the identification with experiences. The exercise is, to the extent that you are dancing in form, to play the most fun game, that is, dancing with the beloved.” – Ram Dass

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In this epic conclusion to the story of the Ramayana, Ram Dass recounts the heroic actions of Hanuman as he helps Ram rescue Sita and defeat the demon king, Ravana. 

Before you begin this episode, be sure to listen to Here and Now Ep. 224: The Story of Hanuman and the Ramayana, Part 1

Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on May 16th at 8 pm EDT, sign up for the General Fellowship group here to receive more information.

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In this episode of Here and Now:

• We continue the story of the Ramayana with Hanuman landing in Sri Lanka, where he lets Sita know that Ram is coming for her and gives Ravana more than he bargained for
• We learn how Hanuman returns to Ram, and then a great bridge to Sri Lanka is built for Ram’s army of monkeys and bears to confront Ravana and his demons in a final battle
• We hear the epic conclusion of the story, and Ram Dass offers us Ravana’s perspective on why he needed to be killed by Ram in order to complete his yoga
• Ram Dass shares the story of how he had a Hanuman statue built and shipped to the Hanuman Temple in Taos, New Mexico

“Now think of Sita as the devotee. Hanuman is the messenger from God that comes to the devotee to reassure the devotee that God has not forgotten. In other words, Hanuman is the grace. Can you hear that? So now she’s tasted the grace, like many of you have tasted grace, and then Hanuman says, ‘I’ve got to leave you.’ Imagine how that must feel. It’s like coming down. I just want you to feel it.” – Ram Dass

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In this bonus episode, Ram Dass explores methods available for seeing through our conditioning and navigating life on more than one plane of awareness. Raghu Markus returns to share a special excerpt from Ram Dass around dealing with suffering and the traps of the ego by seeing with a "Soul View". 

Ram Dass discusses:

• The way we get caught when experiencing suffering
• Learning to be with suffering, instead of running from it
• Soul View and what it means to live on two planes of awareness

This teaching is part of a 4-week long Yoga of Heartfulness online course featuring teachings from Ram Dass and friends. Learn more about this 10 hour course: Ram Dass' Yoga of Heartfulness

"So at that point, I turned my efforts around and I looked at life - and realized that I had to embrace my humanity into my being to be free." 

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Settle in for a treat as Ram Dass shares the first part of the story of the Ramayana, which features the monkey god, Hanuman, as he serves lord Ram on the journey to defeat Ravana.

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In this episode:

• Ram Dass introduces the story of the Ramayana and sets up the villain, the 10-headed demon, Ravana
• Ram Dass describes how Brahma took birth as Ram in order to defeat Ravana 
• He shares how Ram grew up a noble prince, but was ultimately banished from his kingdom and sent to live in the forest with his wife, Sita, and his brother, Laxman
• Ram Dass talks about Ravana’s obsession with Sita and how he kidnaps her away from Ram
• He introduces the great monkey god, Hanuman, who is eager to serve Ram
• Ram Dass reads to us about Hanuman’s quest to find Sita and his leap of faith across an ocean – the greatest leap ever taken

Stay tuned for the conclusion of this epic story, premiering May 8th 2023!

“And he’s very dedicated. Hanuman has come to Earth just to serve Ram. Hanuman is so devoted to Ram that he is like your breath is to your body. He is known as the breath of Ram. He lives so close that he is an example of the way in which, when you’ve totally dedicated yourself to God, you have all the powers to serve, to do everything you need to do, as you will see in a minute.” – Ram Dass

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In this recording from 1982, Ram Dass answers a wide range of questions, including how we can find freedom from fear, plus leads a meditation on how to tune into our intuition.

Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on April 18th at 8pm EDT, sign up for the General Fellowship group here to receive more information.

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In this episode, Ram Dass answers questions about:

• What it’s like to be on stage
• Detachment and compassion
• The individuality of the soul
• The issue of rebirth
• Freedom from fear
• How to tune into one’s intuition and follow one’s heart

“Fear comes out of your identification with your separateness. As long you are separate, you are identified with that which is in time and space. And that which is in time and space is changing. You are identified with something which is changing all the time, and that has inherent within it fear. So inherent within your identification with separateness is fear. The freedom from fear comes from the identification with that in you which is not the separate forms, which is not stuff, but lies behind stuff. And the minute you identify with that, you are no longer afraid.” – Ram Dass

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Raghu Markus is back to introduce us to something exciting happening on Youtube - Ram Dass Lofi Radio!

Listen to classic talks from Ram Dass, set to soothing lo-fi tracks - always live, 24/7, on the Ram Dass Youtube Channel: youtube.com/@BabaRamDassChannel

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In this Q&A session from 1982, Ram Dass answers questions about astral melodramas, therapy, the dance of sexual energy, the story of Hanuman, and more.

Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on April 4th at 3pm EDT, sign up for the General Fellowship group here to receive more information.

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In this episode, Ram Dass explores:

• Astral melodramas, such as predictions from Nostradamus and conspiracy theories involving the Illuminati, and why he doesn’t put much stock in them
• His recent experiences with therapy and why he thinks it can be helpful
• Desire systems, relationships, and the dance of sexual energy
• Death and working with people who are dying

“So, finally, sexuality that comes out of a deeper part of your being, that’s what’s called tantra. Because then the sexual energies keep liberating and moving energy and opening up and tuning you to greater and greater energies, and bringing you deeper into the Oneness. The One involves its dance of the two, and through this process of magnetism and the two, it keeps liberating energy back into the One. So it’s the dance of two to One to two to One to two to One, and that’s this dance of sexual energy.” – Ram Dass

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In this recording from the 1980s, Ram Dass explores the concept of merging with God, leads a visualization meditation for opening the heart, and talks about bringing spirit into form.

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In this episode of Here and Now:

• Ram Dass answers a question about how we merge with God, using Anandamayi Ma as the perfect example of love for God
• Ram Dass leads a guided visualization meditation that serves as a technique for opening the heart and is part of Bhakti yoga
• Ram Dass talks about accepting our responsibility as a spiritual entity for enlightening the world and how we are all conversion vehicles for bringing spirit into form

“If there’s a great sadness in you, just let it go. Breathe it out, you don’t need it. If there’s anger, if you’ve been hurt, if you have pain. Don’t demand that it go away, you might breathe it out and you’ll still feel sadness, it may be such a deep reservoir of sadness. But just what you can let go of, let go of. And then fill with this very fine healing mist.” – Ram Dass

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Ram Dass talks about what it means to hear our dharma and our part in the dance and why we need to listen to our hearts to hear which spiritual method is the right one for us.

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In this episode, Ram Dass explores:

• The intensity of the melodrama of life, and why the game only gets interesting when we have total involvement with no attachment
• Hearing our dharma in order to hear our part in the game; even Ravana and Richard Nixon were just playing their parts
• The impact that coming into contact with so many different teachers and methods had on his spiritual development
• Spiritual transformation and issues of faith
• Listening to the heart to hear which spiritual method is the right one for your personal journey
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“To look at the universe and see all of the forces – the heavy ones, the light ones, the destructive ones, the creative ones – to find what your part is in it. And if your part is that of the Bodhisattva, that of reducing the suffering of all human beings, and that’s all your work is, you just do it and do it and do it until there is no you in there, there is merely this instrument for the relieving of suffering of all beings. And that is one of the parts of the dance, of which another and equally important [part] of the dance is that which creates all the suffering in the universe. That’s what’s so far out about it.” – Ram Dass

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In this powerful recording from 1974, Ram Dass talks about dealing with the death of his guru, working with the concept of dharma, and connecting to our inner wisdom and intuition.

Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on February 21st at 8pm EST, sign up for the General Fellowship group here to receive more information.

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In this episode of Here and Now:

• Ram Dass talks about receiving the news of the death of his guru, Maharajji, and how he reacted to it
• He tells stories of Maharajji, reflecting on the complex nature of his guru and the feelings he experienced while in his presence
• Ram Dass explores working with the concept of dharma
• He talks about the importance of trusting our hearts and connecting to our inner wisdom and intuition, or the guru within

Help others improve their mental and emotional well-being, reduce stress, improve focus, increase self-awareness and self-regulation — all while deepening your own practice and understanding.

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“And every now and then, my mind would float away to, ‘Far out, Maharajji died.’ And I’d experience him saying to me, ‘Just attend to your business. Cut out all that melodramatic crap. Just do your thing.’ I was looking to get into a little self-pity place, you know, ‘Oh, God, Maharajji!’” – Ram Dass

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In this recording from 1985, Ram Dass leads a meditation on the qualities of awareness, answers questions from the audience, and leads a rousing round of Jubilate Deo. 

In this episode of Here and Now:

• Ram Dass begins with a guided meditation focusing on the qualities of awareness, which include spaciousness, equanimity, and love
• Ram Dass answers questions from the audience on a variety of topics, including reconciling suffering and grace, the crossroads of spirituality and politics, the process of learning to love yourself, assisted suicide, homophobia, and encountering sadness during meditation
• Ram Dass ends by leading the audience in singing “Jubilate Deo” in a six-part round

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“May each of us become such clear and pure instruments of light, of love, of presence, of clarity, of equanimity, that the light of spirit pours through our every cell and everybody we meet is touched by living spirit, no matter how we meet them, in whatever role in life. Then, where we are, everywhere we look we will see flowers blooming. It’s what the sun sees when it looks down from above. What grace. What incredible grace.” – Ram Dass

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In this moving and humorous talk about using the stuff of life to get free, Ram Dass shares how we can celebrate spirit through service by merging our divinity with our humanity.

This episode of Here and Now is a continuation of the talk started in Episode 216 – From Psychedelics to Service

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In this episode, Ram Dass talks about:

• Moving home to care for his elderly father and how that became a method for him
• Getting called away from a meditation retreat to help out his cancer-stricken stepmother
• Larry Brilliant and the founding of the Seva Foundation
• How the Seva Foundation put service into action on a very large scale
• The difference between the Sanskrit words Dharma and Seva
• The paradox of suffering

NEW Meditation Series: Pause, Breathe, Be Here Now with Ram Dass, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Joseph Goldstein, John Lockley, Ram Dev, Trudy Goodman, Lama Tsultrim Allione—FREE January 16 to 25. Sit in true peace, love, and tranquility. Join thousands of people around the world for this collective meditation experience: onecommune.com/ramdass

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“So you end up understanding that you serve in order to work on yourself, and you work on yourself in order to be a better instrument of service. And you can feel the circle work, you can just feel that circle work.” – Ram Dass

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Raghu Markus returns to lead us into the new year with a talk from Ram Dass that reminds us of our interconnectedness and the need to keep our hearts turned toward the spirit of generosity.

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"You and I came out of an undifferentiated identity with all things, then we learned we were separate.

But you have had many experiences in your life, one way or another, where you have felt that kind of connection with all things. Maybe it is lying under the stars. Maybe it occurred in church. Maybe it occurred whenever you transcended your separateness. It could have occurred in a traumatic experience. It could have occurred when you lost someone you loved. It could have occurred chemically. It could have occurred through meditation or a thousand ways it could occur.

You see the predicament is, once you have experienced that connection with all things - and that is part of your humanity too - then you don't know what to do with that. So you end up denying it to go back into your separateness. You live with this predicament, this tension that is created by the statement, 'We are all one, but it's my television set." - Ram Dass

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Ram Dass explores how his psychedelic awakening and quest to always stay high started him on a path to take the curriculum of being human and use service as a means to get free.

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“You have to work with your attractions as well as your aversions. Many of you are good at working with attractions; you get a little weak on the aversions...Don’t rush, it’s all right. There’s lots of time, and we’re human and it’s not an error.” – Ram Dass

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This episode is the second of a two-part extended release of Here and Now's first episode.

In this mind-bending and perspective-altering conclusion to one of his most famous early talks, Ram Dass explores some of the different methods available to us on this spiritual journey.

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“The final place one gets to is that one has a dial that is completely flexible and you can bring in all levels at all times and you see how it is at every level all the time. Because what in fact is going on is you are living at a certain vibrational rate, and that’s what makes it all seem real to you. And you change that vibrational rate just a tiny bit and all of this is gone and something else is here.” – Ram Dass

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This episode is the first of a two-part extended release of Here and Now's first episode.

In part one of this classic talk from 1969, Ram Dass shares the experiences of his journey to that point in time, from Harvard professor to psychedelic explorer to finding his guru in India.

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“I now knew what it was that I was reaching for; I understood the possibility, but I didn’t know how to get there.” – Ram Dass

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David Silver joins Raghu to discuss ‘Brilliant Disguise,’ the new documentary exploring K.C. Tewari and his relationship to Maharaj-ji. In this special bonus episode of the Here and Now Podcast, Raghu and David share teachings from Ram Dass that further explore the film’s themes of grace, devotion and love.

Brilliant Disguise tells the unique story of a group of inspired Western spiritual seekers from the 60s, who in meeting the great American teacher, Ram Dass, followed him to India to meet his Guru, Neem Karoli Baba, familiarly known as Maharaji. Two days before he left his body, Maharaji instructed K.C. Tewari to take care of the Westerners, which he did resolutely until the day he died in 1997.K.C. Tewari—in the guise of a headmaster of a boys school in the foothills of the Himalayas—was secretly a High Yogi, frequently able to go into altered states of trance, known as Samadhi, at any moment.

Featuring Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Raghu Markus, Radha Baum, and others—including K.C’s two sons, as well as rare archival interviews with K.C. himself—Brilliant Disguise is set in the stunning backdrop of India and is adorned with spectacular and moving footage from the 1989 Maha Kumbha Mela – the largest spiritual gathering in the world, attended by K.C. and the group of Westerners featured throughout this colorful biopic.

This film is the story of a man who represents the intrinsic potential in all human beings to live in direct contact with the Divine Presence. K.C. chose to live within the humble disguise of a husband and school teacher. The brilliance is K.C.’s ability at a moment’s notice to go beyond himself into sublime states of consciousness.

Watch Brilliant Disguise Here

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Continuing his conversation with Mirabai Bush and Sharon Salzberg from our previous episode, Ram Dass explores the path from suffering to grace and talks about the lessons he learned from his stroke.

This recording was made at the 2012 Open Your Heart in Paradise retreat in Maui. Check out the first half of this conversation: Bhakti and The Path of Love

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“I remember the moment I got there. I was in the hospital, but all of the people around me were like, ‘Oh, terrible, terrible stroke, terrible.’ I looked up at Maharajji and he was smiling and smiling, in a picture. And I said to him, ‘You always gave me grace in my life. What happened to you? I was stroked. Did you go out for lunch or something?’ And the positive radiations continue to come from him. So that was fierce grace.” – Ram Dass

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From the 2012 Open Your Heart in Paradise retreat in Maui, Ram Dass is joined by Mirabai Bush and Sharon Salzberg for a freeform jam session dedicated to the path of love.

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"I was meditating on loving everything. I looked at the wall, and I loved the wall. Well, I said, ‘It’s God’s manifestation. I love it for that reason. People created it. It’s made of cells… each one has God in it.’ But I couldn’t rationalize it, I just loved it. I love it. Just this, just this.” – Ram Dass

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In this dharma talk from the 1980s, Ram Dass talks about hearing what our part in the dance is, opening to form to find the emptiness, and tapping into the higher connections of our intuitive minds.

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This episode is also sponsored by Pengwee’s Breath by Debbie Nutley, an award-winning children’s picture book designed for 4-7 year-olds. A great tool for teaching mindfulness to children.

Order your copy today: Pengwee's Breath

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“But first, if you’re going to hear the message, the unique message of your incarnation, the unique message of your manifestation, the unique message in which you will find the emptiness, the form in which you will find the emptiness, you must open to the form. You must allow the form.” – Ram Dass

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In the Q&A session from the 1990s, Ram Dass takes on questions about eating animals and inner work, psychedelics, burnout in service, and dealing with the death of a child.

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“There’s a part of the love that (exists) that is invulnerable to the winds of change, of coming and going. And it’s very hard when you’re missing the form so much to hear that other reality that exists between the two of you. And yet, that’s there.” – Ram Dass

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In this talk from 1987, Ram Dass explores the cusp between form and formless, how he learned to love all the faces of the Beloved, and how our work on ourselves is a vehicle to liberation.

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“Just what’s on your plate, that’s your vehicle to liberation. If you’re turning away from anything, it’s got you. As you cultivate the emptiness and start to feel safe in the formless, you will be able to dive more deeply into the form. Most people are afraid of the form that are on the spiritual journey, for fear they’ll get lost in it. When you really want truth and want freedom, you need have no fear. You’ll go under for a moment, but you’ll come up.” – Ram Dass

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In this Q&A session from 1990, Ram Dass responds to questions about suicide, immortality, abortion, how to deal with evil, population growth, and how to play the game impeccably.

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“I do this because I do this. You’re here because you’re here. What happens is what happens. That’s where impeccability lies.” – Ram Dass

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In this dharma talk from the 1990s, Ram Dass explores the nature of the spiritual journey, getting free with the practice of karma yoga, and formulas for liberation.

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Production Note: In this episode, it is stated that this is part one of a two-part episode. This episode actually contains both parts one and two combined.

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In this dharma talk from the 1990s, Ram Dass speaks about shifting contexts to shift consciousness, cultivating the Witness to curb our reactivity and entering the state known as choiceless awareness.

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In this Q&A session from 1987, Ram Dass answers questions about meditation, service, and his relationship with his guru, plus he talks about the way we help each other get free.

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"So, this part is where we do that and we just keep reaching for the truth together because that’s really the highest thing we can offer each other, that’s the way we help each other get free.” – Ram Dass

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In this recording from 1991, Ram Dass explores the components of meditation and how the thinking mind keeps trapping awareness, plus leads a guided meditation focused on the breath.

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“There are a number of components to meditation. As you begin to understand more clearly the way in which the mind, the thinking mind, keeps trapping the awareness, more and more you yearn to draw your awareness back from thought. Because the thoughts are like a river of thoughts coming forth and each one saying, ‘Think me, think me, I’m real.’” – Ram Dass

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Sending out good vibes on the radio waves once again, Ram Dass takes calls from a live radio audience and answers questions about how he keeps his head straight, the dharmic potential of virtual reality and telecommunications, and more!

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“I think that alternative communities are potential role models for the game. And I think that they are great experimental situations for us to examine a lot of our ideals when they’re made manifest.” – Ram Dass

Celebrate Ram Dass and explore the intersection of Buddhism & Bhakti with Be Here Now Network teachers and guests at the inaugural Love Serve Remember Summer Mountain Retreat August 25th – 29th in Boone, NC!

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In this recording from 1994, Ram Dass joins Duncan Campell on the radio show “Connections” for a conversation about truth, cultural change, and what happens when acid meets beer. 

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“This time around either everybody goes or nobody goes. It’s not enough to polarize again, that’s what we did in the ‘60s. We were the good guys with truth and love, and they were the bad people with fear and contraction. And that’s not good enough anymore, really.” – Ram Dass

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In this talk from 1993, Ram Dass explores how spiritual practice helps us escape the prison of our egos, then leads a 20-minute practice with the breath as the primary object of meditation.

“Any model of whether this is hard or easy is just another thought. All the metaphors I suggest are just more thoughts. Let them arise, notice them, go back to the breath.” – Ram Dass

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Want to Discuss this Podcast with Others? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship meetup on June 7th at 8 pm EDT. Sign up HERE to receive the zoom link.

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Ram Dass is back with another session of Talk Radio From the Heart to sing us the Heart Song, plus answer questions about abortion, attachment to a group identity, and the struggle of death.

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“So if you keep your heart open with love towards all people, even though you might say to somebody, ‘That’s wrong and I’m going to stop you from doing it,’ do it without closing your heart. At least you are offering to all human beings at all times a heart-to-heart resuscitation; you’re offering something of your own being. You’re being with other people in love. And that to me is a gift that you then bring that is the best you can do to heal the situation.” – Ram Dass

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In this dharma talk from 1975, Ram Dass talks about how a taste of awakening makes it possible for us to tune into the continuity of consciousness that builds through our incarnations.

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“And now you have started to tune into the continuity of consciousness that exists behind the dips into incarnations and back again. And as you get more evolved in an evolutionary sense you get to the point where you are helping to program your own incarnations. And you say, ‘Well, let’s see what I need to do this time.’” – Ram Dass

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Ram Dass is back with more Talk Radio From the Heart, answering questions about grief, how love transcends death, bringing spirituality into daily life, Right Livelihood, and more. 

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“What happens is, when the grief runs its natural course… you come to the point where you realize that you’ve tasted something with that person that was such a living moment that that moment still exists independent of death. There’s a moment when we recognize that love transcends death. And that has to happen experientially, and it has to happen when grief runs its natural course.” – Ram Dass

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In this mellow dharma talk from 1977, Ram Dass shares stories from a trip to Thailand to visit a couple of monasteries, providing an enchanting look at a deep, quiet, dharmic existence.

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“One could feel the yearning inside all of us, I think, for this kind of simple, deep, quiet, dharmic existence.” – Ram Dass

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In this 1996 broadcast from KPFK Los Angeles, Ram Dass takes over Talk Radio From the Heart and answers questions about romantic relationships, racism, finding a guru, and more.

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“When you meet another person and it moves into such an intense presence, a minute is a lifetime. There’s no time, there’s no measure any longer.” – Ram Dass

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In this special episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass and Alan Watts offer their thoughts on some of the essential teachings from the Bhagavad Gita and how we can apply them to everyday life.

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“At a symbolic level, what the Gita is, is a dialogue between God and the seeker. And the battlefield turns out to be the inner battlefield, the battlefield of our own evolutionary being.” – Ram Dass

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In this Q&A session from his legendary 1974 Naropa University course, Ram Dass answers questions about the Bhagavad Gita, the trap of meditation, dealing with loneliness, and more. 

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“And I began to realize that it was inevitable, that as long as I thought I was anybody, I was gonna die.” – Ram Dass

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In the conclusion of this Ram Dass Q&A from 1992, he answers questions and offers wisdom about how life is our practice, how to deal with the anxiety of being in the void, and much more. 

Don’t miss the first part of this Ram Dass Q&A session in Here and Now Ep. 192

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In this Q&A session from 1992, Ram Dass answers questions about synchronicity, purification, fear, compassion, how his guru showed him the possibility of unconditional love, and more.

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Check out the new YesAnd x Ram Dass collection inspired by Ram Dass’ spiritual teachings

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Offering spiritual perspective on the paradox of life, Ram Dass illuminates how we can get free by embracing our incarnation.

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In this dharma talk stemming from Evanston, IL on March 20, 1993, Ram Dass sheds light on how we can play with our perspective to be able to hold paradox from a place of truth and equanimity. Relaying wisdom from Anandamayi Ma, Neem Karoli Baba, and the Tao Te Ching, he explores how we can honor the social responsibility of our incarnation without getting caught in the paradoxes of change and freedom, suffering and perfection, and fear and love.

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In this dharma talk from 1969, Ram Dass plays the hollow bamboo game, which is an exercise to help us enter into a place within ourselves where we are one with everything and everyone.

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In this lively Q&A session filled with laughter and love, Ram Dass explores psychedelic lessons, meditating on antidepressants, what cyberspace means for consciousness, and so much more.

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In this unique recording from 1975, Ram Dass explores the concept of reference groups, how they can affect our identity, and what it means when we enter into the community of the spirit.

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This time on the Here and Now podcast, Ram Dass helps us better understand the mechanics of the mind.

Recorded in the summer of 1989, Ram Dass offers us some very useful methods for recognizing and avoiding the entrapments of our minds. 

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In this Q&A session from 1989, Ram Dass answers questions about addiction, greed, and lust, and talks about the chain of reactivity that fuels our deepest attachments.

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In this episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass tells a series of stories about how his guru, Maharajji, was fond of playing with reality and adding a feeling of whimsy to the universe.

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In this episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass explores our obsession with personality, the possibilities of a compassionate society, and how we can all become tools of balance.

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Join over 1 million people who have taken charge of their mental health.

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On this episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass breaks down the history of psychedelic use and helps us in understanding the risks and the rewards of these consciousness-altering chemicals.

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In this dharma talk from 1969, Ram Dass explores social responsibility, protesting, and the money trip, plus he details the origins of Be Here Now and gets us drunk on the love of God.

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In this episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass explores love, letting go of our models, and giving space to the universe, plus leads a guided meditation and chants “We All Come From God.” 

Don’t miss Alan Watts – Being in the Way, a new podcast from Be Here Now Network. Hosted by Alan’s son, Mark Watts, Being in the Way takes a deep dive into the collected recordings of Alan Watts. Listen to Episode 1 – Following the Taoist Way.

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In this vintage 1969 dharma talk, a ‘fresh from India’ Ram Dass relays how to live our ‘karmic trip’ in the Tao – the Way of Harmony – before sharing stories of the spiritual scene at his father’s farm.

In this dharma talk from October 18th, 1969 at Yale University, Ram Dass, freshly returned from his metamorphic first trip to India, outlines his spiritual transformation and answers audience questions digging into reconciling the natural negative forces of the universe. Inviting us to perceive our ‘karmic trip’ through the lens of the Tao, Ram Dass welcomes us to live in the Way of Harmony, sharing rare stories of the hippie/spiritual satsang that gathered on his father’s small farm in New Hampshire.

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Mapping the physical, causal, and astral planes of existence, Ram Dass reconciles time within the paradox of ‘being here now,’ inviting us into the freedom of limitless awareness.

Illuminating the interconnected nature of the various planes of existence we inhabit throughout our journey of awakening, Ram Dass draws a roadmap of consciousness through responding to a well-structured, organic build of audience questions. Contemplating the notion of time in relation to his famous statement and book, ‘Be Here Now,’ Ram Dass shares Maharajji stories to tie together paradox, welcoming us into the freedom of living within the illusion, but without being caught by it.

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Walking the path of the Heart, Ram Dass shares the hungry ghost pitfalls veiling the unity behind our separateness and invites us into the proverbial 'hot tub' of Maharajji's unconditional love.

In this unique dharma talk floating from deep, dreamy inquiry, to rich, humorous, and lively stories of darshans with Maharajji in India, Ram Dass illuminates the nuanced path of love, highlighting the addictive pitfalls in our habitual relationships with it, and inviting us into the unconditional unity behind our separateness.

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In this recording from 1989, Ram Dass talks about looking through the veil of role and personality in the business world, and offers his unique perspectives on work and money.

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In this collection of clips from his core teachings on death and dying, Ram Dass explores love, loss, and soul, elucidates the art of grief, and encourages us all to make peace with death.

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In this exceptional and unique offering, the Be Here Now Network along with our friends at the Alan Watts Organization, have specially curated a podcast featuring words of wisdom from Ram Dass, and legendary, contemporary spiritual teacher, Alan Watts.

In this a Be Here Now Network first, Alan Watts offers his far-reaching Buddhist, Taoist, and meditative wisdom; playing off of and complementing Ram Dass’ deep inquiry and presence on topics pertaining to identity and separate self, unity and interdependence, surrender and trust, intuition and grace, faith and freedom, and meditation and the eternal now.

Brought to you by LSRF and AlanWatts.org

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On this special episode of Here and Now, Raghu Markus and Rameshwar Das celebrate the release of Being Ram Dass by reflecting on some of Ram Dass’s most important teachings.

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In this dharma talk from 1982, Ram Dass tackles the problem with personality, exploring how we need to honor the power of our personality without identifying and being attached to it.

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In this dharma talk from 1983, Ram Dass looks at the context of reality from the perspectives of both the social and political domain, and the domain of spiritual awakening. 

Being Ram Dass is now available to pre-order – read the story of awakening toward living in oneness and love.

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In this late 1970’s Dharma talk from New Lebanon, NY, Ram Dass explores the innate power of reducing ourselves to Zero in order to be truly effective individuals in our practice, service, and being.

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Looking at life as a series of lawfully unfolding events, Ram Dass shares rare stories and Eastern wisdom that elucidate the concepts of karma and reincarnation.

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Exploring the various forms of Yoga, Ram Dass shares methods for coming into the One.

Links from this episode: Ram Dass Soul Land Live Music Series | The Yoga of Service: 4 Week Online Course

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Ram Dass explores how spiritual practice helps us find a home in the domain of spirit and root ourselves in presence, even amidst all the suffering and pain of this world.

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In this 1992 session, Ram Dass explores patriarchy and the Ramayana, dharmic roles, planes of consciousness, and being a good adversary.

In this question and answer session from July 17th, 1992 in Rhinebeck, NY at the Omega Institute, Ram Dass answers questions surrounding the topics of patriarchy in religion, dharmic roles, relationships, the value of extended family, karma, planes of consciousness, self-love, mindfulness, personality, politics, and being a good adversary in social justice.

Links from this episode: ‘Cultivating Wise Hope’ Virtual Retreat | Soul Land Music Series  

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Be Here Now Network presents a classic talk from 1986 that captures one of Ram Dass’ core teachings around identity and the different planes of consciousness.

In this talk, Ram Dass offers a method for envisioning the different planes of consciousness as TV channels, guidance on understanding ineffable spiritual experiences, and shares a personal account of how these experiences allow us to see our differences while also seeing our oneness.

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In this talk from 1989, Ram Dass shares his thoughts on how innocence is very much a part of the spiritual journey, the importance of humor and lightness on the path, and much more.

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In this talk from 1987, Ram Dass illuminates the path of awakening that is waiting for each of us.

“Once you have recognized that there are other realities, other than the one you have been familiar with, your life starts to change. I don’t care whether you got it from a joint; whether you got it from trauma; whether you got it from surfing; whether you got it from temple or church. Whatever thing you did that took you beyond yourself. Whatever it was, if you acknowledged it as real as what you have started from, you are on the way. That is what is known as awakening.” – Ram Dass

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In this talk from 1989, Ram Dass leads an exploration into what it takes to be present with our hearts, present with the moment, and to have compassion for the suffering in the world.

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In this riveting Q&A session from a 1989 retreat, Ram Dass answers questions around making the transition from somebody to nobody, right effort, doubt versus faith, and much more.

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In this talk from 1976, Ram Dass reflects on how we can get to God by embracing our Dharmic path in life.

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In this interview from 1980, Ram Dass shares a mind-bending conversation with physicist Amit Goswami about the intersection of science and spirituality.

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In this dharma talk from 1993, Ram Dass looks at how each of us can get stuck in our transition between the fear-driven social institutions that we were born into and the love-driven paths of the heart that we are re-discovering for ourselves.

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In this dharma talk from 1978, Ram Dass looks to the example set by The Shakertown Pledge as a model for committing ourselves to inner and outer social action.

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In this dharma talk from 1982, Ram Dass illuminates how happiness, boredom, suffering, past and future, life and death, it’s all right here in every moment we experience.

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In this dharma talk from 1981, Ram Dass looks at how we can let go of our fears about change and dying by understanding our true nature.

This episode of the Here and Now Podcast is the first since Ram Dass recently left his body on December 22, 2019. It features a special message from Raghu Markus, long-time presenter of the show and dear friend to Ram Dass.

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Ram Dass shares a dharma talk exploring the complex relationships we form through devotional yoga that become doorways leading to inner liberation.

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In this blast from the past, Ram Dass is the ringmaster for some astral fun and games as he takes on miracles, psychedelic powers, and connecting across different planes of existence.

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In this unique dharma talk from 1976, Ram Dass explores the practice of devotional tantra, which is about seeing the world as the Divine Mother Kali and feeding her with your impurities. 

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In this dharma talk from 1975, Ram Dass speaks of the still small voice within that serves as a constant reminder of our true nature and relationship with God.

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In this dharma talk from 1993, Ram Dass answers questions about navigating our spiritual path and working with practices that can bring us into union with the One.

With the floor open to his live audience, Ram Dass touches on topics such as his own spiritual practice, methods for bringing us closer with the One, losing faith, working with a guru and more.

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Celebrate the theatrical release of Becoming Nobody, the quintessential portal into Ram Dass’ life and teachings, with this collection of teachings featured in the film.

Becoming Nobody, from director Jamie Cato, represents the core arc of Ram Dass’ teachings and life. Through historic clips balanced with engaging conversation, Ram Dass shares the tools available to get free from our old roles and disguises.

Find screenings in a city near you beginning September 6th, including special events featuring Q&A with Jamie Cato and special guests like Sharon Salzberg, Mirabai Starr, Producer Raghu Markus and more at becomingnobody.com

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In this talk from 1986, Ram Dass reflects on how we relate karmically within our family as we grow and our roles evolve.

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Ram Dass invokes lord Krishna as he discusses divine love versus worldly love, then leads a guided meditation where the seeker and guru become one.

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In this talk from 1976, Ram Dass reflects on the motives for spiritual practice that can liberate us or keep us stuck in our own egos.

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In this talk from 1983, Ram Dass reflects on the journey into innocence and uninhibited loving compassion that we all share.

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In this continuing talk from 1992, Ram Dass explores how we can best navigate the situation of this incarnation here on Earth that we find ourselves in.

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In this talk from 1992, Ram Dass looks at how quieting the mind allows us to accept life how it is, including all of the love, suffering, joy, and discomfort that comes with it.

It is all happening as it should in our lives so that we can grow to become free. Ram Dass shows us how cultivating spaciousness and trust allows us to sit comfortably with all life has to offer and connect with the inner truth that guides us.

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Buckle in for a classic talk from Ram Dass that dives deep into the concept of awareness, and the disruptive phenomena of the attractions and aversions born from karma.

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In this talk, Ram Dass shares a lesson on the liberating practice of service and how we can turn everything in our life into a practice of yoga.

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Ram Dass shares a reflection on the different kinds of spiritual practice available to us and looks at how they each offer the potential to liberate or keep us trapped in our egos.

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In this talk from 1993, Ram Dass reflects on our ever-evolving cultural myths and how we can shift our awareness beyond these narratives.

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In this early talk, from 1970, Ram Dass talks about the methods of purification necessary for waking up in this lifetime, illuminates the traps that lie within these methods and explores what is waiting for us in the ever-present moment.

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Ram Dass is joined live on stage by Krishna Das and Raghu Markus for a conversation that explores generosity as a path of practice and the value of being part of a community that supports each other on their spiritual paths.

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Ram Dass is joined by Noah and Raghu Markus for a conversation about meeting injustice with compassion and the importance of inner social action.

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In this talk from 1995, Ram Dass looks at how we can fully inhabit our roles with joy and emptiness instead of taking ourselves so seriously.

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Ram Dass explores one of the most difficult teachings he was given by Maharaj-ji, accepting the perfection of the unfolding all things, and explores the curriculum of life that unfolds when our attachment to ego begins to dissolve.

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In this talk from 1981, Ram Dass explores the fierce but liberating path of relationships that bring us to a place where we can become one with another person.

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Mirabai Bush and Raghu Markus join Ram Dass to celebrate the release of Ram Dass and Mirabai’s new book, Walking Each Other Home, and share a conversation about how embracing death can allow us to live more fully.

Pick up your hardcover copy of Walking Each Other Home and learn to embrace the mystery of death with compassion and love: Walking Each Other Home 

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In this talk from 1994, Ram Dass investigates the many roots of suffering and how our perception shapes our experience of that suffering.

Find show notes and links here: https://beherenownetwork.com/here-and-now-ep-132-roots-of-suffering/

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On this episode of the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass and Raghu answer questions from members of the community around some of the difficulties and roadblocks we encounter while navigating our journey of awakening.

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In this talk from 1976, Ram Dass takes an honest look at the cycles of liberation experienced on the spiritual path. 

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Ram Dass sits down for a conversation with Raghu Markus around generosity and sharing the gifts of spiritual life.

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In this talk from 1989, Ram Dass explores what is needed to become impeccable with whatever we are handed karmically in our lives. 

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This time on the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass explores the question of what survives after death.

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Ram Dass is joined by Larry Brilliant for a conversation about the miracle that was Maharaj-ji and how we can bring the love and compassion that he radiated into the world.

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In this 1993 talk from the Omega Institute, Ram Dass explores methods of embracing the mystery of life through selflessness and service.  

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In this talk from 1980, Ram Dass invites us to bring all aspects of our lives into harmony by integrating the different planes of our awareness. 

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In this talk from 1991, Ram Dass discusses encountering fear and working through difficult moments along the journey of awakening.

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Daniel Goleman and Raghu Markus join Ram Dass to talk about the power of meditation that they were exposed to in the East and what Western science has begun to understand about consciousness and meditation practice.

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In this talk from 1970, Ram Dass talks about what it means to share darshan from both the perspective of the devotee and the guru.

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Ram Dass has a discussion with Raghu Markus about the fine line between efforts driven by ego and the dharmic efforts that, with faith, bring us closer towards merging into the spacious love that exists beyond duality.

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On this episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass continues his discussion on how our spiritual practice affects our sense of change and how we respond to an impermanent reality.

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On this episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass explores how our spiritual practice affects our sense of change and how we respond to an impermanent reality.

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On this episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass reflects on the fundamentals of spiritual practice and being mindful. 

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On this episode of Here and Now, Ram Dass explores a deeper source of psychological neuroses and touches on some of the most crucial aspects of the spiritual path.

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Ram Dass is joined by Rameshwar Das and Raghu Markus for a conversation around Satsang and taking risks.

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On this episode of Here & Now, Ram Dass asks us to honor our incarnation and live on this plane as if “we” are all “us.”

Ram Dass talks about integrating a sense of oneness into all planes of consciousness, challenges us to honor our incarnation and explores Eastern systems of practice through the lens of science.

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Ram Dass is joined by Raghu Markus for a conversation around wrestling with difficulties and uncertainty. 

From dogma to physical suffering to our own Dharma, Ram Dass and Raghu talk about wrestling with our difficulties and overcoming them through practice. 

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When we have any kind of mystical or ineffable experience, it upsets our apple cart. It upsets the security of our separateness. We get attached to our separateness and become afraid of losing it. And out of that comes greed, lust, anxiety and fear. The main quality of that separateness is suffering, which is why it’s called “the vale of tears.” This birth, which looks to you as a kind of chaotic, random, somewhat morbid humor of God, has an absolute exquisite perfection of the unfolding of your being in an evolutionary direction towards you becoming fully conscious of who you are, which turns out to be God.   

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