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.Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on December 19th. https://www.ramdass.org/fellowship/#soulpod to receive more information.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassThis 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 DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassThis 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 DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on November 21st at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. https://www.ramdass.org/fellowship/#soulpod to receive more information.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassThis 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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassWant to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on November 7th, https://www.ramdass.org/fellowship/#soulpod to receive more information.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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassIn 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.  Are you interested in contributing to the wildfire recovery efforts in Maui and in the most impacted areas of Canada? Check out these resources below to find out how you can help: - https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong - https://www.redcross.ca/ “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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 https://ecbfqd3fjos.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/feat-1-7.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=92&sharp=1&ssl=1Ram 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: https://www.ramdass.org/alan-watts-ram-dass-course/ Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassIn 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 Are you interested in contributing to the wildfire recovery efforts in Maui and in the most impacted areas of Canada? Check out these resources below to find out how you can help: - https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong - https://www.redcross.ca/ “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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassStraight 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 Are you interested in contributing to the wildfire recovery efforts in Maui and in the most impacted areas of Canada? Check out these resources below to find out how you can help: - https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong - https://www.redcross.ca/ “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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassIn 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 Are you interested in contributing to the wildfire recovery efforts in Maui and in the most impacted areas of Canada? Check out these resources below to find out how you can help: - https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong - https://www.redcross.ca/ “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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassIn 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 “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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: https://www.betterhelp.com/ramdassIn 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 This podcast is also sponsored by Pengwee's Breath, a tender-hearted story of a young penguin who learns that his own breath gives him the power to calm his fears. Enjoy the book on its own or with a companion Teaching Guide for parents and teachers that can be downloaded for free from the author's website.Get your copy today: http://mybook.to/pengweesbreath“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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.