Ep. 188 – Community of the Spirit

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.Want to participate in the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join us for the SoulPod Meet-Up on April 23rd at 3 p.m. EDT. Subscribe to the General Fellowship Group for more information.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ramdassThis episode 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 MindThis 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 DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Want to participate in the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join us for the SoulPod Meet-Up on April 9th at 8 p.m. EDT. Subscribe to the General Fellowship Group for more information.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ramdassThis episode 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 MindThis 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.Take part in a 4-week Sliding-Scale Course - Reimagined: The Life & Teachings of Ram Dass. Beginning April 8th, click here to learn more!“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 DassSee 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 talks about transcending dualism, the significance of clairvoyance, how reincarnation is part of our dreams within dreams within dreams, and more.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ramdassWant to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join us for the SoulPod Meet-Up on March 26th at 3 pm EDT. Subscribe to the General Fellowship Group for more information.This episode 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 MindThis 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 DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join us for the SoulPod Meet-Up on March 12 at 8 pm EST. Subscribe to the General Fellowship Group for more information.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ramdassThis episode 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 MindIn 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 DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join us for the SoulPod Meet-Up on February 27th at 3 pm EST.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ramdassThis episode 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 MindThis 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 DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ramdassWant to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join us for the SoulPod Meet-Up on February 13th at 8 pm EST.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 DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ramdassWant to be a part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Register now for the SoulPod Meet-Up on January 23rd at 3 pm EST.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 DassSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on January 9th at 5 pm PST. Sign up for the General Fellowship group here 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: betterhelp.com/ramdassThis 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 DassAbout 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.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 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.Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on December 28th at 3 pm EST. Sign up for the General Fellowship group here 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: betterhelp.com/ramdassThis 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 psychedelicsHe and the host discuss the profound experiences that can occur with psychedelics versus using them as a recreational vehicleThey 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 aloneRam 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----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!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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. Sign up for the General Fellowship group here 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: 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.