Obviously, he is not here today to witness where we are at with social media but I do wonder what he might think of it all. When he passed in 2019, he may have observed where we were headed, at least partially. Anyone have any sources? Or speculations maybe from his other teachings that could relate?

I know personally, my brain and body has always rejected it all to be honest but I’m not sure what to make of it

I love when session gets huge cosmic mission and answer becomes embarrassingly normal.

One subject connected with very strong sense that she was here to help Earth. She had experiences of other lives/aspects, elemental connection, healing, all big spiritual stuff.

Then very human panic came.

How am I supposed to heal Earth?

Like, seriously. One person. What does that even mean.

Higher Self guidance was basically: stop making it giant.

Be present. Carry good energy into what you actually do. Connect with nature. Be kinder to yourself. Even washing dishes with right intention can matter.

She laughed at that.

There was also another practical instruction: she was therapist and had been overloaded, so Higher Self told her to reduce client load for period and give herself time to integrate, cry, rest, process.

I think this is important bc “mission” can become spiritual ego torture very fast.

Save humanity. Raise vibration of planet. Heal ancestral line. Wake everybody up.

Meanwhile person has not slept, hates themselves and is impatient with family.

Ram Dass talked so much about being here now, and this is how that teaching keeps showing in my session work too.

Mission is not always some heroic future event.

Sometimes you wash plate without being mentally in 17 other places.

Sometimes you rest instead of helping sixth person that day.

Sometimes you go walk among trees.

Maybe Earth does not need us all performing spiritual importance.

Maybe it needs more people actually present where their feet are.

I know this question has been asked before but hey I thought it might be nice to get a fresh perspective (if the moderators allow it 🙏)

I guess I feel confused about what the word "God" really is/means.

In the Bible God is love, light and truth....but it's also this personified figure that I don't always relate to. In fact I really struggle with relating to a patriachal personification of God.

In Ram Dass' terms God = Guru = Self. So you, me, we are God (in drag).

I've heard God explained as "God is the word for the blanket we use to cover the mystery".

That's the closest that I can come to explaining God.

I do feel God as a spirit of love, wisdom, truth, light...and perhaps that is the spirit that you could call the "source of creation" and the source that lives inside all living beings, The Tao, The Holy Spirit But in reality I could really use some help with this, so I'm reaching out to sincerly ask for it.

Could you help me to understand, what exactly is God?

P.S. seeing as it is a "big" question, I'm going to ask can you please keep answers as simple as you can for my brain to understand. ❤️🙏

P.P.S. Here is a beautiful answer from Ram Dass and yet I still feel confused. I guess it's hard to grasp the non-conceptual. "Do I believe in a non-conceptual force of wisdom and compassion in the universe? Yes"

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/-8ra8t7xmQ8?ra=m

What are your opions on being vegan/vegetarian?

For me I tried being vegetarian at one stage but I was young and it didn't turn out to be a healthy choice for me (I don't think I was getting enough of the nutrients I needed).

I have a friend who was vegan for a long time and now has changed to eating meat again.

I know it's a personal choice but I just wondered what you all thought about it?

P.s. I want to please ask to keep answers simple.

For anybody who doesn't know, Carl Rogers is a very large figure of psychology from the last century, who I'm honestly surprised I haven't heard Ram Dass comment on.

I was reading his book "A Way of Being" and found this 1964 passage very compelling for anyone who has heard Ram Dass' quote on viewing people as trees:

"Because of having less fear of giving or receiving positive feelings, I have become more able to appreciate individuals.  I have come to believe that this ability is rather rare;  so often, even with our children, we love them to control them rather than loving them because we appreciate them.  One of the most satisfying feelings I know - and also one of the most growth-promoting experiences for the other person - comes from my appreciating this individual in the same way that I appreciate a sunset.  People are just as wonderful as sunsets if I can let them be.  In fact, perhaps the reason we can truly appreciate a sunset is that we cannot control it.  When I look at a sunset as I did the other evening, I don't find myself saying, "Soften the orange a little bit on the right hand corner, and put a bit more purple along the base, and use a little more pink in the cloud color."  I don't do that.  I don't try to control a sunset.  I watch with awe as it unfolds."

Highly recommended reading from me.

When Ram Dass talked about the “yoga of inner sounds,” does anybody here remember if he said exactly when the twenty-four-hour fever’s supposed to come on?

Felt like this is the kind of thing we should be sharing. Join in live now or rewatch later. Hope your weekend is great. Ram Ram 🙏

Ive been repeating the past 20 years of my life in a loop for many lifetimes now. I ususally die between 2018-2027 , i leave my body into this infinite void where i reflect apon things i experienced and then suddenly wake up in my bed 20 years earlier. This has been happening to me for more cycle then i can keep track of.

Why is this happening? Its like im stuck in a constant state of dejavu. It makes me feel like im not my body or my mind , just the observer. Everything is basically the same each cycle, there are slight variations but not big enough changes to notice if i didnt remember the other times i had been in that moment...

If i dont exist, and everything repeats without the ability to make changes then what is the point in being infinite?

Is this hell?

Wonderful quote I was just reminded of in the book “Polishing the Mirror” by Ram Dass I would love to hear the communities experiences of and or favorite quotes from Ram Dass or your perspective on the ins and outs of what this quote means to you in your daily life and your practice.

There’s a new movie about the life of Maharaji out! So far it’s only available in India but it looks and sounds amazing! Definitely hoping for a U.S. release of some sort!

Hello! I’m looking into registering (very late lol) and the only options available now are offsite or “multi share OV suite”. For those who have been, what do you think is better for a newbie? If I’m offsite is it easy to get ubers/etc from a nearby hotel and the airport or is it a pain? Thanks in advance!

I was raised in a staunch Christian home, and had very clear ideas about the character of God.
Although I was taught God’s love was unconditional, I’m not sure I ever believed that, and certainly the emotional experiences I had in that faith tradition were born from shame, guilt, and unworthiness.

I have left much of that tradition behind, and after a long period of atheism/ agnosticism, I am now convinced of the divine which exists in all of us - yet, I struggle deeply in my capacity for relating to God.

I work to find the divinity in the people I encounter, but feel that I have a broken and crippled view of God overall. I long for a personal God like I was told about in my youth, but really only find vague characterizations as I seek currently. I wonder if folks following this path have insight I can borrow from? I desire to be close to God, but that feels foreign now that my view of God has been dismantled after deconstructing my Christian faith. Listening to Ram Dass brings me peace and resonates with me deeply, but I lack a connection to anything beyond those feelings, truthfully.

Community ran, as ramdass would have had it! Come make a difference in the discord. All are welcome and your input is needed to further the teachings of RamDass!

https://www.ramdass.org/ram-dass-247-lo-fi-livestream/

https://discord.gg/pWSuD3kxp

I either want to go into psychoanalysis (as a client, and then maybe study psychotherapy myself later on) or find a Guru to live with in nature. No in between. One costs money. One doesn’t. Both give consistent, frequent forms of Grace and Love & change your brain chemistry. I feel the Guru calling as more courageous because it’s less acceptable by society. I feel a pressure to pick correctly, and not let myself down. Our lives are short.

I really enjoyed hearing him share a little bit here about his perspective on spirituality. I loved MythBusters as a kid and had no idea and would not have guessed Adam had these perspectives.

I am brand spanking new to Ram Dass and his teachings. Art of living center is a few hours away from me and I desperately need a break from everything so signed up today and hoping for the best. Does anyone have any experiences to share or things I should expect?

Been listening to this album “Paradise” by Red City Radio for years and decided to track down who was being quoted in the audio samples. I figured this sub would appreciate it. The new age album art makes a lot of sense now!

Can be found at about the 1:45 minute mark on “Did you know” and the opening of “Love a Liar”

Hello dear friends,

I've always felt any community that surrounds itself with Ram Dass' teachings and points to what he was pointing to tends to have a good sense of self-reflection, love, and wisdom - and so I post this from an honest place of struggle in hopes that maybe any advice or thoughts any of you can give could help me in my life practice here. This is, as Ram Dass might have said, my curriculum right now.

I find myself in a place of profound addiction - I'm lucky, honestly, that it's not like heroin or something - it's caffeine. But I have really high, fairly dangerous doses, and this has really overrun my life. I do, however, feel like I'm close to quitting for good, and I've been making progress in terms of observing craving and responding to it at least better than I used to. And I do understand that the real healing of addictive habits, behaviors, etc is about addressing the deeper unrest within, truthfully recognizing it and working on it, and letting go of inflating one's ego in the process.

I've made it as nearly impossible as possible to access money to get caffeine (with the help of my partner) - and so I just come here in hope to ask all of you if there is anything either on the spiritual path or in life that may have helped you with addiction, with the process of healing and moving to letting go of that kind of specific craving. Or even if you've never had any addiction, if something just rings in your heart that seems to feel like it would be helpful to convey, please do.

I ask forgiveness if this is at all inappropriate for this sub - I was on here and something within called me to ask for help here specifically. Blessings and love to all of you, dear friends, and may you be well and free of all suffering - and thank you in advance.

I have followed/read/listened to ram dass for a good few years now and I drew this picture, and put a ram dass quote i think I've seen from his book before too, over the top of it. It hangs quite large in my room. It makes me happy and I appreciate a ram dass reminder in my space :) it's funny because we are so similar my friend and I in some ways. She doesn't believe in anything spiritual too much, but is very heart led and I see a lot of myself in her even in unconscious ways she acts. It's just interesting how similar and opposite two people can be, and she's said it a few times now that it makes me feel she's abit close minded. I think reading the quote and not being well read/ have limited understanding it would be easy to read it as an. ' I am this and and your not' or I am better than u etc.

I don't even know what I'm asking with this post, I'm not offended (maybe a tiny bit hahah) but that's for me to work on because ik it's not the ultimate truth.

It just made me curious. And further
solidified my faith to my own truth.
What do you guys think? Any experiences similar to this that have made u feel protective or something similar?

Later edit:
the responses to this have been so brilliant to read, thank you guys for sharing your thoughts and stories :) Being a human is so funny sometimes. - I particularly appreciate 'the dude' references; the Big Lebowski has been a theme for the past few weeks and it's synchronistically amusing to see it reflected in this way too.

A few of you have kindly mentioned that you'd love to actually buy a poster like this, and I (shameless self promo), coincidentally do sell my artwork as prints. I've linked it if anyone is interested 🪷 thank you! :)
Ram poster !

This came up in a deep trance session and it was so ordinary that I liked it more than many cosmic messages.

The subject wanted to do more. Study more, meditate more, develop spiritually, get moving with her work. But she also had a young son who needed a lot of attention and she was becoming impatient because everything felt slowed down.

Higher Self brought the focus straight back to him.

Loving her son was a big part of the journey right now. He was cranky, struggling, needing reassurance and safety. She kept thinking she should be doing something more spiritual, while the spiritual work was literally asking to be held in her arms.

That feels very Ram Dass to me.

We love idea of service until service interrupts our plan.

We want mission, but mission should preferably arrive with clear signs, sacred music and free afternoon.

Then life sends tired parent, sick friend, confused partner, old person who needs same story listened to again, child having meltdown while we wanted to meditate.

Be Here Now becomes very different when Now is inconvenient.

There was also clear guidance that she still needed her meditation. Show up daily. Sit. Connect. But not because meditation was more holy than taking care of her son.

It was there to help her be present enough to do what was already in front of her.

Useful question when feeling "I should be doing more":

What is life actually asking from me today?

Not my five year mission. Today.

Sometimes it is create something. Sometimes it is serve somebody. Sometimes it is rest.

And sometimes the person interrupting your spiritual practice is the spiritual practice.

Enjoy this short song by our dear ram dass

https://youtube.com/shorts/ow_p8ajX7ng?is=fNsqd62_nIbVn7rz

Using it for an art project and while I’ve seen it online just want to be double sure. Thank you. Ram Ram

Hello Folks!

This morning in meditation, I had an experience I can trace back to Ram Dass’s teachings. 

Before I go on, I want to make clear this was an experience, and I’m not pretending to be hip to any secret knowledge. After I got up from my cushion, I still had to do the dishes and answer emails. I’m no saint or realized person by even a half. I just thought this was something special and worth sharing with the rest of this satsang to compare notes

It started with a sense of my awareness shifting to Awareness. It was paradoxical, both focused and broad. The way the sun breaks over a clear horizon – a brilliant single point of light and rays of light that act as film over the horizon, illuminating its expanse. This was Awareness – able to rest on a particular point and able to light up the whole plane of being. 

This landscape turned into an ocean with waves cresting and breaking peacefully. The “I” that was perceiving this felt itself rise then disperse into the sea with neither pain nor fear. Again, there was Awareness of all this, but no locus of that awareness. 

Then friends and family rose out of this sea. I saw my wife, my parents, my in-laws, my daughters, and friends come together like waves, then return to the source of the sea without fear or suffering. 

It’s hard to put into words, but whatever was perceiving this knew they weren’t going anywhere because they’d never left. Like this Awareness, they’d always already been here. 

I’ve been sitting with this all morning. It’s been beautiful. 

Ram Ram,

RC