Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Via Daily Dharma: The Blessings of New Beginnings

Life moves in circles, goes through cycles, regenerates, starts over. Every 24 hours the sky goes dark and night comes and we sleep and the next morning sunshine pours in and we are given another chance to begin anew.

—Taylor Plimpton, “Starting Over, Again”


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Via Sounds True / In Gratitude for Ram Dass

A Remembrance and a Gift of His Teachings
Sounds True
Dear friends,

If you're a spiritual explorer of any age, chances are good that you've heard of Ram Dass.

Born Richard Alpert, Ram Dass is known to millions as the stellar young 1960s Harvard-psychologist-turned-hippie who tripped with Timothy Leary, befriended beat poets and Tibetan lamas, found his guru Neem Karoli Baba in India, and penned the perennial classic Be Here Now.

All of that is true . . . but for those of us who've leaned into his teachings, you know that he was also an extraordinary and beloved soul who sparked transformation throughout generations.

His teacher, Neem Karoli Baba, revealed the way for him: "Ram Dass, love other people and serve them. That is all."

Brilliant, irreverent, wise, and most of all, unconditionally loving, Ram Dass lived his life as "an experiment in truth." He helped the dying, the blind, and the imprisoned, and considered service as essential as meditation or prayer.

We are all manifestations of the same greater Self, we are meant to enjoy our roles here on Earth, and our dying is simply a point of transit. And along our way, as he so often reassured us:

"We're all just walking each other home."

Thank you, Ram Dass, for all that you have shared with us.

In celebration of Ram Dass, we would like to share this free gift with you:

The Ram Dass Audio Collection:
Conscious Aging
The Path of Service
Cultivating the Heart of Compassion


May these classic audio sessions with Ram Dass help you to love, serve, and remember—as we celebrate his wisdom, humor, and inspiring life lessons.

We also would like to share two episodes with Ram Dass from our Insights at the Edge podcast:
 

To learn more about Ram Dass, his teachings, and the continuing work of the organizations he helped create, visit ramdass.org.

In gratitude,

Your friends at Sounds True

Via Ram Dass - Love Serve Remember Foundation - Statement from the Love Serve Remember Foundation on Ram Dass’ Passing

 

Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) died peacefully at home in Maui on December 22, 2019

Click here to read Ram Dass’ obituary.

Please share your reflections on Ram Dass, via email: remember@ramdass.org or post with the hashtag #LovingRamDass
For more than 50 years, Ram Dass was a key influence on American spiritual culture. His monumentally influential and seminal work BE HERE NOW–part graphic novel, part introduction to yoga and inner transformation–is an enduring classic that has sold over two million copies. BE HERE NOW still stands as a centerpiece of Western articulation of Eastern philosophy. In the 1970s it was the hippies’ bible; today it continues to be the instruction manual of choice for generations of spiritual seekers.
As a psychologist, Richard Alpert–along with his cohort, Timothy Leary–played a pivotal role in the psychedelic movement of the 1960s, lecturing on the healing effects of psychedelics at college campuses across the country. At the time, Alpert and Leary influenced a generation to “turn on, tune in, and drop out” with psychedelics, providing the inner fuel during a turbulent era of social change, sexual liberation, and political unrest.
In 1967-68, Alpert journeyed to India, where he met the famed Indian saint, Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji), whose central teaching is to love everyone, serve everyone, and remember God. After learning yoga and meditating in the Himalayas for six months, he returned to the West as Ram Dass, meaning “Servant of God.” For decades, Ram Dass crisscrossed America, lecturing on an eclectic spiritual path. He was a guide for thousands seeking to discover or reclaim their spiritual identity beyond or within institutional religion.
In early 1997, Ram Dass had a hemorrhagic stroke that left him with paralysis and expressive aphasia. He recovered his speech and went on to continue his teachings online, at retreats in Maui, and through film, and music, inspiring the next generation of seekers.
The Love Serve Remember Foundation is planning a worldwide BE HERE NOW moment in celebration of Ram Dass’s extraordinary life.

Additional details on this event forthcoming shortly.


 In the meantime, if anyone would like to share their reflections on Ram Dass, please email remember@ramdass.org, or post on social media using the hashtag #lovingramdass.

We want to offer gratitude to the outpouring of love that has been shared over the last day. It’s a true testament to the volume of hearts Ram Dass was able to connect with.

Namaste,

Love Serve Remember Foundation

Via Daily Dharma: A Generous Love

Imagine loving one hundred percent. Imagine acknowledging someone one hundred percent, with no thought of getting something in return.

—Roshi Nancy Mujo Baker, “On Not Being Stingy”


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Via Daily Dharma: Everything Is Given and Received

In the end, it’s not so important who gives and who receives. What matters is cultivating the openhandedness that takes us beyond clinging to our separation and into an awareness that all is given and received.

—Hai An (Sister Ocean), “The Dance of Reciprocity”


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