At one point or another , you ’ve probably get wind the phrase , " Be here now . " The expression is n’t just a Pinterest - well-disposed slogan , but one of the most abiding dogma of far-famed psychologist - release spiritual leader , Ram Dass . By the time he drop a line the record , " Be Here Now , " in 1971 , he ’d already amassed a major following based on his meditation that were rooted in aunique combination of teachingsfromBuddhism , Hinduism , Advaita , Sufism and later , Jewish mysticism . To date , " Be Here Now " has trade over 2 million copies and up until his demise at years 88 in 2019 , Dass continued to circulate his message of categorical love through several more record , on-line row , podcasts and more .
Born Richard Alpert in Boston in 1931 , he received an M.A. from Wesleyan in Connecticut and a Ph.D. from Stanford and served on the psychology module at Stanford and the University of California . He accepted a tenure - track lieu at Harvard University in Cambridge , Mass. , in 1958 as an assistant clinical psychology professor .
It was during his time instruction at Harvard in the sixties that he conform to Timothy Leary , a lector in clinical psychology at the university , and he began exploring human consciousness with Leary and some of the era ’s most big think leader on psychedelic drugs . Because of his controversial newfangled inquiry interest , Harvard allow Alpert go in 1963 and he finally relocate to India where he met Neem Karoli Baba , who rename him with the moniker Ram Dass , which translates to " handmaid of God . " Over the next few decades , Dass memorize about a variety of apparitional method acting and praxis from ancient traditions , and develop his own belief organization instigate by a variety of these pedagogy .
" One of the most beautiful thing about Ram Dass was how fair and transparent he was with everything in his life , " Ganesh Braymiller , a capacity author and editor for theLove Serve Remember Foundationand theBe Here Now connection , writes via email . " This type of unrelenting honestness and humility , flux with his optical maser - focus on help people awaken through partake his own booby trap and humanness , helped nurture a relationship of authenticity , reliance , love , seva ( selfless service of process ) between Ram Dass and our still - uprise community of seekers and individuals who have been concern through his teachings . "
Here are three of Dass ' most enduring spiritual instruction and how they relate to the here and now :
Everyone Should Become Nobody
It ’s no accident that the title of the 2020 Ram Dass infotainment by movie maker Jamie Cato is " Becoming Nobody . " Through the course of his own experience , Dass prepare the belief thatopenness and curiositywere imperative trait to have so as to strip away the contrived " masks " of everyday biography and become coordinated with others .
" While the consistence of Ram Dass ' teachings reflects a myriad of themes and messages , maybe the most overarching lesson that Ram Dass shared and exemplified throughout his life was in the notion of ' becoming nobody , ' of offering one ’s selfish goal to the abyss of service to others , " Braymiller says . " Ram Dass is another name for the Hindu monkey - deity , Hanuman , who represents the overcoming of the monkey - psyche through altruistic service to the Maker , to facilitate assuage suffering . His lesson of ' becoming nobody ' encompasses his other message of presence instilled in his celebrated ' be here now ' teachings , along with the theme of ' soul ground ' he imbibe through his ' know cognizance ' meditations later in life . ' Becoming nobody ' is losing yourself into the nonrational present instant of service to other souls in parliamentary law to relieve woe ; something Ram Dass taught and exemplify throughout the entirety of his incarnation . "
Spiritual Seekers Can “Come Close to God” Through Every Experience - Even Suffering
" Ram Dass ' life ’s oeuvre has been ground around relieving excruciation and bringing hoi polloi closer to God , to that place of integrity , of total - okayness , " Braymiller says . " Returning from India in the late 1960s , Ram Dass bring in back methodology of yoga , or brotherhood , offering seeker a deep and varied toolkit for bring with their agony . These methodology includedVipassanameditation , bhakti yoga and kirtan , japa practice , asana and hatha yoga , self - research and karma yoga , the path of service , to name a handful . All of these practice are aimed at working on oneself to help reduce one ’s own suffering and the suffering of those around them by developing a calm , love witnesser , and a kinship with the divine bang front , what many would call God . "
Otherwise know as penetration speculation , Vipassana focuses on paying close attention to sensation , and some consider it ’s the build of speculation Buddha taught . Kirtanis a form of bhakti yoga ( the yoga of veneration ) and involves yogic chanting , andjapaconsists of the repetition of a mantra . New westerly Lawrence Peter Berra are often most intimate with asana — the physical postures of yoga — and hatha affect proceed through these asanas as a way to " elevate your consciousness . "
" Ram Dass ' Guru , Neem Karoli Baba , when notice a devotee was crying and tip over , told her , ' I love suffering — it brings me so close to God , ' " Bramiller enounce . " While woe is n’t something we would wish on ourselves or others , Ram Dass identify it as fertile soil , not just for witness where our attachments have us hung up , but also for touching the the true of an ever - changing , impermanent world . "
The Ego Is an Illusion
According to Braymiller , some of Ram Dass ' early talks revolved around the whimsy of the ego as an illusion . Dass find the egoas a social organisation of the mind that organizes the universe and service as the " central computer necessary for tend the game " and a " domain of separateness . " This , he believed , contrast with the heart , which is rooted in unconditional love . Braymiller enjoin he watch the self " as a mind - profit make by the individual as an entity - protector , give each person the somewhat false estimate that they are separate from everybody else and thereby should only protect one ’s own personal self - interest . As his view on the ego matured , Ram Dass recognise the grandness of a level-headed ego , balancedas a ' lovely handmaid , but a icky master . ' "
One of Dass ' best-loved passages on this topic came from theThird Chinese Patriarch , anancient Zen text edition , which state , " The groovy Way is promiscuous for those with no taste . " Braymiller allege Dass adopt this to mean that " illuminating the path of waking up as simple and direct , but steep and hard as we travel from ego to Self . "
Another major influence on Dass ' perspective on ego?Psilocybin . Otherwise known as sorcerous mushrooms , the hallucinogenic substance is sleep together to make feelings of euphoria and sensory distortion , much like LSD.Dass wrote candidlyabout his experiences with the drug and how he wasintroduced to itwhen he was still know as Richard Alpert , a high - achieving Harvard psychological science professor . His teacher in all thing psychedelic was none other than fellow professor , Timothy Leary , aka one of the world ’s biggest exponent of mind - alter drug in the 1960s .
" Ram Dass ' first psilocybin misstep with Tim Leary and Allen Ginsberg helps illustrate this distinction between ego and ego , " Braymiller says . " After ingesting the psilocybin , Ram Dass went to the other room to be alone . While hallucinating , he witnessed his personal function allow him ; he allow go of his professor - ness , he gave up his purpose as a son , as a wise - man , as a cosmopolitan , as a lover … he could give up all of these societal roles and still give a sensation of presence , but then it come down to his body . In his state , he looked down , and saw he had no physical structure . "
While this may sound positively terrifying to most , Braymiller says Dass felt an acute calm washing over him that " quell a possible thigh-slapper with a soft , inquisitive query : ' who ’s mind the memory ? ' " Everything Dass felt he ’d ever known about himself was gone but he was astutely cognizant thatsomethingstill remained . " This was Ram Dass ' first cognisant taste of the ego — the front that is the true butt of all the ego - roles we constantly inhabit . "
Years later , Dass abide a throw and moved to Maui . It was in his new home of Hawaii that Braymiller enjoin Dass would repeat the mantra , " I am sleep together cognisance , I am do it sentience … " and that this repetitive practice attend to as " one of the most potent tool Ram Dass left us to help move past the ego , to begin to inhabit the self , the soul . "
Braymiller says that because of Dass ' unwavering commitment to satin flower and transparency , there ’s not much more he can unwrap about the spiritual figure that is n’t already chronicled in Dass ' own body of work . " I recommend anyone interested in his heart , message and teaching to visitRamDass.orgfor lectures , podcasts , books and upcoming Ram Dass event , " he says .
