“You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success—none of that matters. No one can take this love away from you, and it will always be here.”
“If I go into the place in myself that is love, and you go into the place in yourself that is love, we are together in love. Then you and I are truly in love, the state of being love. That’s the entrance to Oneness. That’s the space I entered when I met my guru.”
– Ram Dass
Honouring the teacher
As we embark upon a new year and decade, we should all take a moment to honour the passing of this great man, saint and spiritual teacher who inspired many lives through his words of wisdom and boundless service to humanity.
On December 22, 2019, Baba Ram Dass (formerly Richard Alpert, 88) died peacefully at his home in Maui, Hawaii, surrounded in a wave of love by faithful friends and devotees. Of course, up until the moment that he ‘dropped his body’ and passed into the void beyond form, Ram Dass was that very same wave of love, guiding light and source of indescribable comfort to many seekers on the path.
Aside from being one of the most influential figures of the consciousness movement in the West in the 1960s and ’70s, his seminal book Be Here Now inspired a whole generation of hippie youth to seek a more authentic and direct spiritual experience, against the backdrop of an otherwise amoral, violent and materialistic culture.
Upon his first return to the United States from the Himalayan Mountains of India in 1967, Ram Dass carried with him the supreme grace of his beloved guru and God incarnate, Neem Karoli Baba.
As far as spiritual teachers go, one would be extremely hard-pressed to find a more authentic and humble expression of faithful counsel than Baba Ram Dass. Despite writing and selling millions of copies of his many books, he never kept a dime from his earnings. Instead, he donated all of his royalties to numerous humanitarian causes and established foundations to work for the betterment of humanity.
As cases in point, consider this beautiful but by no means comprehensive list of projects and initiatives that Ram Dass helped found and participated in throughout his life:
- He founded the Hanuman Foundation—a non-profit educational and service organization that initiated the Prison Ashram Project, which brought spirituality to inmates inside prison walls.
- He co-founded the Seva Foundation—a non-profit foundation dedicated to restoring eyesight and treating the blind in India, Nepal and other developing counties.
- He co-created the Living and Dying Project—a community initiative that provided space for dying people to consciously come to foster their own spiritual awakenings.
- He founded the Love Serve Remember Foundation—an organization that bridges the wisdom traditions of the East and West, and dedicates itself to preserving the divine teachings of Neem Karoli Baba and Ram Dass. The foundation sponsors retreats, posts free blog content and promotes films and podcasts.
In addition to all of his service projects, Ram Dass toured the nation relentlessly from 1970 onward (up until he suffered a severe stroke in 1997), delivering his guru’s timeless and transcendent message of unconditional love to youthful seekers who were eager to feel the essence of living spirit. He helped transform the consciousness of numerous beings through his unique and highly relatable blend of teaching.
He combined anecdotal stories, exquisite humour and poetic wisdom gleaned through his own incredible personal journey from Richard Alpert, the accomplished Harvard professor; to a psychedelic navigator of consciousness; to Ram Dass (this name was given to him by his guru, and in Sanskrit, means ‘servant of God’), seeker of truth in the Himalayas.
His story is not only inspiring, but also refreshing in these times of fake gurus, obscenely wealthy self-help ‘experts’ and culture-appropriating ‘shamans’. Sadly, a sizable portion of the spiritual knowledge that’s available today in Western culture has been badly commodified in a spiritual marketplace—by charlatans of all shapes and sizes who are trying to make a quick dollar.
Ram Dass was anything but a charlatan. Rather, he was a saint in the truest sense. Like other enlightened beings before him, Ram Dass’ only concerns were for the soulful evolution of mankind and the sharing of an unspeakable kind of love.
He was a spirit who transcended the barriers of the body. Now, he is dancing free amongst the clouds with the Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu, Ram, Krishna, Hanuman and of course, his own guru, the great Neem Karoli Baba!
This is how I hope he is remembered. Thank you for having such an impact on mine and so many other people’s spiritual journeys! We love you. Your spirit is now everywhere, and we feel you all around us!
“We’re all just walking each other home.”
– Ram Dass
For more information about Ram Dass, his books and his teachings, please visit: ramdass.org.
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