Being Ram Dass, Ram Dass
Being Ram Dass, Ram Dass
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Being Ram Dass

Author: Ram Dass, Rameshwar Das, Anne Lamott

Narrator: Rameshwar Das

Unabridged: 18 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/12/2021


Synopsis

“Ram Dass lived a full life and then some. His final statement is thorough and, yes, enlightening.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
Perhaps no other teacher has sparked the fires of as many spiritual seekers in the West as Ram Dass. If you’ve ever embraced the phrase “be here now,” practiced meditation or yoga, tried psychedelics, or supported anyone in a hospice, prison, or homeless center—then the story of Ram Dass is also part of your story.
 
From his birth in 1931 to his luminous later years, Ram Dass saw his life as just one incarnation of many. This memoir puts us in the passenger seat with the one-time Harvard psychologist and lifelong risk-taker Richard Alpert, who loved to take friends on wild rides on his Harley and test nearly every boundary—inner or outer—that came his way.
 
Being Ram Dass shares his life’s odyssey in intimate detail: how he struggled with issues of self-identity and sexuality in his youth, pioneered psychedelic research, and opened the doorways to Eastern spiritual practices. In 1967 he trekked to India and met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba. He returned with a perspective on spirituality and psychology that changed millions.
 
This intimate memoir chronicles the cultural and spiritual transformations Ram Dass experienced that resonate with us to this day, a journey from the mind to the heart, from the ego to the soul.
 
Before, after, and along these waypoints, listeners will encounter many other adventures and revelations—each ringing with the potential to awaken the universal, loving divine that links us to this beloved teacher and all of us to each other.
 

About Ram Dass

Ram Dass (1931–2019) first went to India in 1967. He was still Dr. Richard Alpert, an already eminent Harvard psychologist and psychedelic pioneer with Dr. Timothy Leary. He continued his psychedelic research until his journey to the East in 1967, driving overland to India, where he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharaj-ji. Maharaj-ji gave him the name, Ram Dass, which means "servant of God." Everything changed then—his intense dharmic life started, and he became a pivotal influence on a culture that has reverberated with the words “be here now” ever since.Be Here Now, Ram Dass's monumentally influential and seminal book, still stands as the highly readable centerpiece of the Western articulation of Eastern philosophy and practicing to live joyously in the present moment, be it luminous or mundane. From a backpackers’ bible in the 1970s, Be Here Now continues to be the instruction manual of choice for generations of spiritual seekers. Fifty years later, it's still part of the timeless present. Being here now is still being here now. Ram Dass's work continues to be a path of teaching and inspiration to so many. His loving spirit has been a guiding light for three generations, carrying millions along on the journey, helping free them from their bonds as he has worked through his own. For more about Ram Dass’s teachings, visit ramdass.org.

About Rameshwar Das

Rameshwar Das is a writer and photographer who met Ram Dass in 1968. Ramesh has collaborated with Ram Dass on many projects, most recently as coauthor of Be Love Now and Polishing the Mirror.

About Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott is the acclaimed writer of more than a dozen books of fiction, nonfiction, and collected essays. Her most recent book was Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace. Known for her honest, humorous approach to subjects such as faith and loss, Anne has received the Guggenheim Fellowship, taught writing at UC Davis, and was the subject of an Academy Award-winning documentary.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jessaka on August 25, 2023

What a wonderful person ! I 1st heard about him in my college years When a man I knew handed me his book, Be Hear Now. I didn't get it. I gave him back his book. I never thought much of RAM DAS over the years, but I heard about him from time to time, always good things. But, what I heard about him mo......more

Goodreads review by Jt on June 29, 2024

I was a college student in the mid 1970’s when Be Here Now was making a splash on college campuses across the country. Yes, I was intrigued with the author Ram Dass and curious about the path that took him to writing this unique book. I will admit that Be Here Now was not an easy book for me to read......more

Goodreads review by M. on January 04, 2021

[URL not allowed] …”No matter what someone else does to you, never put anyone out of your heart.”__Maharaji-ji That creed is not something I was ever gifted with. Life has many pitfalls and I found plenty of them. However, I was first introduced to the writings and lectures of......more

Goodreads review by Luke on February 16, 2021

Simply an account of the dance of a yogi’s soul as he journeyed home. “Love holds the universe together. Love is the emotion of connection and merging. Viewed from the soul, the world is a manifestation of love. Love is the bridge, the transfer of energy between form and formless, matter and spirit.......more

Goodreads review by Iván on September 23, 2022

Es un libro muy diferente a lo que estoy acostumbrado a leer... Y la verdad es que me ha encantado. Se trata de una autobiografía de Richard Alpert, el cual acabara siendo bautizado con su otro nombre, Ram Dass. El libro cuenta sus inicios como profesor de Harvard y sus experimentos con el LSD. Obse......more