The Guardian - Ram Dass

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The Guardian Magazine 2008-2009


	I walked into his home. He was coming toward me in his wheelchair from across the room. His prayer table was behind him, and the deities of Hindu India in large images on the walls. He smiled, the look of an innocent child. I raised my arms to the sky and called out, “Ram Dass. Unbelievable!” I was instantly filled with a giddy joy just to be there. I had him all to myself. On the verandah at his home on the North Shore. A warm and colorful afternoon of the bluest sky and the greenest landscape. Just Ram Dass and me. Chatting. Laughing. Crying. Feeling. It was like being in love. Pure and simple. Open and free. “When Tim Leary said his psilocybin experience taught him more in six hours than all of his years of study, I trusted my Harvard colleague and let my curiosity lead the way. After all I was a Harvard professor, a Jungian therapist, a personality and held a prestigious position in society. Yet something was missing and I longed to find out what that was.” That was the moment Richard saw there was something else besides the roles we play. Something intangible but real that we all share. That there is place humanity can connect and it is called the collective consciousness, Awareness. The Self that goes beyond ego. Now these things are so hard to write about. I mean, I want all of you to get what I GOT when sitting with Ram Dass. So bear with me. Read on. Stay open. Trust the words. Let’s go “there” together. To a place Ram Dass and I decided to call “on” as opposed to “off.” So there is this state of being the Hindus call Dharma. It is where there is only compassion, love, joy, happiness, and ultimately freedom. We are calling it “on.” And “off” is where anxiety, anger, fear—all those things live. Ram Dass is ON! I asked, “Do you ever lose sight of “on” and go “off.” He said, “Oh yes, all the time, but not for long because I’ve spent my life noticing when I am in fear and anxiety and anger and I don’t stay there. So I ask, “How do you get back “on” and he said, “I think of my guru, who said to me, go out and love everyone.” And what happens when we love everyone? We are free. That simple. Ram Dass has a prayer table. His altar called a puja table. On that table there are photos of high beings, like his guru. He also has a photo of George Bush. WHAT? There’s that sense of humor again. He said it is hardest for him to feel compassion and love for George Bush so he put his photo there to practice compassion. “If I can feel compassion for George Bush I’m doing pretty well. And I do. I saw his soul in this lousy incarnation of his, and I felt so badly for that soul accruing so much karma.” I said I knew what he meant about being in a loving space, but this thing called “consciousness” is a very slippery thing. He laughed. “Oh yes. That it is! So when you want to connect with others, just remember that love is the perfect connection. And if you are comfortable in our own soul, then you can see others. I said that he must really believe these things to be so present and loving most all of the time. He said, “No, it is not believing. To believe is a function of the mind. It is faith. Faith is a function of the soul.” Ram Dass had a massive stroke a few years ago. He calls it having been “stroked” and he refers to it as “fierce grace” because everything in this life is a lesson, leading us closer to our own soul. Wow. That’s faith! And this stroke of his, and how he respects it, is his testimony to faith. To love. To trust. To joy. To freedom. We sat there on that verandah. He kissed my hand and told me he how much he enjoyed our time together. I felt completely at home. I knew him. He didn’t know me. Or so I thought. In the end it was the other way around. He knew me better than I knew myself because he looked straight through me and saw my essential soul and because he could do that, so could I. It made me feel so happy, full of joy and free. I asked, “Is Hawaii your home now? Are you staying?” He said, “I made a vow never to get on an airplane again so I’m going to die here. Just think, I am like a tourist but I live here and Maui is my home and will remain my home for the rest of my life. How lucky can I be!” Ram Dass holds Sat Sang and welcomes you. You can visit his website for updated information and schedules. www.RamDass.org. I strongly suggest you see the film, “Fierce Grace” and that you read his book “Still Here”—both will give you a lot of joy!