ram dass

Ram Dass was a spiritual teacher who traveled the majority of his life across the United States to give talks about Consciousness and the Soul, Eastern philosophy, and the journey of awakening. During his early life he was as a psychology professor at Harvard. At that time he considered himself an atheist living a materialistic lifestyle. In 1961 he took psilocybin mushrooms with Timothy Leary. This experience drastically altered his view on Consciousness and psychology. Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass birth name) started exploring these different planes of Consciousness in an academic setting.

Eventually he was dismissed from Harvard and he travelled to India, because he was looking for a way to stay in the presence of God (psychedelics brought him there but there was always the comedown). There he met his Guru Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji) and he finally was home. When he came back from his trip, he started giving talks about the things he learned/experienced from his Guru & Disciples (living as a Sadhu). This resulted in the Book "Be Here Now" which transformed the life of many seeking westerners.

In February 1997, Ram Dass had a stroke that left him with expressive aphasia. At first he felt like Maharaj-ji had left him but later he saw it as an act of grace, turning himself more inwards. Ram Dass left his body in Maui, on December 22, 2019.

I’ve spent an insane amount of hours reading Ram Dass’s books and listening to the Ram Dass Here and Now podcast. I’m completely aware that I worship Ram Dass as a person, almost like a groupie putting him on a pedestal. I still identify strongly with my ego, which causes me to project things onto him—often turning him into a wild fantasy in my mind. Yet, despite that ego-play, the impact Ram Dass has on my life is undeniably real and profoundly positive. Whenever I listen to him, read his words, or simply picture his face, I can suddenly feel this overwhelming rush of love. And the most beautiful part is that the love I feel for him allows me to transfer that same love onto others. That is why I am so obsessed with him.