Ram Dass Love Serve Remember

My Jewish trip was primarily political Judaism, I mean I was never Bar Mitzvahed, confirmed and so on. My father was a very visible jew. He started Brandeis University and he was head of the United Jewish Appeal and he and Einstein met and collaborated in starting Einstein Medical School in New York.

I had an interesting discussion while I was at the unveiling of my mother’s tombstone in 1968, I came back from India and the Rabbi of the synagogue that I had been connected with, which is a very big wealthy synagogue in Boston, I had only met him briefly – my father was on the Board of Trustees of the Temple, right, so the Rabbi came to the unveiling of the stone and he was wearing his soft hat and his sunglasses and I was in all my Indian holy robes and he had never met me before and it sort of freaked him a little bit, but he assumed I was the son, so he came up afterwards and he grabbed me by the elbow and he said “well what have you been up to?” I said, “well since you asked I will tell you.” And I proceeded to tell him. We leaned against two tombstones and I told him what had happened to me in India. And I was very direct and I was very straight with him and then he said to me “when I was at theological school one night I was studying for exams, and I was deep into biblical study, when suddenly the books in front of me fell away and a great light came and I had an incredible vision.” And he described the vision. And I said to him, “well you’ve been very blessed.” I said “that must have helped your work a great deal with your parishioners in the temple. You are very lucky. You must have shared that with many people” – he says “I’ve never told anybody that till I’m telling you. It has no relevance to my work.” He said Judaism is a folk religion. He said “I am not interested in mysticism.”

And it’s interesting that various religions, every religion like Judaism obviously has a mystic tradition but many religious rituals are designed for people who in one lifetime are not going to begin to awaken. And it’s designed to keep them cool. To keep them moral and cool and together. And it doesn’t want, like, Christianity doesn’t want Christ running down the aisle. And the Jews aren’t primarily interested in what happened to Moses up in the Mountain - their primary interest is what he brought back. See, and the predicament is that ultimately, like the Ten Commandments at first and the way I was taught them, they are “there’s Jehovah and you better follow them or else.”

Now I am in a position in my own consciousness where the Ten Commandments are what I am, they are not something I follow because I am afraid of God, I follow them because they are the only logical thing to do. Because they make perfect sense and they were designed by a conscious being. Right? But the thing is, even the people that are teaching them aren’t conscious about that level of it, most of them. Now I felt that I was born a Jew for some reason and I am wanting to find out why. But every time I get near people who would like to tell me why, the vibration of the reason they want to tell me somehow turns me off. It’s often that a Jewish Rabbi will come along and want to get me to recognize my Judaism but their desire is not pure - there is something in them, what it is I don’t know…

- Ram Dass, Berkley Comm. Theater, March 7^th 1973

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Dying Into Love with Ram Dass, Joan Halifax, Dale Borglum & Bodhi Be.

My first journey to India was, in part, a result of an interest I had in better understanding death. Sitting at the funeral ghats in Benares watching the families watch the bodies of their loved ones burn showed me how in Eastern culture death is part of life. Looking back to the West I could see that death was hidden from the consciousness of the culture.

Since returning from India in late 60’s I’ve been sitting by deathbeds and through my spiritual life I have confronted my own beliefs around death. Now is the time for us all to consider what we’re missing as a culture because of our disconnection from our own mortality.

Joan Halifax Roshi, Dale Borglum, Bodhe Be and I, with the help of Sam Small, have prepared this series of videos we call Dying Into Love, taken from three emotional workshops where we sought to present the truth of death as we know it.

Some of the participants are professional caregivers, some are dying themselves, and some are spiritual people who wish to consider the issues of death as a way of enhancing their own consciousness and move closer to God.

The combination of presenters in the Dying Into Love videos offer you a depth and breath of information about death, and life,  that I trust you will find intriguing.

Namaste,

Ram Dass

Go to dyingintolove.com for more information and to register for this video series.

Original Article

On a dark evening in Bhumiadhar, November 9 1962, Brahmachari Baba was warming himself by a fire, outside the temple on the roadside. Maharaji was sitting alone in meditation in his kuti. A thin, weak man with long, matted hair, wearing shabby and tattered clothes, came and sat quietly near Brahmachari ji. His hands and feet were both twisted. Brahmachari was looking at him, taking in every detail, when Maharaji came running out shouting, “You have come, you have come,” and sat with them by the fire. Since Brahmachari ji was in Baba’s service, he got up and stood beside him.

Baba asked the visitor, “Where have you come from and where are you going to?” He replied, “I have come from Pilibhit and am going to Meerut.” Brahmachari ji wondered to himself why he had come to Bhumiadhar instead of going directly from Pilibhit to Meerut. Just then Baba asked, “What is the purpose?” He said, “Lal Bahadur Shastri is to be made the prime minister.” Hearing this, Brahmachari was surprised, for there was no question of making Shastri prime minister in the lifetime of Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Baba then enquired about his devotees one by one. The first question Baba asked was about Brahmachari ji, who was standing by him. The man said, “Brahmachari is the guru of sadhus.” After many questions like that one, Baba asked about Tularam Sah saying, “He is lying sick in Ramsay Hospital, what about him?” With a heavy heart he said, “It is not good that you save everyone. He will certainly die on the seventh day from today.” Baba at once got up and returned to his kuti. The stranger also went on his way and disappeared at once. On the seventh day after this incident, on November 16 1962, Tularam passed away. The sadhu did not mention a timeframe for Shastri ji, but he became prime minister after a year and a half.

Excerpt from The Divine Reality of Sri Baba Neeb Karori Ji Maharaj by Ravi Prakash Pande “Rajida”

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Michael Bernard Beckwith, Founder and Spiritual Director of the Agape International Spiritual Center, internationally recognized award-winning author, teacher, speaker, and originator of the Life Visioning Process, and his creative consort and wife Rickie Byars Beckwith, musician, composer, singer, author, Director of the Music and Arts Ministry at Agape and Director of the 300-voice Agape International Choir open their hearts in an unprecedented, intimate sharing of their individual spiritual practices and how they empower their life structures.

We are happy to feature Michael Beckwith as our “Featured Teacher” of the week. CLICK HERE for more information.

Original Article

One day Baba was sitting on a parapet by the roadside when a sadhu named Balak came and offered pranaam to him. Baba said to Balak, “What’s the trouble?” Balak told him that he had been suffering from stomach pain since the previous evening. Baba gave him some of the remaining water from the lota (metal pot) that he used when washing. Balak drank this, and then Baba made him run around. In a little while the pain subsided.

The same day Pandit Mama also had pain in his stomach. Baba immediately got him admitted to Ramsay Hospital in Nainital and sent his devotees to enquire about his health throughout the day. A devotee asked Baba the reason for according different treatment to Pandit Mama. In reference to Balak, Baba said, “God takes care of the person who has no one to look after him. Pandit is a well-to-do man. He wants good treatment and also expects others to express their sympathy for him.”

 

Excerpt from “The Divine Reality of Sri Baba Neeb Karori Ji Maharaj” by Ravi Prakash Pande “Rajida”

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Many years ago I spent time with a Tibetan teacher, Trungpa Rinpoche. In an interview he suggested a meditation technique in which one expands one’s awareness outward. He suggested we do it together. So we sat facing each other and he said, “Just expand outward.” And I started to expand outward.

After about twenty seconds he said “Ram Dass, are you trying?” And I said, indignantly, “Yes!” He said, “Don’t try, just expand outward.” And it absolutely blew my mind. Really. That was an exquisite teaching at that moment. Don’t try, just do it. That’s really what right effort is about. I think the key to right effort is timing.

I used to go to meditation courses and I hated every minute. But I thought, “It’s good for me.” And I would squirm and my legs would hurt and I’d day-dream. I’d count the hours and days until I could get out. And I felt so righteous about doing it. And then I thought to myself “Do you think this is really getting you liberated?”

I mean I’d come out so neurotic and just waiting for a steak and a milk shake. I would have fantasies during the meditation course of what I was going to eat the first day and how I’d drive in the country and how free I’d feel. But I kept going to these courses because I was feeling it was “good for me”. I felt I had to do good in order to be good. Then I decided if this was the only way to liberation, I guess I wasn’t going to make it. So I gave up. And after a few years I noticed that I started to yearn to just sit quietly. And it was a whole different ball game. An Indian Saint, Ramama Maharshi, once said, “I didn’t eat and they said I was fasting.” Same thing!

It has to do with timing. It’s as if our minds see in advance where we’re going, and then our mind-overkill makes us imitate where we think we’re going, which doesn’t give us a chance for our intuition to get us moving in a timely manner. Somebody came up to me the other day and said, “You know, I’m just tired of being ‘should upon’.” Me too!

Mainly I was doing it to myself. You know, “You should do this, you really should.” I almost distrusted that I had a true yearning for God. And that’s where the ‘shoulds’ were coming from, that lack of faith. The more I trusted myself and said, “Well, okay, I’ll just be what I am” the more I began to feel this deep pull towards God. And these methods which could help me, such as meditation started to be a joy rather than a mountain to be climbed. It’s just a matter of timing.

-Ram Dass

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We have all kinds of education – but what prepares us to deal with the death of a loved one or our own passing? How can we be of highest service to someone who is dying?

Ram Dass has partnered with Joan Halifax Roshi, Dale Borglum and Bodhi Be to create three seminal online workshops on death and dying called Dying Into Love.

These workshops contain over 18 hours of video, in 20-30 minute segments, covering the most important topics on caring for the dying and exploring the transformative power of the dying process.

Based on a series of three workshops, learn from four leaders in the field:

Ram Dass – 40+ years a pioneer of awakened consciousness, and service as a spiritual path. World-renowned author and lecturer (ramdass.org).Co-founder of the Seva Foundation, The Prison Ashram Project and The Dying Project.

Joan Halifax Roshi – Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and author. Founder of Upaya Zen Center. She has worked in the area of death and dying for over 30 years and is Director of the Project on Being with Dying.

Dale Borglum – Founder of The Living/Dying Project, has worked with 1000’s of people with life-threatening illness & their families for over 30 years. Co-author of Journey of Awakening: A Meditator’s Guidebook.

Bodhi Be – Interfaith minister, hospice volunteer and funeral director, founded DOORWAY INTO LIGHT offering goods and services for the dying and families, green/home funerals, advance directives, and workshops.

The teachings include group discussions, exercises and meditations dedicated to reclaiming all aspects of dying as sacred components to modern spiritual life.

The Dying Into Love Video workshops are being offered to watch online or download directly to your computer. This material can support both caregivers to the dying and anyone facing their own death. Click here to learn more about the program.

Original Article

At a bhandara around 2001, I met a woman who had come for the first time. Some years ago a copy of Be Here Now had fallen into her hands, and after reading it she knew Maharaji was her guru.

She lived in the rural midwest and had never had contact with any of Maharaji’s devotees. As far as she knew American devotees were a small group of disconnected people. Lacking satsang, she honored Maharaji in her own way.

Some years later she developed brain cancer. Doctors at the hospital told her that odds of surviving the surgery were 50/50, perhaps less.

She was told to “get her house in order.” After surgery she remained in a drug-induced coma for several weeks in order to let her brain heal.

When she woke up a nurse came to her and asked her of which faith her father was. She told the nurse that both of her parents had been dead for many years.

The nurse asked, “So maybe he is a Rabbi or something like that?” The woman was baffled. As far as she knew, nobody other than her doctor even knew she was in the hospital.

Then nurse called over several physicians who described to the woman a visitor who’d been at her bedside after her surgery.

He was heavyset, bald and wore a “long white dress” and had a blanket over his shoulders.

The doctors told her that the strange man had sat by her side for several weeks holding her hand and seemed to be there twenty-four hours a day.

Only when woman had began to regain consciousness did the man with the blanket finally get up and walk away. She had a small picture of Maharaji copied from Be Here Now stashed away with her personal affects in the night table and when she showed it to the doctors, they all agreed that it the man in the photo was the same one that had sat by her side and held her hand.

A few years later while I was In India I heard that the woman’s cancer had come back. One of Maharajis old devotees was married to a lady who ran a naturopathic hospital in Delhi that was said to have success in treating “untreatable” illnesses. He said the lady was welcome to come to the hospital and get free treatment. A few days later several of Maharaji’s devotees pooled together enough money to buy the woman a round trip ticket to India. When I phoned her to offer her the ticket and the invitation to stay at the hospital, she quietly thanked me, but said she was ready to die. “I have Maharaji’s grace, and that’s enough.”

Submitted by Keshavaji

Originally posted by Maharajji.com.

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The following is an excerpt by late Aikido master Terry Dobson in the anthology “The Peaceful Warrior,” edited by Rick Fields (Tarcher/Putnam, 1994) as retold by Ram Dass in An Experiment in Awareness – Mile High Church, Colorado, June 24, 1994.

The train clanked and rattled through the suburbs of Tokyo on a drowsy Spring afternoon. Our car was comparatively empty, a few housewives with their kids in tow, some old folks going shopping. I gazed absently at the drab houses and dusty hedgerows. At one station the doors opened and suddenly the afternoon quiet was shattered by a man bellowing violent, incomprehensible curses. The man staggered into our car, he wore laborer’s clothing and was big, drunk and dirty. Screaming, he swung at a woman holding a baby. The blow sent her spinning into the laps of an elderly couple, and it was a miracle that the baby was unharmed.

 Terrified, the couple jumped up and scrambled towards the other end of the car. The laborer aimed a kick at the retreating back of the old woman, but missed as she scuttled to safety. This so enraged the drunk the he grabbed the metal pole in the center of the car and tried to wrench it out of it’s stanchion, I could see that one of his hands was cut and bleeding, and the train lurched ahead, the passengers frozen with fear. I stood up. I was young then, some twenty years ago and in pretty good shape. I had been putting in a solid eight hours of Aikido training every day for the past three years. I liked to throw and grapple, I thought I was tough. The trouble was that my martial skill was untested in actual combat, as students of Aikido we were not allowed to fight.

“Aikido,” my teacher had said again and again “is the art of reconciliation. Whoever has the mind of fight has broken his connection with the universe. If you try to dominate people you’re already defeated. We study how to resolve conflict, not how to start it.”

I listened to his words, I tried so hard, I even went so far as to cross the street to avoid the kids, the pinball punks who lounged around the train stations. My forbearance exalted me. I was both tough and holy (laughter). In my heart, however, I wanted an absolutely legitimate opportunity whereby I might save the innocent by destroying the guilty.

“This is it!” I said to myself as I stood up. “People are in danger, if I don’t do something fast somebody will probably get hurt.”

Seeing me stand up the drunk recognized the chance to focus his rage, “Ah hah!” he roared “a foreigner! You need a lesson in Japanese manners!”

I held on lightly to the commuter strap overhead and gave him a slow look of disgust and dismissal. I planned to take this turkey apart, but he had to make the first move. I wanted him mad so I pursed my lips and blew him an insolent kiss.

“Alright” he hollered, “you’re gonna get a lesson!” He gathered himself for a rush at me, a fraction of a second before he could move someone shouted “hey!” It was earsplitting. I remember the strangely joyous lilting quality of it. As though you and a friend had been searching diligently for something and he had suddenly stumbled upon it “hey!” I wheeled to my left and the drunk spun to his right, we both stared down at a little old Japanese man. He must have been well into his seventies, this tiny gentleman sitting there immaculate in his kimono. He took no notice of me, but beamed delightedly at the laborer, as if he had a most important, most welcome secret to share.

“Come here” the old man said in an easy vernacular, beckoning to the drunk, “come here and talk with me.” He waved his hand lightly, the big man followed as if on a string. He planted his feet belligerently in front of the old gentleman and roared above the clacking wheels “why the hell should I talk to you?” The drunk now had his back to me. If his elbow moved so much as a millimeter I’d drop him in his socks.

The old man continued to beam at the laborer, “whatcha been drinking?” His eyes sparkling with interest. “I been drinking Sake,” the laborer bellowed back, “and it’s none of your business!” Flecks of spittle spattered the old man. “Oh, that’s wonderful!” the old man said, “absolutely wonderful! You see I love Sake too. Every night me and my wife, she’s seventy-six you know, we warm up a little bottle of Sake and we take it out into the garden and we sit on our old wooden bench and we watch the sun go down and we look to see how our Persimmon tree is doing, my great grandfather planted that tree and we worry about whether it will recover from those ice storms we had last winter. Our tree has done better than I expected though, especially when you consider the poor quality of the soil. It’s gratifying to watch when we take our Sake and go out to enjoy the evening, even when it rains.” He looked up at the laborer, his eyes twinkling.

As he struggled to follow the old man’s conversation, the drunk’s face began to soften, his fists slowly unclenched. “Yeah” he said “I love Persimmons too…” His voice trailed off. “Yes,” said the old man smiling “and I’m sure you have a wonderful wife.”

“Nah,” replied the laborer, “my wife died.” Very gently swaying with the motion of the train the big man began to sob “I don’t got no wife, I don’t got no home, I don’t got no job, I’m so ashamed of myself.” Tears rolled down his cheeks, a spasm of despair rippled through his body.

There I was, standing in my well-scrubbed youthful innocence, my ‘make this world safe for Democracy’ righteousness, I suddenly felt dirtier than he was. The train arrived at my stop and as the doors opened I heard the old man cluck sympathetically “my, my” he said, “that is a difficult predicament. Sit down here and tell me about it.” I turned my head for one last look. The laborer was sprawled on the seat, his head in the old man’s lap. The old man was softly stroking the filthy, matted hair. As the train pulled away I sat down on a bench. What I had wanted to do with muscle had been accomplished with kind words. I had just seen Aikido tried in combat, and the essence of it is love.

Original Article

Krishna Das had instructed me to return to my uncle and Siddhi Ma in the summer of 2004 and try as I did I could not make the necessary travel arrangements. There were no return tickets to London in time for my children’s school term, so that was that.

The next school term break was in October and I made arrangements to travel to Haldwani and Kainchi. I had no idea that the October school break in London coincided with Navratri celebrations in the ashram at Kainchi.

Those were the only dates on which I could make the journey and did so but as the whole plan had been worked by Maharajji the dates were just the perfect dates to make the journey back home.

Leela after leela unfolded as Maharajji welcomed his grand daughter home! I was ecstatic to learn that Baba Ram Dass was in the ashram when I arrived there. I was told later that Baba Ram Dass had extended his stay in Kainchi by a day and thats how we met! I wonder what made Baba Ram Dass make those last minute changes in his schedule?

Is it too far fetched to guess Maharajji wanted me to convey my thanks to Baba Ram Dass in person, for having been the guru who opened my heart to Him? I got my chance at 8 ish am in the morning as Baba Ram Dass opened his doors and appeared white gleaming shoes first from his room! How perfect to meet a guru feet first (padarshanam)!

I wonder if he remembers my rushed attempt at condensing 5 years of Maharajji’s leelas and grace in my life to him….I think I forgot to thank him eventually….hugs, kisses and THANK YOU Baba Ram Dass!! Pranaam.

From Rachna Jhala, London, UK

Original post from Maharajji.com

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                           Siddhi Ma

I was introduced to Siddhi Ma by my aunt and was given permission to stay at the ashram even though I had made no prior arrangements for staying.

I didn’t even realise what a huge priviledge this was and that not many are given it.

Siddhi Ma placed me in a room which I shared with Marilyn Miira Pranno who has become a dear satsangh friend.

My days at the ashram were euphoric and I was so consumed by the meeting of so many satsanghis who shared my love for Maharajji that the temple routine went by me quite unnoticed.

I had not realised that a maha arti had been scheduled to close the Navratri celebrations at Kainchi.

On my last night at Kainchi I went to retire into my room around 10 pm but try as I did I could not work the combination lock to open.

I had been having trouble with the lock and decided to seek Miira’s help with it as she seemed to know how to work the lock better. I found her sitting at the havan and singing. I went and joined her in the arti singing deciding to leave when she was ready to retire.

I expected she would leave in another 15-20 minutes as Miira liked to be up early for Siddhi Ma’s morning darshan. However, an hour later I found that Miira was showing no signs of leaving. That’s when she told me about the overnight maha arti which she wanted to participate in! Then it dawned on me that that was what Maharajji had planned for me. He wanted me at the havan singing the maha arti and I had foolishly thought of going to bed early!

We stayed up all night singing our hearts out….breaking for spicy, sweet, milky tea under the starry night sky in Kainchi….sheer magic. Maharajji’s parties are like no other!!!! By 5 am my throat had packed up and I could stay up no longer. Miira obligingly opened the room lock for me and I crept into bed to sleep and Miira returned to the maha arti. I found myself wide awake and completely refreshed with just an hours sleep and made my way back to the arti but found myself getting a little restless and distracted by 10 am.

I was to leave for Nainital that morning and the pragmatics of that began to occupy my mind. I was getting impatient and wishing the arti would get over when suddenly the conch shell ( shankha ) was sounded and something within me collapsed and I broke down weeping uncontrollably. I managed to control myself for a few seconds while I did arti to Maharajji and then broke down weeping again and had to be escorted out of the havan.

Just as suddenly as I was in the grips of this hysteria I was suddenly out of it and rapidly found myself composed and quite calm. I have no idea what happened or why it happened. I left Kainchi very high and very confused.

From Rachna Jhala, London, UK

Original post from Maharajji.com

Original Article

Imagine feeling more love from someone than you have ever known. You’re being loved even more than your mother loved you when you were an infant, more than you were ever loved by your father, your child, or your most intimate lover—anyone. This lover doesn’t need anything from you, isn’t looking for personal gratification, and only wants your complete fulfillment.

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.

Imagine that being in this love is like relaxing endlessly into a warm bath that surrounds and supports your every movement, so that every thought and feeling is permeated by it. You feel as though you are dissolving into love.

This love is actually part of you; it is always flowing through you. It’s like the subatomic texture of the universe, the dark matter that connects everything. When you tune in to that flow, you will feel it in your own heart—not your physical heart or your emotional heart, but your spiritual heart, the place you point to in your chest when you say, “I am.”

This is your deeper heart, your intuitive heart. It is the place where the higher mind, pure awareness, the subtler emotions, and your soul identity all come together and you connect to the universe, where presence and love are.

Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being. It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being. It’s not “I love you” for this or that reason, not “I love you if you love me.” It’s love for no reason, love without an object. It’s just sitting in love, a love that incorporates the chair and the room and permeates everything around. The thinking mind is extinguished in love.

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.

Years ago in India I was sitting in the courtyard of the little temple in the Himalayan foothills. Thirty or forty of us were there around my guru, Maharaj-ji. This old man wrapped in a plaid blanket was sitting on a plank bed, and for a brief uncommon interval everyone had fallen silent. It was a meditative quiet, like an open field on a windless day or a deep clear lake without a ripple. I felt waves of love radiating toward me, washing over me like a gentle surf on a tropical shore, immersing me, rocking me, caressing my soul, infinitely accepting and open.

I was nearly overcome, on the verge of tears, so grateful and so full of joy it was hard to believe it was happening. I opened my eyes and looked around, and I could feel that everyone else around me was experiencing the same thing. I looked over at my guru. He was just sitting there, looking around, not doing anything. It was just his being, shining like the sun equally on everyone. It wasn’t directed at anyone in particular. For him it was nothing special, just his own nature.

This love is like sunshine, a natural force, a completion of what is, a bliss that permeates every particle of existence. In Sanskrit it’s called sat-cit-ananda, “truth-consciousness-bliss,” the bliss of consciousness of existence. That vibrational field of ananda love permeates everything; everything in that vibration is in love. It’s a different state of being beyond the mind. We were transported by Maharaj-ji’s love from one vibrational level to another, from the ego to the soul level. When Maharaj-ji brought me to my soul through that love, my mind just stopped working. Perhaps that’s why unconditional love is so hard to describe, and why the best descriptions come from mystic poets. Most of our descriptions are from the point of view of conditional love, from an interpersonal standpoint that just dissolves in that unconditioned place.

When Maharaj-ji was near me, I was bathed in that love. One of the other Westerners with Maharaj-ji, Larry Brilliant, said:

How do I explain who Maharaj-ji was and how he did what he did? I don’t have any explanation. Maybe it was his love of God. I can’t explain who he was. I can almost begin to understand how he loved everybody. I mean, that was his job, he was a saint. Saints are supposed to love everybody.

But that’s not what always staggered me, not that he loved everybody—but that when I was sitting in front of him I loved everybody. That was the hardest thing for me to understand, how he could so totally transform the spirit of people who were with him and bring out not just the best in us, but something that wasn’t even in us, that we didn’t know. I don’t think any of us were ever as good or as pure or as loving in our whole lives as we were when we were sitting in front of him.

Welcome to the path of the heart! Believe it or not, this can be your reality, to be loved unconditionally and to begin to become that love. This path of love doesn’t go anywhere. It just brings you more here, into the present moment, into the reality of who you already are. This path takes you out of your mind and into your heart.

Excerpted from BE LOVE NOW by Ram Dass. Copyright © 2010 by Love Serve Remember Foundation.  Used with permission of HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

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