Biography
Richard Alpert/Ram Dass
Ram Dass 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 had continued his psychedelic research until that
fateful Eastern trip in 1967, when he traveled to India. In India, he
met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharajji, who
gave Ram Dass his name, 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. Ram Dass’s spirit has been a guiding light for
three generations, carrying along millions on the journey, helping free
them from their bonds as he has worked his way through his own.
Since
1968, Ram Dass has pursued a panoramic array of spiritual methods and
practices from potent ancient wisdom traditions, including bhakti or
devotional yoga focused on the Hindu deity Hanuman; Buddhist meditation
in the Theravadin, Mahayana Tibetan and Zen Buddhist schools, and Sufi
and Jewish mystical studies. Perhaps most significantly, his practice
of karma yoga or spiritual service has opened up millions of other
souls to their deep, yet individuated spiritual practice and path. Ram
Dass continues to uphold the boddhisatva ideal for others through his
compassionate sharing of true knowledge and vision. His unique skill in
getting people to cut through and feel divine love without dogma is
still a positive influence on many, many people from all over the
planet.
In
1961, while at Harvard, explorations of human consciousness led him, in
collaboration with Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Aldous Huxley, and
Allen Ginsberg, to pursue intensive research with psilocybin, LSD-25,
and other psychedelic chemicals. Out of this research came two books:
The Psychedelic Experience (co-authored with Leary and Metzner, and
based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, published by University Books);
and LSD (with Sidney Cohen and Lawrence Schiller, published by New
American Library).
Because
of the highly controversial nature of their research, Richard Alpert
and Timothy Leary became personae non grata and were dismissed from
Harvard in 1963. Tim Leary and Alpert then went to Mexico, ate
mushrooms, and went from being academics to counter culture icons,
legends in their own time, and young at that.
For
Ram Dass psychedelic work turned out to be a prelude to the mystical
country of the spirit and the source of consciousness itself. Mind
expansion via chemical substances became a catalyst for the spiritual
seeking. This naturally led him eastward to the traditional headwater
of mystical rivers, India. Once there, a series of seeming coincidences
led him to Neem Karoli Baba and the transformation from Richard Alpert
to Ram Dass.
In
1974, Ram Dass created the Hanuman Foundation, a non-profit meant to
embody what he had absorbed from his Guru. Hanuman Foundation developed
the Prison Ashram Project, designed to help prison inmates grow
spiritually during their incarceration, and the Dying Project helped
many cope and transcend, taking the unnecessary sting out of the tail
of life and giving people a way to deal with suffering and death.
The
prison Ashram project continues under Bo and Sita Lozoff in North
Carolina and the Living/Dying Project, conceived with Stephen Levine
and now a separate non-profit headed by Dale Borglum in the Bay Area,
provides evolved support for conscious dying.
Be
Here Now, Ram Dass’s monumentally influential and seminal work, still
stands as the highly readable centerpiece of Western articulation of
Eastern philosophy, and how to live joyously a hundred per cent of the
time in the present, luminous or mundane. Be Here Now continues to be
the instruction manual of choice for generations of spiritual seekers.
Forty years later, it’s still part of the timeless present. Being here
now is still being here now.
Other
books include The Only Dance There Is (Anchor/ Doubleday); Grist For
The Mill (with Stephen Levine, Celestial Arts); Miracle of Love:
Stories of Neem Karoli Baba (Hanuman Foundation); How Can I Help? (with
Paul Gorman, Knopf); Compassion in Action: Setting Out on the Path of
Service (with Mirabai Bush, Bell Tower Press), Still Here: Embracing
Aging, Changing and Dying (Riverhead Books); One-Liners: A Mini-Manual
for a Spiritual Life (Bell Tower Press); Paths to God: Living the
Bhagavad Gita (Harmony Books).
Ram
Dass is a co-founder and advisory board member of the Seva Foundation
(“seva” means “spiritual service” in Sanskrit), an international
service organization. Seva supports programs designed to help wipe out
curable blindness in India and Nepal, restore the agricultural life of
impoverished villagers in Guatemala, assist in primary health care for
American Indians, and to bring attention to the issues of homelessness
and environmental degradation in the United States, along with other
nations.
In
1996, Ram Dass began a talk radio program called “Here and Now with Ram
Dass.” Seven pilot programs were aired in Los Angeles and the San
Francisco Bay Area, and Ram Dass planned to launch the show on a
nationwide basis the following year, but it was not to be.
On
February 19th 1997, Ram Dass suffered a near-fatal stroke, which left
him paralyzed on the right side of his body and expressive aphasia
limiting his ability to speak, along with other challenging ailments.
The
after effects of the stroke have once again changed his life and vastly
altered his day, but he has been able to resume teaching and continues
to share and teach. In 2004, following a life threatening infection,
Ram Dass was forced to curtail travel and focus on recovering his
health.
Ram
Dass now resides on Maui, where he shares satsang, kirtan, and where he
can amplify the healing process in the air and waters of Hawaii. His
work continues to be a path of teaching and inspiration to so many. The
Internet is a new vehicle for Ram Dass to share his being.
Wisdom
Join Us
The Healing Light of Spirit with Peter Kater
February 19-25, 2012
Join Peter Kater and Friends for a transformative and rejuvenating week in Paradise. Relax, deepen and expand with inspiring teachers and artists while allowing time to immerse yourself and explore the healing waters of Maui. We will also paddle board, kayak and sail out to see the amazing migrating humpback whales and other precious sea-life. Combine all this with the peaceful luxury of the Hotel Wailea Resort and Spa, delicious dining at Maui’s finest restaurants, great community and many opening/bonding encounters…this week will offer a profound and lasting experience.
Being Here Now With Ram Dass Sunday Webinars
February 19-March 11, 2012
Join Ram Dass and his guests Jack Kornfield, Rameshwar Das, Mirabai Bush, and Dale Borglum as we come together for a soulful exploration of mindfulness, love, service, and living and dying, in this deeply rich online interactive webinar series ‘Being Here Now with Ram Dass’.
Ram Dass' will explore these topics: Wise Heart, Polishing the Mirror of the Mind, Compassion in Action, and Love and Death. This wisdom has been cultivated from over 45 years of Ram Dass’ teachings.
Information and Registration Here