This time on the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass discusses the seductiveness of the rational mind and explores another option we have for interacting with the world.
Click here to read the transcription of this podcast.
Show Notes
The Tibetan Lama (Opening) – Raghu has a serendipitous encounter with a Tibetan Lama after he visits Maharaj-ji in Kainchi. He describes the intense teachings that he received from this Lama and how they left his rational mind blown.
The Rational Mind (4:55) – Meanwhile, Ram Dass reflects on the teachings of P.G. Ouspensky around reconciling the realized being and the rational mind. We take a closer look at the promise of the rational mind and its shortcomings in practice.
“The funny thing about the rational mind is that it has taken us so far and then it became the lion at the gates. It’s so seductive, it seems like it is going to give the whole business and then, lo and behold, it holds us back at a certain point.” – Ram Dass
Being Here, Now (9:55) – Instead of the always on, and rarely present, rational mind we have the option to interact with the world in a way that is not grasping, assessing or reasoning. Ram Dass elucidates this state of mind and shares some of the lessons he learned from teachers in the East practiced it
Identity and the Moment (17:30) – Ram Dass looks at the questions of identity that arise from that experience and explores the different ways in which we experience the world outside of the rational mind.
“If I am not speaking and if I am not who I thought I am, then how did I get into this predicament and who am I? Only when I know who I am will I know what is possible. Furthermore, I can ask the question, ‘How will I know who I am?” – Ram Dass
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I love this and I am filled with gratitude. Thank you so much posting this entire series. Be Here Now has been with me since its publication. Now, to have this online – no words!!!
Great episode, Ram Das’s words always seem to fit whats going on in my life. I heard these words in a dream last night ‘You cannot rip skin off a snake, it must shed its skin when its ready’.