You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean. The ocean waves; and the universe peoples.” – Alan Watts True Identity (25:00) Explicating the process and implications of meditation and it’s uncoverings, Alan Watts highlights a methodology for becoming ‘interiorly silent and ceasing from the interminable chatter’ of the compulsively thinking mind. Describing the meditative process of moving behind thoughts and symbols to cultivate a direct relationship with reality, Alan uses music as an example for our experience, sharing that the purpose of life is not some serious trudging journey through the thinking mind, but rather a song and dance from the heart in the ever-changing immediate present moment of existence.

A new psychologist joined the faculty staff at Harvard by the name of Timothy Leary. Richard and Tim became great friends and embarked on research together. Their research moved into a very different area after Timothy Leary took magic mushrooms on the recommendation of a friend. Consequently, they started to investigate the effects of various psychedelic drugs as a potentially beneficial tools in psychotherapy. Research into this had already been taking place in some institutions. It later came to light that the US government has funded a project looking at the potential use of LSD in warfare. Allen Ginsberg took LSD as part of that particular project. I sit with people who are dying. I’m one of those unusual types that enjoys being with someone when they’re dying because I know I am going to be in the presence of Truth.” More Ram Dass Quotes Teaching Transcript: I have a little story to read, and then I’ll think of a task. The story goes like this: It’s a Hasidic, Jewish mystical rabbi who taught his disciples to memorize, reflect, contemplate, and place the teachings of the holy words on their heart. One day, a student asked the rabbi why he always used the phrase “on your heart.” And the master replied, “Only God, or the mystery, can put the teachings in your heart. Here, we recite and learn and put them on the heart, hoping that some day, when your heart breaks, they will fall in.”

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Teaching Transcript: The model of emotional intelligence that I find most useful for self-awareness and self-management, you could say mindfulness, you could say meditation. Those are very powerful tools for self-awareness and self-management. It means emotional self-management; keeping your upsetting, distressing emotions under control. Using them as sources of wisdom if they have something to tell you, but not obsessing about them. That’s when they get paralyzing. And also, marshaling your positive emotions, your positive motivation, your optimism, your love for people, your compassion.

It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed.”The stroke left him paralysed on his right side and affected his ability to talk. His speech became more broken and paused. He would ask people to ‘surf the silences’ with him. Interestingly as a listener you feel that you absorb his words more and have time to ponder and digest. Ram Dass’ legacy Access to over 100 audio podcasts from Ram Dass' 50+ years of teaching with an easy-to-use audio player. When my guru wanted to put me down, he called me clever. When he was praising me, he would call me simple. The intellect is a beautiful servant, but a terrible master. Intellect is the power tool of our separateness. The intuitive, compassionate heart is the doorway to our unity.

The balance that got off, was that we started out with this undifferentiated self, and we so well learned our separateness–because we learned it emotionally, as well as intellectually–that our separateness veiled over the connection we had to the unity of all things.” – Ram Dass Do You Do It? (31:00) A trip to India was a pivotal changing point in his life. Richard Alpert met Neem Karoli Baba affectionately known to his followers as Maharaj-ji. He gave Richard Alpert his new name of Ram Dass literally meaning servant of God. Maharaji-ji sent him to learn yoga and an intense period of study ensued. I have always said that often the religion you were born with becomes more important to you as you see the universality of truth.”In this exceptional and unique offering, the Be Here Now Network along with our friends at the Alan Watts Organization , have specially curated a podcast featuring words of wisdom from Ram Dass, and legendary, contemporary spiritual teacher , Alan Watts. There is an interesting part of the book where he discusses studying under different gurus. He refers to ‘gurus along the way.’ One promised him wealth and power, trying to pitch Yoga to a westerner in a way that the guru thought he would be interested. Wealth and power were not attractive to Ram Dass. They are not a spiritual path. He had experienced wealth and power in his career and he resonated more with Maharaji-ji’s path of the heart. His intention had moved from the head to the heart. And so I think even to act out of compassion we need courage, because you are basically giving the other person the benefit of the doubt. And you are allowing and saying that you're going to respond to any given situation out of trust, out of trust in basic humanity. So for that, you do need courage, but also compassion brings courage, because one of the thing that causes us so much fear is the excessive focus on self and it's concerns. And when you are caught by excessive self-concern everything that you do feels as if there's too much at stake, so we act as if, "If this doesn't work for me, terrible things are going to happen," and all of this kind of additional level of stress is really brought on by this excessive self focus, where we kind of invest much more than what is actually at stake. Being wise is when you get out of the time-space locus that says, I am the one who knows. When you merge with everything around you, you become wisdom. When you become wise, you don’t know you know. You give that up. When you are wise, whatever response comes out of you is the optimum response. And at the same time, nothing is happening inside you at all. During that first meeting, I told him that getting a job with the Love Serve Remember Foundation felt like an enrollment into Ram Dass College. He giggled. At the end of our conversation, after learning that I was entirely new to this world, he grinned and said, You’re tumbling into the soup!Although said in jest, his proclamation became a mantra for my blossoming spiritual life. It’s a reminder that I’m rarely in control, and that sometimes surrendering or, in my case, tumbling, is the only way to find even a taste of freedom and presence within the confines of our complicated human lives.

Instead of sitting in expectancy, waiting for something to happen, flip it slightly and be in it. Are you really here, or are you simply waiting for the next thing? It’s interesting to see where you are in relation to time—if you’re always between what just happened and what will happen next, or if you are here now. The Neem Karoli Baba ashram in Taos, New Mexico, is dedicated to his guru and Ram Dass was heavily involved in its realisation. Neem Karoli Baba has certainly become known in the west due to the work and life of Ram Dass. As detailed in this ‘Being Ram Dass’ book review, the inspiration for the book was to see his life through the eyes of his own guru. In 1997 Ram Dass suffered a major stroke from which he was given a 10% chance of survival. After a series of further health issues including a broken hip and sepsis, Ram Dass became quite frail and more dependent on his carers. He talks about how this enforced change resulted in a spiritual shift in how he viewed his service to others. Ram Dass became a being of presence and loving awareness. He loved nature and the natural world around him. Living out the later part of his life in Maui provided a connection to nature and its astounding beauty. I am not this body. I am in this body, and this is part of my incarnation and I honor it but that isn’t who I am.”

And so, the practice I would give is a simple one of intention, or you could call it best intention, or sacred intention. And that is, three times today or tomorrow, when you notice yourself in conflict with another person, or upset with what’s happening, particularly in relation to other people or events around you, take a little pause and then ask yourself, “What’s my best intention? What’s my highest intention?”