Ram Dass explores the art of how to bring the past into the present as we age, leads a powerful exercise centered around the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and talks about working with grief.
Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join the Ram Dass Fellowship virtual meetup on December 19th. Sign up for the General Fellowship group here to receive more information.
Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ramdass
This episode of Here and Now is from a recording of a study group on aging hosted by Ram Dass in 1995.
In the face of aging and death, part of the spiritual work we should consider doing is what Ram Dass calls the art of how to bring the past into the present. Using the example of his mother’s death, he shares the importance of processing events from our past with the perspective we hold in the present.
We can also bring the past into the present in a cultural and historical context. Ram Dass leads an exercise centered around the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, having us contemplate and recognize that we are part of a culture that has models of reality that would legitimize the dropping of that bomb.
Ram Dass explores the issue of grieving, especially as it relates to aging and loss. He reads a letter he had written to a family who lost their young daughter, and he talks about the importance of moving from the realm of ego to the realm of the soul.
“There is a tendency that we do in our mind to romanticize our own existence. We become the center of ‘As the World Turns,’ we are the leading actor, we have been cast. We keep milking our history to justify our existence, to give our existence meaning. I want to suggest to you that there is a cost to that.” – Ram Dass
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Ep. 156 – Dying Into What Is
Ep. 155 – Astral Fun and Games Pt. 2: Doorways to the Divine
Ep. 154 – Astral Fun and Games Pt. 1
Ep. 153 – Devotional Tantra and the Divine Mother
Ep. 152 – The Still Small Voice Within
Ep. 151 – Entering into the One
Ep. 150 – Becoming Nobody
Ep. 149 - One Family, Many Paths
Ep. 148 - Krishna and the Seeker
Ep. 147 – Motives for Spiritual Practice
Ep. 146 - A Journey Into Innocence
Ep. 145 – Here We Are
Ep. 144 – Accepting How It Is
Ep. 143 – Awareness is the Sky
Ep. 142 – It’s All Yoga
Ep. 141 – Practice Makes Perfect
Ep. 140 – Changing Cultural Myths
Ep. 139 – Waking Up In This Lifetime
Ep. 138 – We’re All Just Saving Each Other’s Asses
Ep. 137 – The Importance of Inner Social Action
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Hello Heaven Podcast
Wisdom of the Sages
Pilgrim Heart with Krishna Das
Bhagavad Gita
99% Invisible
All About Hinduism