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. I loved reading this book. It is a fascinating journey through Ram Dass’ life right up to his final moments before leaving his body. He writes with humility and is open about his failures and successes. As a whole, the book becomes a wonderful guide to the up and downs and pitfalls of life. Ram Dass imparts his knowledge and wisdom throughout. As a result the book is full of great insights and is certainly quote-worthy.

Even before Alpert realized that psychedelics weren't the final answer to enlightenment, he was more interested in cultivating a shared heart space with his patients and friends than he was in the clinical, scientific side of psychedelia. Lao Tzu puts it in this way, ‘The Great Tao flows everywhere; both to the left and to the right. It loves and nourishes all things, but does not lord it over them. And when merits are accomplished it lays no claim to them.’ The more; therefore, you relinquish power and trust others, the more powerful you become.” – Alan Watts Truth and Trust (38:20) 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.” Receive daily Words of Wisdom from some of the great spiritual teachers of our time (with the option to turn on daily push notifications).

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The thinking mind is what is busy. You have to stay in your heart. You have to be in your heart. Be in your heart. The rest is up here in your head where you are doing, doing, doing.” The Zen meditation teacher Alan Watts advised him that “When you get the message, hang up the phone.” Richard took some time before he hung up the phone! The stroke has given me another way to serve people. It lets me feel more deeply the pain of others; to help them know by example that ultimately, whatever happens, no harm can come. ‘Death is perfectly safe,’ I like to say.” I hope to bring his message to you on this topic and how his philosophy will change the way you think. In our Western culture, although death has come out of the closet, it is still not openly experienced or discussed. Allowing dying to be so intensely present enriches both the preciousness of each moment and our detachment from it.”

Words of Wisdom is a distillation of the last five decades of Ram Dass’s life containing the most powerful quotes from his most resonant core teachings. If you keep examining your mind, you’ll come to see that who you think you are and how you think it all is creates the reality you’re experiencing. The illusion turns out to be the creation of the mind. The expectations of your mind create your hell.In India, there’s a way of seeing life as a cosmic play. It’s called Lila. I can watch my life, and I can see my guru playing with me.” 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. I hang out with my guru in my heart. And I love every thing in the universe. That’s all I do all day.” 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) But to see the path, you have to be very quiet and stop thinking, because every time you think about how the path is, you create something new with that thought—even the concept of a path. You’re in the moment now. This moment is the path. INNER SILENCE

I first met Ram Dass on a Skype video call in 2012, more than fifty years after his first lecture. His mode of connection had shifted, and he was already in the twilight of his life, living with the aftereffects of a stroke that permanently altered his verbal communication. He had moved into a realm that valued silence over noise—to the quiet place behind his famous words Be Here Now—where he rested in loving, present awareness. My favourite picture from the book. Ram Dass meditating in the dome at the Lama Foundation Ram Dass Stroke in 1997 For close to ten years now, I’ve been in a near-constant state of immersion in Ram Dass’s deep archive of teachings. I’ve been collecting the shiniest gems within hundreds of lectures and many hours of audio and video recordings from the last five decades—his core essential teachings—and putting them online as Words of Wisdom. Our rational minds can never understand what has happened, but our hearts, if we can keep them open to God, will find their own intuitive way.” 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.

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Ram Dass embarked on a journey of spiritual discovery. He embraced and sought out different teachers and techniques but remained faithful to his teacher Maharaj-ji.