Week 4: 1
Ram Dass, Fierce Grace

Ram Dass 1931-2019 (Dr. Richard Alpert)

Hindu-inspired spiritual teacher

Harvard psychologist – early experimenter with LSD during legal period

Author of new age bible, Be Here Now

Background of Hinduism

Nondual logic: both/and, neither/nor

Ultimate reality: both human and divine, neither human nor divine;

Body & mind, neither body nor mind; mind & matter, neither mind nor matter

Divine consciousness: body-->mind-->Mind (includes both body & mind, is neither body nor mind)

Key Concepts

Brahman – Atman: Brahman is ultimate reality, divine; atman is the eternal soul

Yoga: religious practice – karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jñāna yoga: action, devotion, gnosis

Samsara and mokṣa: cycle of rebirth and liberation from existence

Karma: actions that have moral & religious consequences

Two kinds of karma: actions based on attachment, actions free of attachment

Week 4: 2
Ram Dass, Fierce Grace

Ultimate goal of Hinduism

Through generating good karma, selfless devotion, and meditative wisdom, attain liberation, mokṣa, no longer having to be reborn in a finite existence or body.

Neem Karoli Baba, Maharaj-ji, Ram Dass’s teacher

Hindu guru or master

Emphasized radical selfless love (example, going beyond conventional anger)

https://www.ramdass.org/neem-karoli-baba-maharaji-stories-lessons-wisdom/

Focus on Bhakti yoga: Path of Selfless Devotion: devotion to the divine through service to others, seeing and serving the divine in all beings

“The path of the guru is to feed and to serve” (Fierce Grace).

Ram Dass

Based in Hinduism - became eclectic and inclusive, which was already within the Hindu approach. For example, the Buddha came to be included in Hinduism as an avatar, or incarnation of the divine, something Buddhists themselves do not subscribe to.

Four Turning Points: Identified in Media
1) "Love, Serve, Remember" (documentary link below): Beginning: "I was a set of roles, but I didn't feel a home anywhere."
2) "Ram Dass, Fierce Grace" (documentary available on Vimeo: ) "I still had work do do" (after my stroke) 3:40 mark.
3) "Ram Dass, Fierce Grace": Young woman Abby comes to Ram Dass about losing her lover Terence: a) "Plans" b) "Dream" c) "Small Peanuts" 1:20 mark
4) "Ram Dass, Fierce Grace:=": Stroke signals a new incarnation for Ram Dass 1:30:45 mark

Added links: Ram Dass: Love, Serve, Remember; American Yogi Trailer