The first time I ever heard of Ram Dass was while listening to Wayne Dyer speak of his teachings, his wisdom and I had to find out more about him and his work. And the more I learned, the more in awe I was.
Ram Dass
He is the author of How Can I Help? Stories and Reflections on Service and many other life-changing titles, and it is with great pleasure that I share with you just a small part of the wisdom coming from this wonderful Soul.
35 Life-Changing Lessons to Learn from the Inspiring Ram Dass
1. The quieter you become, the more you can hear.
“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”~ Ram Dass
2. We’re fascinated by the words–but where we meet is in the silence behind them.
“We’re fascinated by the words–but where we meet is in the silence behind them.”~ Ram Dass
3. Expect nothing and take every experience, even the negative ones, as steps on your own path.
“It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the
, and to proceed.”~ Ram Dass
4. As soon as you give it all up, you can have it all.
“The most exquisite paradox… as soon as you give it all up, you can have it all. As long as you want power, you can’t have it. The minute you don’t want power, you’ll have more than you ever dreamed possible.”~ Ram Dass
5. As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can’t see how it is.
“As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can’t see how it is.” ~ Ram Dass
6. We spend much of our time reassuring one another that our costumes of identity are on straight.
“In most of our human relationships, we spend much of our time reassuring one another that our costumes of identity are on straight.”~ Ram Dass
7. The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back.
“The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back.”~ Ram Dass
8. Let your life be a statement of love and compassion, and where it isn’t, that’s where your work lies.
“I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion–and where it isn’t, that’s where my work lies.”~ Ram Dass
9. The most important aspect of love is not in giving or the receiving: it’s in the being
“The most important aspect of love is not in giving or the receiving: it’s in the being. When I need love from others, or need to give love to others, I’m caught in an unstable situation. Being in love, rather than giving or taking love, is the only thing that provides stability. Being in love means seeing the Beloved all around me.” ~ Ram Dass
10. Don’t be a “lover”, just be Love.
“I’m not interested in being a “lover.” I’m interested in only being love.”~ Ram Dass
11. Remember, we are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not.
“Remember, we are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we’re so deeply interconnected with one another. Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment, and being love is the supreme creative act.”~ Ram Dass
12. Souls love. That’s what souls do. Egos don’t.
“Souls love. That’s what souls do. Egos don’t, but souls do. Become a soul, look around, and you’ll be amazed-all the beings around you are souls. Be one, see one. When many people have this heart connection, then we will know that we are all one, we human beings all over the planet. We will be one.
One love. And don’t leave out the animals, and trees, and clouds, and galaxies-it’s all one. It’s one energy.”~ Ram Dass
13. When we see the Beloved in each person, it’s like walking through a garden, watching flowers bloom all around us.
“When we see the Beloved in each person, it’s like walking through a garden, watching flowers bloom all around us.”~ Ram Dass
14. Once you have drunk from the water of unconditional love, no other well can satisfy your thirst.
“Once you have drunk from the water of unconditional love, no other well can satisfy your thirst. The pangs of separation may become so intense that seeking the affection of the Beloved becomes an obsession.”~ Ram Dass
15. If I go to the place in me that is love and you to the place in you that is love we are ‘together’ in Love.
“It is only when you begin to understand that if you and I are truly in love, if I go to the place in me that is love and you to the place in you that is love we are ‘together’ in Love. We start to understand that what love means is that we are sharing a common state together. That state exists in you and it exists in me.” ~ Ram Dass
16. Sometimes it takes three breaths instead of two to let go, but you can do it.
“Don’t treat yourself so gingerly; you can let go of stuff. Sometimes it takes three breaths instead of two to do it, but you can do it. Be a little tougher and don’t cling to stuff. People go around carrying everybody’s stuff all of the time.
I just pick it up and put it down. Pick it up and put it down. That doesn’t mean I’m not compassionate, it doesn’t mean I don’t love people. But holding onto people’s suffering is not compassionate… for them or for you.” ~ Ram Dass
17. On this path we are all spiritual family and friends.
“That’s who we all are on this path, spiritual family and friends. It’s just one big family. We’re all relatives until we realize we’re really all the same and there’s only one of us—one loving awareness. May you be one in that love.” ~ Ram Dass
18. “The spiritual journey is about penetrating the layers and veils to return to the deepest truth of your own being.
The spiritual journey is not about acquiring something outside yourself. Rather, you are penetrating the layers and veils to return to the deepest truth of your own being.”~ Ram Dass
19. Knowledge all by itself, without deep wisdom, ends up becoming despair.
“Knowledge all by itself, without deep wisdom, ends up becoming despair.” ~ Ram Dass
20. Relationships only work in a spiritual sense when you and I really see that we are one.
“Relationships only work in a spiritual sense when you and I really see that we are one.”~ Ram Dass
21. In the course of your journey it is most likely that your day-to-day companions or friends may change.
“In the course of your journey it is most likely that your day-to-day companions or friends may change. Some may fall away as your interest in the Spirit pulls you from the worldly interest which brought or kept you together, but new friends who share your current interests will appear.”~ Ram Dass
22. You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don’t have to do anything to earn it.
“You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success – none of that matters. No one can take this love away from you, and it will always be here.”~ Ram Dass
23. It’s very hard to grow because it’s difficult to let go of the models of ourselves in which we’ve invested so heavily.
“It’s very hard to grow because it’s difficult to let go of the models of ourselves in which we’ve invested so heavily.”~ Ram Dass
24. As you acquire a certain degree of equanimity in self-image, we are that much more likely to feel empathy for those around you.
“As we acquire a certain degree of equanimity in self-image, we are that much more likely to feel empathy for those around us. We know what it’s like to be a “self” moving through the world of “others.” When someone feels particularly isolated or in pain, we don’t need a great deal of information in order to come to his or her aid.”~ Ram Dass
25. If you listen to your own inner voice, it will tell you what’s the next step in your evolution towards the light.”
“If you listen to your own inner voice, it will tell you where you are now, and which method will work best for you in your evolution towards the light.”~ Ram Dass
26. The game is not about becoming somebody, it’s about becoming nobody.
“The game is not about becoming somebody, it’s about becoming nobody.”~ Ram Dass
27. Learn to watch your drama unfold while at the same time knowing you are more than your drama.
“Learn to watch your drama unfold while at the same time knowing you are more than your drama.”~ Ram Dass
28. It’s only when caterpillarness is done that one becomes a butterfly.
“It’s only when caterpillarness is done that one becomes a butterfly. That again is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process of which we have no control.”~ Ram Dass
29. The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering.
“The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering.”~ Ram Dass
30. Be quiet enough to hear your predicament and know where you can begin to find ways of acting for your highest good.
“The question we need to ask ourselves is whether there is any place we can stand in ourselves where we can look at all that’s happening around us without freaking out, where we can be quiet enough to hear our predicament, and where we can begin to find ways of acting that are at least not contributing to further destabilization.”~ Ram Dass
31.Everything in your life is there as a vehicle for your transformation. Use it!
“Everything in your life is there as a vehicle for your transformation. Use it!”~ Ram Dass
32. Compassionate action, helping restore justice and encouraging peace is an acknowledgment that we are all part of one another.
“By acting compassionately, by helping to restore justice and to encourage peace, we are acknowledging that we are all part of one another.”~ Ram Dass
33. Where you are going is HERE and you will arrive NOW. That’s all there is to know.
“Early in the journey you wonder how long the journey will take and whether you will make it in this lifetime. Later you will see that where you are going is HERE and you will arrive NOW…so you stop asking.”~ Ram Dass
34. Emotions are like waves. Watch them disappear in the distance on the vast calm ocean.
“Emotions are like waves. Watch them disappear in the distance on the vast calm ocean.”~ Ram Dass
35.You and I are the consciousness that will define the nature of the reality we are moving into.
“You and I are the force for transformation in the world. We are the consciousness that will define the nature of the reality we are moving into.”~ Ram Dass
Bonus:
“When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it.
You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it.
You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘You are too this, or I’m too this.’ That judgment mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”
“When somebody provokes your anger, the only reason you get angry is because you’re holding on to how you think something is supposed to be. You’re denying how it is. Then you see it’s the expectations of your own mind that are creating your own hell.
When you get frustrated because something isn’t the way you thought it would be, examine the way you thought, not just the thing that frustrates you. You’ll see that a lot of your emotional suffering is created by your models of how you think the universe should be and your inability to allow it to be as it is.”
“The cosmic humor is that if you desire to move mountains and you continue to purify yourself, ultimately you will arrive at the place where you are able to move mountains. But in order to arrive at this position of power you will have had to give up being he-who-wanted-to-move-mountains so that you can be he-who-put-the-mountain-there-in-the-first-place.
The humor is that finally when you have the power to move the mountain, you are the person who placed it there–so there the mountain stays.”
“The human mind is like that monkey, incessantly active by its own nature, then it becomes drunk with the wine of desire, thus increasing its turbulence. After desire takes possession comes the sting of the scorpion of jealousy at the success of others, and last of all the demon of pride enters the mind, making it think itself of all importance.”
“Faith is not a belief. Faith is what is left when your beliefs have all been blown to hell. Faith is in the heart, while beliefs are in the head. Experiences, even spiritual experiences, come and go. As long as you base your faith on experience, your faith is going to be constantly flickering, because your experiences keep changing.”
“A moment’s reflection will show you that you play many roles in the course of a day . . . and that who you are from moment to moment changes. There is the angry you, and the kind you, the lazy you, the lustful you—hundreds of different you’s. Gurdjieff points out that sometimes one “you” does something for which all the other “you’s” must pay for years or possibly the rest of this life.”
“Free yourself from the illusion of good and bad days. Labeling time makes us nostalgic of the past and demanding of the future. There is only here and now. Let it be.”
“Allow that you are at this moment not in the wrong place in your life. Consider the possibility that there have been no errors in the game. Just consider it. Consider that there is not an error, and everything that’s come down on your plate is the way it is and here we are.”
“Instead of filling your mind with the daily news, fill it with stuff that helps you become more conscious, that liberates you. As you become more aware of what gets you to God and what doesn’t, you will naturally let go of what doesn’t. That’s purification. You do it to get to God, not for the sake of being pure.”
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