Sexuality in a Hindu monk's view (TRS)

You'll look at sexuality differently after this video: A monk's spiritual perspective

(TRS Clips) June 18, 2024: Website: bbsh.in/trsclips-launch-cpyt. The Ranveer Show (TRS) welcomes Hindu monk Gauranga Das to enlighten us with his knowledge of spirituality and life. He was an IIT engineer who turned monk known for being a leadership consultant, corporate coach, inspirational speaker, and much more.

Make the sound of the universe: aum (om)

He worked for the Kirloskars before ordaining as a monk, after which he joined ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness), Mumbai (Bombay).

In this episode, Gauranga Das shared some beautiful aspects of spirituality, including the purpose of life, the purpose of sexuality, how monks live their lives, the different stages of life of a monk, Sanatan Dharma ("Eternal Doctrine," which is what Hindus call Hinduism) guidelines, the life of new generation with technologies, and how can one detach him or herself from worldly things and achieve enlightenment (nirvikalpa samadhi).

Spiritual talks are very special for Ranveer as he gets to meet many people who influence his journey of spirituality. He hopes that through this episode, viewers will also get an in-depth understanding of spiritual life and how it shapes our lives. Enjoy and comment. #spirituality #Gauranga Das

• Full show: Life lessons from the Bhavagad Gita

ABOUT: TRS Clips is a collection of short clips from The Ranveer Show (TRS) podcast. Enjoy latest knowledge-fueled videos from the BeerBiceps team. Every conversation on #TheRanveerShow is intellectual, deep, and progressive, which covers everyone from entrepreneurs to Bollywood film stars to athletes. Today, TRS: Happiness Through Curiosity, a show that hosts the world's greatest success stories and tries digging out their secrets to success. Every conversation is an extreme learning experience for the viewer.

Watch The Full Episode Here: • Life Lessons From BHAGAVAD GITA Expla... Check out BeerBiceps SkillHouse's Podcasting 101 Course - https://bbsh.io/podcasting-101 Follow BeerBiceps SkillHouse's Social media handles: YouTube: @beerbicepsskillhouse. Instagram: beerbiceps_skillhouse.  #gaurangadas #TheRanveerShow #spirituality

INSTAGRAM: @beerbiceps/beerbiceps FACEBOOK: @beerbiceps/beerbiceps. TWITTER: @beerbicepsguy/beerbicepsguy. WHATSAPP: BeerBiceps https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaA5... LINKEDIN: @beerbiceps/beerbiceps. TELEGRAM: @beerbicepsguy https://t.me/beerbicepsguy SNAPCHAT: @beerbicepsguy

For any other queries EMAIL: support@beerbicepsskillhouse.com In case of any payment-related issues, kindly write to support@tagmango.com Check out Mind Performance app: Level SuperMind Android - https://lvl.fit/androiddownload Ios - https://lvl.fit/iosdownload Join the Level Community Here: https://linktr.ee/levelsupermindcommu... ✅ Subscribe To Our Other YouTube Channels:- BeerBiceps (English Channel): / beerbicepsofficial Ranveer Allahbadia (Hindi Channel): / ranveerallahbadia TRS Clips हिंदी (Hindi Podcast Highlights): / @theranveershowhindi Best Of TRS : / @bestoftrs Best Of TRS Hindi : / @bestoftrshindi RAAAZ By BigBrainCo : / @raaazofficial RAAAZ Clips : / @raaazclips BigBrain Plus : / @bigbrain_plus Link to  blog: https://beerbiceps.com/

'Be here now' but when?!

Brilliant explanation of the Eternal Now

(Soul Continuum) MELBOURNE, Australia. Who is this genius with an Alan Watts' level of ability to explain transcendental and transpersonal, more Eastern than Western concepts like this? And is he being interviewed by a child? "Out of the mouths of babes" is the famous saying.

Commentary

Time is an illusion. This was said. What was meant? For one thing, time is relative to location. On other planes of existence (and there are at least 31major ones the Buddha talked about), time is different.

Things tend to last much longer there in those worlds. One can see that on the animal plane, life is even more brief than on the human plane. But the average lifespan on the human plane varies, contracting down to a few decades (Decadent Age or Kali Yuga), expanding to 80,000 years (Golden Age or Satya Yuga).

At this time in the repeating cycle (samsara), time is very short. When it was 80K years long, it was very short. So it is possible, not likely but possible, to notice the radical impermanence of all things.

That's the funny thing about time, both to be an illusion and something that contracts and expands. When is now?

We can speak of an "eternal now," not "eternal" in the sense of everlasting. It is eternal in the sense of being ever-present.

Time does not move, as the speaker shows, going from the past to the present to the future. That is how the mind is ordering it, making sense of it. (There's causality, with everything arising from sets of causes and conditions. And when science detects retrocausality, what are we to make of that? How can anything that happens now or in the future ever affect the past? It can. It does. It always has.

• This may sound abstract even though scientists have evidence for it, so to make it more tangible and relatable, we ask: Could you imagine being a retrosexual? (What the heck's that? It's a person who only dates people s/he has dated before, in other words, somebody who from now on only redates). Hey, they exist! Some are trans. Anyway, apart from the retrocausality in quantum physics, there is social retrocausality we see all the time if we ever bothered to notice. Everyday practically something that happens today changes the meaning of something that happened in the past. In the past, things were like this. Now they're like this. What we do a lot today changes what it means when it was done in the past. In the past it meant something, but since the "past" really only exists in our heads, that's what changing. What we're thinking changes. Past, future, they're not even real in an ultimate sense. In a conventional sense, they're very real. Better pay attention. We have to consider them, but what are we considering other than changing illusions?

The order of events may be that way, but actually it is always "NOW." We abandon the now to ruminate about the past or to worry about the future, losing the safety and potential of the ever-present.

Semi-Buddhist Eckhart Tolle, who became famous as the author of The Power of Now and through his business partner Oprah, was often asked: "How many nows are there?"

His mind would loop in disbelief about this question because of its astonishingly wrong assumptions. There aren't many "nows." There's only this now. Now is all the time. This is all there has ever been.

We can imagine a future (but when can we imagine it?) We can daydream about a better past. (But when can we do that?) There's only one answer to when anything happens or can happen.

Where and when do we have power? Where and when can we ever make a choice? When do we suffer or find bliss?

We'll lay it out, space it out, after the fact, for sure, but as we live it, when is it?

What was American guru and former Harvard professor Ram Dass (Dr. Richard Alpert) talking about when he named his classic book, condensing his Indian love-guru (Neem Karoli Baba) and other gurus' message? He distilled all of their messages down to one and the same message: "Be here now."

Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Zen, being heavily influenced by Taoism, is all about being rather than doing (karma, action). But where to be?  When should we be mindful, when should we be present?

What? Be. Where? Here. When? Natch. Naturally, that is now.

• Soul Continuum, YouTube.com, 1/2/24; Dhr. Seven to Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Slo-Mo Battle: Eckhart Tolle vs. Ram Dass

A dialogue with Ram Dass and Eckhart Tolle

(Baba Ram Dass) Let's spend an evening with gurus Ram Dass (former Harvard hippie Dr. Richard Alpert, Ph.D.) and Oprah's spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle (author of The Power of Now), as these two [Hindu-style] teachers engage in an open conversation about spiritual "awakening" [by which they seem to equate Advaita Vedanta principles or samadhi states with actual permanent liberation] and the transformation of consciousness.

• [The Buddha taught that samma samadhi, "right concentration or stillness," while very beneficial and leading to saintly qualities is not nearly enough for the attainment of actual awakening (bodhi) and liberation (nirvana). It may seem a fine distinction, but the Buddha's whole reason for teaching was to establish the Dharma in the world that had been lost for thousands of years or much long, in spite of the fact that we had the Vedas and Brahmanism and Indian teachers all of that time. If those things had been enough to bring people to enlightenment, he would have had no reason to establish "right view" and a "path of purification" that leads to a real/permanent state of moksha or "liberation." While Hinduism literally uses the exact same words -- nirvana, moksha, samadhi, karma, and the like, they mean very different things in the Teachings of the historical Buddha. Mahayana Buddhism, on the other hand, seems to have bought into the Hindu definitions and acts as a kind of popular sect of Hinduism more than as a form of Buddhism. But the average person will never know this without studying it deeply. Indeed, other religions have "salvation" and "liberation," but it is only because they are defining those words differently. From an Early Buddhist standpoint, the terms are being misapplied to impermanent states, to forms of rebirth in heaven or in the company of Brahma, as if one would stay there forever and therefore be free of samsara when someone was actually still fully immersed in the problem the Buddha found a final solution to.]

Host Tami Simon (Sounds True) referees (or mediates the conversation). Filmed in Maui, Hawaii, on October 28, 2011, posted on May 19, 2014.

People don't see it: Alan Watts on life's [Mahayana-Hindu] secret awakening

(T&H - Inspiration & Motivation) Dec. 27, 2021: Here is a brief, inspirational, and profound speech on life's illusions and secret awakening by Alan Watts. Original audio sourced from: Alan Watts - The Works. Speaker: Alan Watts, "Enlightenment or awakening is not the creation of a new state of affairs but the recognition of what already is," Alan Watts (1915–1973). #AlanWatts #TheSecret #T&HInspiration

ABOUT: The Love Serve Remember Foundation is dedicated to preserving and continuing the teachings of Ram Dass and his guru Neem Karoli Baba. Website: ramdass.org. Instagram: babaramdass, Facebook: babaramdass, Twitter: babaramdass.

Be Here Now: Jack Kornfield w/ Tim Ferris

Tim Ferriss Show: Jack Kornfield (#300); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Even in his later years, Ram Dass just kept going with Baba in his heart.

Like Syrian Rue to see the Burning Bush

One of my stories is with Ram Dass [former Harvard Professor Richard Alpert], a wonderful spiritual teacher, in the early years.

When he came back from India, he was sitting up there and teaching devotional and meditative practices.

He had a long beard, white robes, mala beads, a sort of "guru" outfit. A woman in the front row raised her hand and yelled out: “Ram Dass! Ram Dass! Aren’t you Jewish? What’s with [all] this Hindu stuff?”

Ram Dass fame spread with Be Here Now

Ram Dass explained, “Well, yes, I am, actually. I was bar mitzvahed.”

“And there are many things I love about the Jewish spiritual tradition -- the generosity of it, the [mystical] Kabbalah, and all its great teachings on the many stages and states of consciousness, the Hasidic masters who are like Zen masters.”

Then he paused, looked out, and said: “But remember, I’m only Jewish on my parents’ side” [a quip he borrowed from Jewish-Buddhist writer Stephen Levine].

I have nothing to tell you. I'm just here to look at you with loving eye to transfer a fraction of the love I felt from my guru when he looked at me, Ram Dass explained.

 

There was something both witty, which he was, but also profound about it, which he also was. We are not just our parental history or the historical circumstances of this place we're reborn into, this body that we were reborn into. And something in us knows this...

Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in Changing World

There’s a wonderful book that came out called The Book of Joy, which is a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Both of them have marvelous laughs. I think people go to hear the Dalai Lama by the tens of thousands not just for the Tibetan Buddhist teachings, some of which are actually hard to understand, or even the fact that he’s a Nobel Laureate and world figure. I think people go to hear him laugh.

That’s somebody who’s carried so much suffering from the loss of his throne, country, where he’s not allowed to return, and the burning of sacred texts and temples, the killing of lamas, all of those things. 

He and Tutu had a week together where they were asked, which led to the creation of this book, How can you be joyful? How can you laugh like this when you’ve lived through apartheid and the death of so many people around you?

 I'm in the book! -Neem Karoli Baba

The Dalai Lama and he, they banter back and forth like brothers. The Dalai Lama says, “So much has been taken from me. They’ve taken our sacred texts. They’ve taken our ability to make prayers in public. They’ve taken so much of our culture. Why should I let them take my happiness?”

Then Archbishop Tutu starts to laugh and giggle and say, “I’ve been through so much, but I’m not going to let myself live in that place. I’m going to let myself live in that which affirms life, and in a kind of profound joy that we made it, that we’re still alive, that we can contribute, that we can be here on this beautiful earth.”

• VIDEO: Sex, love, and abuse with Guru Neem Karoli Baba

Baba had the love but not the wit

This shift of consciousness is what’s needed in the world, because if we look honestly, no amount of technology alone is going to save us. Nanotechnology, and space technology, and biotechnology, and the Worldwide Web, the Internet, computers, supercomputing technology, are all going to stop the continuation of warfare, racism, tribalism, and environmental destruction.

Those are happening based on the consciousness of the human heart. So here we are now: We’ve made these enormous developments outwardly, where we have the Great Library of Alexandria in our smartphone in our pocket, along with a million YouTube cat videos or whatever. But there it is. It’s all in there.

Then what we need is collectively to develop a transformation inwardly of our inner life that is parallel to this enormous outer transformation.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff some years ago said, “We are a nation of nuclear giants and ethical infants.” You know?

Ram Dass lives on: The Be Here Now Network

Tim Ferriss: Oh gawd.

Jack Kornfield: “I don’t know how old humanity is, but it’s time to grow up.” So this work that we’re talking about is both individual, but as you learn to meet your own life with greater understanding and compassion, it empowers you to move through the world in a different way and to help others do the same.

“And then you get that kind of joy of Tutu and the Dalai Lama, that you’re somehow part of an awakening that humanity now needs more than ever.

Tim Ferriss: And Jack, I’d love to ask you... These interviews are always driven by some self-interest. I always have some issue or challenge or problem that I’m trying to figure out, so I reach out to someone like you to help me do it... More

"I'm only Jewish on my parents' side" (RD)

Don Lattin (Lucid News, 1/4/23); Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

I used to be Dr. Dick Alpert at Harvard U then I took LSD with Dr. Timothy Leary.

What did the Buddha discover?

This essay is part of the Lucid News “God on Psychedelics” Project, reported and written by veteran religion journalist Don Lattin. To read the complete series, visit the home page.

Judaism and Christianity each [in addition to their boring temple and church sermon-services on Saturdays and Sundays] have centuries-old mystical paths [for directly experiencing the divine].

But since the 1960s, and in the current psychedelic revival, countless North American psychonauts ["mind-explorers"] have turned to Buddhism, Hinduism, or shamanism to understand their sudden awareness of divine reality.

He's right. This sacred text's full of mystic trips!

In the next few installments of “God on Psychedelics,” we’ll hear from two scholars — Rabbi Art Green and the Reverend John Mabry, both of whom have thought deeply and written extensively about Jewish and Christian mysticism.

How do they view a spiritual revival fueled by psychedelic drugs [entheogens] and sacred plant medicines?

"Jesus" was a mushroom cult

Will these revelatory glimpses of transcendence, unitive awareness, and divine love inspire seekers to take another look at the mystical traditions hidden within their ancestral [Abrahamic] faiths?

But before turning to the rabbi and the reverend, let’s first consider a more familiar name in the pantheon of psychedelic spiritualists.

That would be Dr. Richard Alpert, Ph.D., a Jewish psychology professor fired from his post at Harvard University in 1963 for giving psychedelic drugs to undergraduates.

Ram Dass (Harvard University's Dr. Richard Alpert): "I'm only Jewish on my parents' side."

.

The Psychedelic Experience; A Manual

In 1964, Dr. Alpert co-authored an influential psychedelic guidebook with Harvard colleagues Dr. Timothy Leary and Dr. Ralph Metzner that was based on the Vajrayana Buddhist Tibetan Book of the Dead.

In the late 1960s, Dr. Alpert went on a celebrated pilgrimage to India, became the disciple of a Hindu guru [Neem Karoli Baba], and took the name "Ram Dass" ["slave of Ram/God"].

Dr. Alpert was a master of one-liners, including the quip [which he seems to have borrowed without credit from Buddhist writer Stephen Levine]:

“I’m only Jewish on my parents’ side.”

Dr. Leary and Dr. Alpert were encouraged to interpret their psychedelic experience through Eastern mysticism by two earlier psychedelic pioneers, the British writer Aldous Huxley and his friend and mentor Gerald Heard, an Anglo-Irish philosopher and mystic.

Shiva and the Buddha are very different.

Huxley and Heard were deeply influenced by two modern Indian spiritual movements — Vedanta and Theosophy [the "Buddhist lite" creation of Russian Madame Blavatsky and American Colonel Henry Olcott], along with the spiritualist writings of Dr. William James, the so-called “father of American psychology.”

DMT [the Spirit Molecule] researcher Rick Strassman argues that many of today’s psychedelic scientists and other psychonauts are biased toward a “unitive-mystical” model that is more in line with Eastern mystical traditions like Buddhism or Hinduism. More

• The Richard Alpert in Ram Dass (Rachel Wahba, The Blogs | timesofisrael.com)
• The Tim Ferriss Show Transcripts: Jack Kornfield (#300) - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss
• Ram Dass's Jewish Legacy - Ayin Press

Tibetan Book of the Dead on Acid (Dr. Leary)

It helps to first know Vajrayana Buddhism.

We are in the midst of a powerful psychedelic renaissance. After four decades of hibernation, the promise of the psychoactive 1960s -- that deeper self-awareness, achieved through reality-bending substances and practices will lead to greater external harmony -- is again gaining a major following.

The signs are everywhere, from the influence of today's preeminent psychedelic thinker Daniel Pinchbeck, to the renewed interest in the legacy of Terence McKenna, and to the upsurge of collective, inclusive (and overtly tripped-out) cultural phenomena like the spectacle of Burning Man.

What do medicinal (entheogenic) plants know?

The Psychedelic Experience, created in the movement's early years by the prophetic shaman Harvard professors Dr. Timothy Leary, Dr. Ralph Metzner, and Dr. Richard Alpert ("Ram Dass," author of Be Here Now), is a foundational text that serves as a model and a guide for all subsequent mind-expanding inquiries.

We were square in the 1950s, but these substances changed us into shamans in the 1960s.

.

In this wholly unique book, the authors provide an interpretation of an ancient sacred Buddhist manuscript, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, from a psychedelic perspective.

The Psychedelic Experience describes their discoveries in expanding spiritual consciousness through a combination of Tibetan Buddhist meditation techniques and psychotropic substances.

As sacred as the text it reflects, The Psychedelic Experience is a guidebook to the wilderness of mind and an indispensable resource from the founding fathers of psychedelia. More + AUDIO

Peace-supporting Jews: NOT in OUR name

Amy Goodman, DemNow; Sheldon S., Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

"Not in our name": 400 arrested at Jewish-led sit-in at NYC's Grand Central Station, demanding ceasefire in Gaza

Jewish founder and host Amy Goodman (democracynow.org)

For many Israeli nationalism is hatred of Arabs.

(Democracy Now!) Oct. 30, 2023: Here are the voices of Jewish Voice for Peace (jvp.org) and its compassionate allies who shut down the main terminal of Grand Central Station during rush hour Friday in one of New York's largest acts of civil disobedience in 20 years to demand a ceasefire (a cessation of Israeli-Jewish hostilities) in Gaza. The multiracial, intergenerational movement says about 400 people were arrested, including Jewish rabbis, famous Hollywood actors, and elected officials from the New York State Assembly and Senate and the City Council. Latest Shows

The problem of racism exists in England, too.

Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8:00-9:00 am ET. Support independent media: democracynow.org/donate. Subscribe to Daily Email Digest: democracynow.org/subscribe

Bhakti Fest, Joshua Tree (Sept. 15-17)

Bhakti Fest, Joshua Tree, CA, Sept. 15, 2023 | Afton Tickets; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

THE YOGA & CONSCIOUS MUSIC EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME IS BACK.

After a three-year hiatus Bhakti Fest is making its long-awaited return. The revival of a premiere 3-day Yoga & Conscious Music Festival, offering music all day, a wide variety of yoga, breathwork, sound healings, spiritual and wellness workshops in a magical high-desert setting (Joshua Tree Lake and Campground).

There will be much to do and see at Bhakti Fest, including an incredible line-up of amazing conscious musicians on multiple stages, premiere yoga classes, and a wide variety of spiritual and wellness workshops.

Favorite artists and yoga teachers will be returning, plus plenty of fresh faces. Enjoy an expanded KidsLand experience, beautiful art installations and live art, sound healings, bodywork in the healing sanctuary, a large array of amazing artisan vendors, and more.

Bhakti Fest features festival favorites such as Krishna Das, plus other beloved artists including Michael Franti, Ayla Nereo, Sol Rising, MC YOGI, Satsang, Ragunath, DJ Drez and Marti Nikko, Govind Das and Jacqueline Michelle, Kirtaniyas, and many more.

Practice with the world’s top yoga teachers and spiritual leaders such as Shiva Rea, Kia Miller, Andrew Sealy, Sujala Roy, Yogrishi Vishvketu, Michael Brian Baker, Jai Dev Singh, Kristin Olson, and many more to be announced.

• (Visit Bhaktifest.com for the full line-up coming soon). Bhakti Fest is a family-friendly, drug and alcohol-free event, and the programs are accessible to all levels.

Festival passes include everything excluding pre- and post-Fest intensives. These intensives take place on Thursday Sept. 14th and Monday Sept. 18th and require a separate ticket. A full festival pass is required to purchase the intensives.

Kids? Children under age 5 are free. The Bhakti Fest Kid Land is full of fun for the entire family.

Senior, local, veteran, and student discounts are also available. Reach out to info@bhaktifest.com for more information.

Accommodations include camping, RV camping with and without hookups, cozy trailers, and glamping yurts. It’s a powerful experience to camp under the stars of the high desert. But for those who enjoy more creature comforts, there are many local hotels, AirBnBs, and unique vacation home rentals available in the area.

For those who choose to camp, please bring own camping gear. Or purchase camping and RV's without hookups on the Afton Tickets website. For all other options, learn more here.

Please do not bring alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to this event. Note that tickets are non-refundable. Those one have purchased tickets and are unable to attend are welcome to transfer the ticket to someone else to sell or give the ticket away.

Join this heart-centered community for its 12th year of BHAKTI FEST.

,

TO USE A PROMO CODE: Click the ticket link, just below the Event Title in the top left corner. See a link that says ENTER PROMO CODE. Click link and enter code.

• Home - Bhakti Fest
• Bhakti Fest: Joshua Tree, California - September 15th, 2023 | Afton Tickets

Learning from Ram "Be Here Now" Dass

Harvard's Dr. Richard Alpert became Ram Dass

Ram Dass -- though he has since passed away -- has been a pivotal influence on American culture for three generations. Every year, for the past ten years, Bhakti Fest Executive Producer Sridhar Silberfein has had the honor to meet with Ram Dass for a very special and intimate Bhakti Fest exclusive interview. Hear the most recent interview and the wisdom he has to share with bhaktas.

Ram Dass: Break Cycle of Addiction (audio)

Ram Dass; After Skool, May 23, 2023 (YouTube.com); edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Break the Cycle of Addiction: Ram Dass

Neem Karoli Baba reads about himself in Be Here Now

(After Skool) The Love Serve Remember Foundation (LSRF) is dedicated to preserving and continuing the teachings of an Indian guru and his famous American disciple.

[Love and sexually abusive Guru] Neem Karoli Baba [aka Ram or "God"] and Ram Dass ["God's Servant/Slave," formerly Harvard Prof. Richard Alpert].

Ram Dass got older and wiser.

The foundation facilitates the continuation of these teachings through online courses, blog content, films, podcasts, social network channels, and collaborative projects with conscious artists and musicians.

To learn more or support, please visit ramdass.org.

ABOUT: Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert, April 6, 1931–Dec. 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was a psychologist, American academic, spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, entheogen user [most notably LSD], and writer.

Be Here Now

Earliest book cover of Ram Dass' Be Here Now

His bestselling 1971 book Be Here Now, which has been described by multiple reviewers as "seminal" [full of semen carrying seeds that germinate or spawn further generations of influence], helped popularize Eastern spirituality and yoga in the West.

He authored or co-authored a dozen more books on spirituality over the next four decades, including Grist for the Mill (1977), How Can I Help? (1985), and Polishing the Mirror (2013).

Ram Dass was personally and professionally associated with Prof. Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s.

Miracle of Love (compiled by Ram Dass)

Then known as Dr. Richard Alpert, he conducted research with Leary on the therapeutic effects of entheogenic/psychedelic drugs.

In addition, Dr. Alpert assisted Harvard Divinity School graduate student Walter Pahnke in his 1962 "Good Friday Experiment" with theology students, the first controlled, double-blind study of entheogenic drugs and the mystical experience.

While not outlawed at the time, their research was controversial and led to Prof. Leary's and Prof. Alpert's dismissal from Harvard in 1963.

Romantic Western female hippie disciples couldn't get enough of Love Guru Neem Karoli Baba

.

Young Neem Karoli Baba was hot.

In 1967, Alpert traveled to India and became a disciple of Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba, who gave him the spiritual name "Ram Dass," meaning "Slave of Ram," but usually rendered as simply "Servant of God" for Western audiences.

In the coming years, he founded the charitable organizations Seva ["Selfless Service"] Foundation and Hanuman [the monkey headed deity] Foundation. He traveled extensively giving talks and retreats and holding fundraisers for charitable causes in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.

In 1997, he had a massive stroke, which left him with paralysis and expressive aphasia, which made it very difficult for him to talk.

It's not how you look. It's how you love others.

He eventually grew to interpret this event as an act of grace, learning to speak again and continuing to teach and write books.

After becoming seriously ill during a trip to India in 2004, he gave up traveling and moved to the island of Maui in Hawaii, where he hosted annual retreats with other spiritual teachers [like awakened Buddhist teachers Trudy Goodman and Jack Kornfield, whom he married] until his death in 2019.