Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) is an American spiritual teacher and the author of the 1971 book Be Here Now.  While he is perhaps best known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary in the early 1960s and for his travels to India thereafter, it is his gentle insight into the human condition that warrants more attention, along with his helping to found the Seva Foundation  (best known for its work restoring eyesight to over 3 million blind people suffering from cataract blindness in places like Tibet, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and sub-Saharan Africa) and the Hanuman Foundation (focused on the spiritual well-being humanity via improvements in education, media-access, and community service programs).  He also still serves on the faculty of the Metta Institute, where he provides training on compassionate care for the dying … Over the course of his life since the inception of his foundation in 1974, Ram Dass has given all of his book royalties and profits from teaching to his foundation and other charitable causes.

 

“I’m not interested in being a ‘lover’ — I’m only interested in being Love … We are all affecting the world in every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we are so deeply interconnected with it all … The most important aspect of real Love is not in giving or 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, and suffering ensues. Being in Love — rather than giving or taking love, on the other hand, is the only thing that provides real Peace.  This being in Love means seeing the Beloved all around me, and then acting accordingly.” ~ via Ram Dass

Filed under: In LOVE with Humanity by Scaughdt