Ram Dass
Encyclopedia
Ram Dass is an American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now
. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary
at Harvard University
in the early 1960s, for his travels to India
and his relationship with the Hindu
guru
Neem Karoli Baba
, and for founding the charitable organizations Seva Foundation
and Hanuman Foundation. He continues to teach via his website.
. His father, George Alpert, was a lawyer in the Boston, president of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
, one of the founders of Brandeis University
and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
, as well as a major fundraiser for Jewish causes. While Richard did have a bar mitzvah, he was "disappointed by its essential hollowness". He considered himself an atheist and did not profess any religion during his early life, describing himself as “inured to religion. I didn’t have one whiff of God until I took psychedelics.”
Alpert attended the Williston Northampton School
, graduating in 1948 as a part of the Cum Laude Association. He then went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts
degree
from Tufts University
, a master's degree
from Wesleyan University
, and a doctorate
(in psychology) from Stanford University
.
, Alpert accepted a permanent position at Harvard, where he worked with the Social Relations Department, the Psychology Department, the Graduate School of Education, and the Health Service, where he was a therapist. Perhaps most notable was the work he did with his close friend and associate Timothy Leary
. Leary and Alpert were formally dismissed from the university in 1963. According to Harvard President Nathan M. Pusey, Leary was dismissed for leaving Cambridge and his classes without permission or notice, and Alpert for allegedly giving psilocybin
(similar to LSD) to an undergraduate.
. Alpert also corresponded with the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba
and mentioned Baba in several of his books.
that left him with expressive aphasia
, which he interprets as an act of grace
. He no longer travels, but continues to teach through live webcasts and at retreats in Hawaii. When asked if he could sum up his life's message, he replied, "I help people as a way to work on myself, and I work on myself to help people ... to me, that's what the emerging game is all about." Ram Dass was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award in August 1991.
Ram Dass is a vegetarian. In the 1990s, he became more forthcoming about his bisexuality
while avoiding labels and asserting that bisexuality "isn't gay, and it's not not-gay, and it's not anything—it's just awareness." At 78, Ram Dass learned that he had fathered a son as a 24-year-old at Stanford, and that he was now a grandfather.
and Ram Dass, and to work with Ram Dass on his writings and other future plans. The Hanuman Foundation is a nonprofit educational and service organization founded by Ram Dass in 1974, focused on the spiritual well-being of society through education, media and community service programs. The Seva Foundation
is an international health organization founded by Ram Dass in 1978 along with public health leader Larry Brilliant
and humanitarian activist Wavy Gravy
.
Be Here Now (book)
Be Here Now is a seminal 1971 book on spirituality, yoga and meditation by the Western born yogi and spiritual teacher Ram Dass. The title comes from a statement his guide, Bhagavan Das, made during Ram Dass's journeys in India...
. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in the early 1960s, for his travels to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and his relationship with the Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
Neem Karoli Baba
Neem Karoli Baba
Shri Neem Karoli Baba or Shri Neeb Karori Baba , also known to followers as Maharaj-ji, was a Hindu guru and devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman...
, and for founding the charitable organizations Seva Foundation
Seva Foundation
Seva Foundation is an international health organization based in Berkeley, California, that was founded in 1978 by public health expert Dr. Larry Brilliant. Seva is best known for their work restoring eyesight to nearly 3 million blind people suffering from cataract blindness in places like Tibet,...
and Hanuman Foundation. He continues to teach via his website.
Youth and education
Alpert was born to a Jewish family in Newton, MassachusettsNewton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
. His father, George Alpert, was a lawyer in the Boston, president of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
, one of the founders of Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a graduate school of Yeshiva University. It is a not-for-profit, private, nonsectarian medical school located on the Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus in the Morris Park neighborhood of the borough of the Bronx of New York City...
, as well as a major fundraiser for Jewish causes. While Richard did have a bar mitzvah, he was "disappointed by its essential hollowness". He considered himself an atheist and did not profess any religion during his early life, describing himself as “inured to religion. I didn’t have one whiff of God until I took psychedelics.”
Alpert attended the Williston Northampton School
Williston Northampton School
The Williston Northampton School, or "Williston," is a private co-educational preparatory school for boarding and day students in seventh grade through postgraduate year located in Easthampton, Massachusetts. The campus offers a range of extra-curricular activities in the arts and athletics...
, graduating in 1948 as a part of the Cum Laude Association. He then went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
from Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, and a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
(in psychology) from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Harvard professorship and the Leary-Alpert research
After returning from a visiting professorship at the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Alpert accepted a permanent position at Harvard, where he worked with the Social Relations Department, the Psychology Department, the Graduate School of Education, and the Health Service, where he was a therapist. Perhaps most notable was the work he did with his close friend and associate Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
. Leary and Alpert were formally dismissed from the university in 1963. According to Harvard President Nathan M. Pusey, Leary was dismissed for leaving Cambridge and his classes without permission or notice, and Alpert for allegedly giving psilocybin
Psilocybin
Psilocybin is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug, with mind-altering effects similar to those of LSD and mescaline, after it is converted to psilocin. The effects can include altered thinking processes, perceptual distortions, an altered sense of time, and spiritual experiences, as well as...
(similar to LSD) to an undergraduate.
Spiritual search and name change
In 1967 Alpert traveled to India, where he traveled with the American spiritual seeker Bhagavan Das, and ultimately met the man who would become his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, whom Alpert called "Maharaj-ji". It was Maharaj-ji who gave him the name "Ram Dass", which means "servant of God", referring to the incarnation of God as Ram or Lord RamaRama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
. Alpert also corresponded with the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba
Meher Baba
Meher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....
and mentioned Baba in several of his books.
Later life
In February 1997, Ram Dass suffered a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
that left him with expressive aphasia
Expressive aphasia
Expressive aphasia , also known as Broca's aphasia in clinical neuropsychology and agrammatic aphasia in cognitive neuropsychology, is caused by damage to or developmental issues in anterior regions of the brain, including the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus known as Broca's area...
, which he interprets as an act of grace
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
. He no longer travels, but continues to teach through live webcasts and at retreats in Hawaii. When asked if he could sum up his life's message, he replied, "I help people as a way to work on myself, and I work on myself to help people ... to me, that's what the emerging game is all about." Ram Dass was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award in August 1991.
Ram Dass is a vegetarian. In the 1990s, he became more forthcoming about his bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
while avoiding labels and asserting that bisexuality "isn't gay, and it's not not-gay, and it's not anything—it's just awareness." At 78, Ram Dass learned that he had fathered a son as a 24-year-old at Stanford, and that he was now a grandfather.
Foundations
The Love Serve Remember Foundation was organized to preserve and continue the teachings of Neem Karoli BabaNeem Karoli Baba
Shri Neem Karoli Baba or Shri Neeb Karori Baba , also known to followers as Maharaj-ji, was a Hindu guru and devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman...
and Ram Dass, and to work with Ram Dass on his writings and other future plans. The Hanuman Foundation is a nonprofit educational and service organization founded by Ram Dass in 1974, focused on the spiritual well-being of society through education, media and community service programs. The Seva Foundation
Seva Foundation
Seva Foundation is an international health organization based in Berkeley, California, that was founded in 1978 by public health expert Dr. Larry Brilliant. Seva is best known for their work restoring eyesight to nearly 3 million blind people suffering from cataract blindness in places like Tibet,...
is an international health organization founded by Ram Dass in 1978 along with public health leader Larry Brilliant
Larry Brilliant
Lawrence "Larry" Brilliant is an American physician, epidemiologist, technologist, author, and the former director of Google's philanthropic arm Google.org. Brilliant, a technology patent holder, has been CEO of two public companies and other venture backed start ups. From 1973 to 1976, he...
and humanitarian activist Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy
Wavy Gravy is an American entertainer and activist for peace, best known for his hippie appearance, personality and beliefs. His moniker...
.
Books
- Identification and Child Rearing (with R. Sears and L. Rau) (1962) Stanford University PressStanford University PressThe Stanford University Press is the publishing house of Stanford University. In 1892, an independent publishing company was established at the university. The first use of the name "Stanford University Press" in a book's imprinting occurred in 1895...
- The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead (with Timothy LearyTimothy LearyTimothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
and Ralph MetznerRalph MetznerRalph Metzner Ph.D. , is an American psychologist, writer and researcher, who participated in psychedelic research at Harvard University in the early 1960s with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert . Dr...
) (1964) ISBN 0-8065-1652-6 - LSD (with Sidney Cohen) (1966) ISBN 0-453-00120-3
- Remember, Be Here Now (1971) ISBN 0-517-54305-2
- Doing Your Own Being (1973)
- The Only Dance There Is (1974) ISBN 0-385-08413-7
- Grist for the Mill (with Steven Levine) (1977) ISBN 0-89087-499-9
- Journey of Awakening: A Meditator's Guidebook (1978) ISBN 0-553-28572-6
- Miracle of Love: Stories about Neem Karoli BabaNeem Karoli BabaShri Neem Karoli Baba or Shri Neeb Karori Baba , also known to followers as Maharaj-ji, was a Hindu guru and devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman...
(1978) ISBN 0-525-47611-3 - How Can I Help? Stories and Reflections on Service (with Paul Gorman) (1985) ISBN 0-394-72947-1
- Compassion in Action: Setting Out on the Path of Service (with Mirabai Bush) (1991) ISBN 0-517-57635-X
- Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing and Dying (2000) ISBN 1-57322-871-0
- Paths to God: Living The Bhagavad GitaBhagavad GitaThe ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
(2004) ISBN 1-4000-5403-6 - Be Love Now (with Rameshwar Das) (2010) ISBN 1-8460-4291-7
Recordings
- The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the DeadThe Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the DeadThe Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead is an instruction manual intended for use during sessions involving psychedelic drugs. Started as early as 1962 in Zihuatanejo, the book was finally published in August 1964...
(with Timothy LearyTimothy LearyTimothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
& Ralph MetznerRalph MetznerRalph Metzner Ph.D. , is an American psychologist, writer and researcher, who participated in psychedelic research at Harvard University in the early 1960s with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert . Dr...
) (1966) (reissued on CD in 2003 by Folkways) - Here We All Are, a 3-LP set recorded live in Vancouver, BC in the summer of 1969.
- Love Serve Remember (1973), a six-album set of teachings, data, and spiritual songs (ZBS FoundationZBS FoundationZBS Foundation, a small non-profit audio production company, was founded by Thomas Lopez in 1970 with a grant from Robert E. Durand as a working commune based on a donated farm in Upstate New York...
) (released in MP3 format, 2008)
Films
- Ram Dass Fierce Grace, a 2001 biographical documentary about Ram Dass directed by Micky Lemle.
External links
. This site also includes information about the "Love Serve Remember Foundation".- Ram Dass Tapes Library
- The Living/Dying Project (an outgrowth of the Hanuman foundation, which was created by Ram Dass)