Ram Dass

Ram Dass

Author of "Be Here Now."

An American spiritual teacher and author known for his book "Be Here Now," which became a seminal text in the exploration of Eastern spirituality in the West. His teachings integrate elements of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Western psychology, emphasizing the importance of living in the present moment and the transformative power of love and compassion. Ram Dass’s work has influenced many in their journey towards personal and spiritual growth.

Ram Dass Quotes about Awareness

  • Meditation means to be constantly extricating yourself from the clinging of mind. By letting go of even the thought 'I,' and 'me' what is left? There is nowhere to stand and no one to stand there. No separation anywhere. Pure awareness. Neither this, nor that. Just clarity and being.
  • A being whose awareness is totally free, who does not cling to anything, is liberated.
  • When your mind is quiet, you enter into the flow of love, and you just flow from one moment to the next as naturally as breathing. Whatever arises, I embrace it with love in the moment. This is my practice of polishing the mirror to reflect love. In this moment there is just awareness and love. If someone asks me how to get into their heart, I give them this practice: I Am Loving Awareness.
  • The offering up or cleaning up ego stuff is called purification. Purification is the act of letting go. This is done out of discriminative awareness. That is, you understand that you are an entity passing through a life in which the entire drama is an offering for your awakening.
  • The Ego ages... the Soul evolves... and to the Awareness, nothing happened!
  • All that you seek is already within you. In Hinduism it is called the Atman, in Buddhism the pure Buddha-Mind. Christ said, 'the kingdom of heaven is within you.' Quakers call it the ‘still small voice within.’ This is the space of full awareness that is in harmony with all the universe, and thus is wisdom itself.
  • Coming into the place of Soul-awareness is coming home.
  • One cultivates spaciousness or awareness which allows you to acknowledge the emotions and see them as part of the human condition. Emotions are like subtle thought forms and they all arise in response to something outside yourself. They are all reactions. You cultivate a quietness in yourself that watches these emotions rising and falling and passing away.
  • When we're identified with Awareness, we're no longer living in a world of polarities. Everything is present at the same time.
  • Faith, consciousness, and awareness all exist beyond the thinking mind.
  • The God within is your Spiritual Heart. Your Soul. And in that individual Soul, rests God- rests the One. Go into your soul and your heart-space which can be Awareness, Love, Compassion, etc… and just BE your heart-space. BE your Soul so that you can LOVE unconditionally.
  • When you concentrate on the middle of your chest - this is where loving awareness lives. This is the spiritual heart. Not the beating heart, not the emotional heart.
  • Thoughts are going by like a river; awareness simply is.
  • Resting in Awareness, we transform all the 'stuff' of our lives.