RAM DASS -Airielle – Jason- 2002 at the Maui Prince Hotel

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Published on 07/15/2002 by Jason Schwartz

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MAMA PRESENTS…2002- RAM DASS -Airielle – Jason -Before Ram Dass came to live on Maui, he came and led an event at the Maui Prince Hotel in November 2002. Airielle & Jason got an opportunity to speak with him during a break. So many people remember him as a cornerstone leader of the BE HERE NOW Generation.

Summary & Transcript Below…

       Featuring Ram Dass Alpert (Ram Dass)

  • [00:14 → 03:11] Introduction and Opening Music
    The video opens with emotive music and encouraging lyrics emphasizing     family love, resilience, and upliftment. After this musical prelude, the host warmly welcomes the audience and introduces the guest, Ram Dass Alpert, also known as Ram Dass. He is described as an inspirational spiritual guide who has helped many seekers on their paths for many years. The setting is a gathering at the Prince Hotel.

[03:11 → 07:14] Personal Journey and Stroke Experience
Ram Dass Alpert shares that he was formerly known by his birth name and identifies as a Jewish man who has opened his heart spiritually. He reveals that he recently experienced a stroke, which he calls “fierce grace.” He explains:

    • The stroke changed superficial aspects of his life such as speech and limb movement.

    • His inner self remained unchanged—his core spirit and essence remained solid.

    • The stroke has been an enriching experience, offering new perspectives and a different way of living.

    • He uses a wheelchair but maintains a positive and humorous attitude about it.

    • The stroke’s grace is contrasted against the small moments of grace he used to notice, such as getting a parking spot; now grace is more profound and encompassing.

Key insight:
The stroke is reframed from a tragedy to a transformative, spiritual gift, illustrating resilience and acceptance of life’s challenges.

  • [07:14 → 10:59] Books, Teaching, and Impact
    The host acknowledges Ram Dass’s prolific writing, mentioning that his first book,     “Be Here Now,” has influenced many, including monks, priests, and spiritual seekers worldwide. The book is noted for its ability to:

    • Draw people to spirituality, crossing various religious and cultural boundaries.

    • Serve as a tool for spiritual awakening and self-realization.

Ram Dass discusses his role as a teacher inspired by his guru and explains:

  • His guru gave him the mission to come to the West to teach spirituality.

  • The guru’s blessing was crucial for the creation and success of “Be Here Now.”

  • Teaching is a lifelong commitment for him.

[10:59 → 15:14] Understanding the Guru and Spiritual Role
Ram Dass elaborates on what a guru means to him:

    • A guru is not just a teacher but a living doorway to God, possessing divine qualities within.

    • The guru helps open the hearts of students and points them toward spiritual realization.

    • He recounts a story of a doctor amazed at the guru’s ability to love everyone just by being in his presence.

    • The word “guru” means teacher of darkness and light, symbolizing guidance through ignorance and knowledge.

    • His own guru helped him to see both sides of reality, light and shadow.

Key terms:

Term Definition
Guru Teacher of the dark and the light; a doorway to God and spiritual awakening.
Fierce Grace A term used by Ram Dass for his stroke, representing difficult but transformative grace.

  • [15:14 → 18:57] Background and Transition to Spirituality
    The host clarifies Ram Dass’s academic background:

    • Ram Dass was a Harvard faculty member, specializing in psychology, specifically child and motivational psychology.

    • His shift from academia to spirituality was influenced by his association with Timothy Leary, a figure known for psychedelic research.

    • Leary introduced him to psychedelic mushrooms, which profoundly altered his understanding of consciousness and led him toward spiritual exploration.

    • This experience was pivotal in starting his spiritual journey that eventually led him to India and his guru.

[18:57 → 20:36] Connections with Other Spiritual Figures and Experiences
The conversation touches on Ram Dass’s associations with other spiritual researchers such as Dr. John Lilly and his unique experience with dolphins, which he compares to being with a guru due to their conscious nature. This highlights:

    • The interconnectedness of consciousness across different beings.

    • The deepening of spiritual experience through contact with nature and other conscious beings.

[20:36 → 24:20] Universal Spiritual Themes and Interfaith Perspectives
Ram Dass reflects on:

    • The commonalities across religions and spiritual paths, such as the use of prayer beads (mala, rosary) and meditation.

    • Commitment to the path of the heart, which transcends specific religious doctrines.

    • He recounts a discussion with traveling rabbis about reincarnation in Judaism, illustrating how spiritual concepts overlap among traditions.

    • Many Western seekers look to Eastern spirituality for answers that can also be found within their own traditions.

    • The family and community as central to religious life and spirituality.

[24:20 → 27:06] Closing Remarks and Reflections
The host expresses gratitude for Ram Dass’s presence and acknowledges the spiritual richness of Maui, where the interview takes place. Ram Dass affirms:

    • He has encountered many “high beings” during his time there.

    • The conversation ends with a lighthearted exchange about whether the spiritual quest ever truly ends, to which Ram Dass replies not yet, emphasizing the ongoing nature of spiritual seeking.

    • The host warmly invites Ram Dass to return for future shows and thanks him for his inspiration.

Key Highlights and Insights

  • Ram Dass Alpert’s stroke is framed as “fierce grace”, transforming a physical setback into a spiritual gift.

  • “Be Here Now” is a seminal work that has influenced a diverse global audience, including clergy and spiritual seekers.

  • The guru is described as a divine guide who opens hearts and points the way to God, embodying both light and darkness.

  • Ram Dass’s academic background in psychology and association with figures like Timothy Leary situate his spiritual journey at the intersection of science and mysticism.

  • Spirituality is portrayed as universal and heart-centered, transcending religious boundaries and cultural differences.

  • The ongoing nature of spiritual questing is emphasized, with no definitive “end” to the search for truth.

Timeline Table of Key Events and Themes

Timestamp Event/Theme Description
00:14-03:11 Introduction & Musical Opening Host introduces Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), sets the spiritual tone.
03:11-07:14 Personal stroke experience Ram Dass discusses his stroke as “fierce grace” and its impact on his inner and outer self.
07:14-10:59 Books and teaching legacy Discussion of “Be Here Now” and Ram Dass’s role as a spiritual teacher inspired by his guru.
10:59-15:14 Meaning of the guru Explains the guru’s role as a divine teacher and heart opener.
15:14-18:57 Academic background and psychedelic influence Transition from Harvard professor to spiritual seeker catalyzed by psychedelic experience.
18:57-20:36 Connection with other spiritual figures Encounters with John Lilly, dolphins, and reflections on consciousness.
20:36-24:20 Universal spirituality and interfaith dialogue Discusses common spiritual elements and shared concepts across religions.
24:20-27:06 Closing and ongoing spiritual quest Gratitude, reflection on Maui’s spiritual presence, and the continuous nature of spiritual search.

Definitions Table

Term Definition
Fierce Grace A term used by Ram Dass to describe the stroke experience—challenging yet deeply transformative and enriching.
Guru Spiritual teacher who embodies divine qualities and acts as a gateway to God and self-realization.
Be Here Now Ram Dass Alpert’s seminal book encouraging living fully in the present moment and spiritual awakening.
Path of the Heart Spiritual approach focused on love, compassion, and inner openness, common across many religious traditions.

Keywords

  • Ram Dass Alpert, Ram Dass

  • Stroke, Fierce Grace

  • Guru, Spiritual Teacher

  • Be Here Now (book)

  • Timothy Leary

  • Psychedelic mushrooms

  • Harvard Psychology

  • Spiritual journey

  • Interfaith commonality

  • Path of the heart

  • Consciousness and dolphins

  • Spiritual quest

Conclusion

This video provides a deeply personal and spiritual narrative from Ram Dass Alpert, illustrating how transformative life events like a stroke can serve as gateways to profound spiritual insight. His story bridges academic psychology, psychedelic exploration, and Eastern spirituality, offering a heart-centered, inclusive vision of the spiritual path. The discussion highlights the universal quest for connection, love, and awakening that transcends religious boundaries, underscoring the ongoing nature of spiritual seeking. Ram Dass’s humor, humility, and grace make his message accessible and inspiring to a broad audience.

00:14

[Music] [Music] there is [Music] lift your head [Music] don’t let me down [Music] your mother your father your sister and brother there is love in this family pick yourself up and get on your [Music] [Music] don’t [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] me [Music] styling [Applause] aloha and really welcome today we have a great treat for you we have from us with us and for those of you who don’t know who Ram Dass is Ram Dass is an incredible being who has guided many along their paths for many years now

03:11

and it’s my great pleasure to introduce you to our star richard [Laughter] now we we know that you weren’t always Ram Dass no i was richard alpert richard albert and he’s a nice jewish boy maybe maybe he’s such not nice no not nice no i’m a jewish boy who has opened his heart in so many ways and has been sharing with us here at the prince hotel this weekend and he’s been wonderful so you know you’ve gone through so much and these people have no idea but from darkness he says he was stroked

04:06

recently by his guru which is a great gift for him and he is able to share with us and to help all of us to understand the processes that are involved in getting a little older and holding our beauty at the same time i think he’s a really wonderful example of that i am example yes you are an example and an inspiration yeah i have um the stroke taught me a number of things and i learned that i could change my my role in the society i can be dependent and i my my inner place never chan changed

05:22

post stroke and many things that changed were superficial changes like my speech my limbs but inside stayed absolutely solid so and i think that that the stroke is i call it fierce grace it’s it’s got graceful things to it it’s it’s it’s it’s enriching my life cons considerably and i don’t even have to all i have to do is roll around in this chair i have a chair everywhere i go it makes it easy and yeah well you know a lot of people i think would not understand um the blessing of that you see

07:14

in a stroke when you say it’s fierce grace i think that a lot of our people watching this show would go gross you know how is a stroke grace maybe you could bring that clearer for them my bag thank you well can i help you i know i think i got it you see in before the before my stroke i used to like there is i i little bits of grace like a um a parking space in the back at the bank you know i a a car will pull out a hoe i’m getting grace yes but now now how that’s grace [Laughter] i love you that’s jaden grace

08:55

you know it’s so amazing to me that you have maintained your wonderful sense of humor and your grace through this journey thank you i’m i know you’ve been through a lot from your young years indeed and with the journey forth um ron passes this is his last book next to the last [Laughter] and he’s very prolific how many books have you written and they’re all wonderful and very enlightening i know your first book be here now that was your first one touched many many beings that i know

09:54

myself included along my spiritual journey and as you were sharing with us that it’s touched many people who have even gone to be monks yeah yep would you like to share rabbis priests people in in ashrams i mean there have been people read that book and and their own predilections their their their the protection their method their method even though the book started to push them well you know many of us have i won’t say taken similar journeys to yours because they’re all unique but many of us have journeyed and

10:59

studied with teachers and gurus and you took the initiative to really share with the world yourself and your journey um what inspired you to do that how did you what brought you to that place where you were willing to make yourself as public as you have with not everything being so legal or smiled upon by all of society i was a teacher i’m still a teacher my guru said that he he wanted me to come to the west and teach and i’m doing it you sure are that’s right he’s doing it though you’re continuing to do it yeah

12:03

he’s really doing it so he was your inspiration for the sharing yes and he was your inspiration for your books as well yes well he he gave his blessing for be here now and that’s why it’s functioned in in in the way it has been it it draws people to spirituality well i understand guru i also have a guru and but i think a lot of people may not understand what a guru is um to to you or to me um could you expound on that a little bit what what is a guru to you and what has your maharishi mean to you well a teacher

13:02

points the way and a guru is the way and a guru has god inside him just the way you and i have it but the guru a doorway to god he’s a doorway to us finding god there was a there was a doctor that came before maharaji my girl and he said i i’m not astounded by maharaji loving people he’s a he’s a he’s a a saint but he said what i was astounded was that i when i was just sitting in front of him i loved everybody and that’s the the nature of a to guru our hearts yeah to open our

14:18

hearts yes and i think um if i recall correctly um the meaning of guru is um the teacher of the dark and the light is it not probably i don’t know i think i remember reading that someplace and i i thought that that was such a great description because they my guru has definitely gotten me to look at both sides of the picture so yeah they get you to look at both sides that’s true well you know you came from i know a very good family a very respected family righteous and um what inspired you to

15:14

a harvard man to i wasn’t in howard oh you weren’t harping men i thought you were oh you didn’t do that i was a tough man i was a harvard faculty man oh a harvard okay you as a harvard faculty man that’s even better oh no that’s not better you’re a student when you’re smart but it takes politics to become a faculty member [Laughter] and i’m a politician well how did you go from from there to there what that that’s quite a jump it’s a leap actually from where from

16:05

being a harvard professor to being in robes with a guru traveling well i i i in along the way i met another girl his name was tim leary and he was he was he was the next door down the hall from me and he had taken these mushrooms in mexico and i wanted them [Laughter] he said he said they gave him more knowledge about his his personality that all his all his graduate training has done wow and that may be pretty ah you know and uh they were they started my the mushrooms started my spiritual path

17:28

they saw they showed me that inside me was was peace and quietness and and and connection with the world connection through through the world with that in just one occasion just one location and then that that led me to to india my guru oh look at that there we are hello world i did that so i could come in and join you for a minute oh i see i see that i’m you know when you were a professor you were professor of what um psychology oh like uh um was the social relations department it uh it was my was a child psychology

18:57

and motivational psychology well i was in college in 1969 and 70 and my first project was to study lsd and i had this big book and that’s when i first recall hearing about you and tim leary were you also with uh dr john lilly at the time was that after well at the time john john was out here we um after okay you know um he and i when he he and i went played with the dolphins have you been with the dolphins here this trip yet no well i uh i hope you get a chance to get in the water they’re

19:50

all around us here i know it i know i know and they they’re they’re they are such conscious beings every time i get in the water with them i get so excited yeah i it’s like being with a guru that’s right that’s right well you know i’m i’m here uh just sort of squashed in i’m a brooklyn new york guy myself and um you know there are a lot of people that are in our audience they come from all over the world but it’s amazing to me that uh however we define religion and spirituality there’s a

20:36

commonality that comes through all of it i imagine you can put it in a few words you know um people define their god and their guru in so many ways but i always wondered what are we searching for are we searching as just a discovery wherever we are searching for the beloved searching for the for the one searching for um intimate connection to to all of it searching for um for searching for our awareness purpose no that’s not so much um because there are purpose around here but but uh um yeah each each

21:48

each each religion has has different practices and they are like the practice of beads the mala beads and the rosary and uh meditation you can find those in in religions what i see is i am committed to the the path of the heart and the path of the heart is in almost in almost every religion i think that’s what i mean i i had an interview recently with two traveling rabbis from brooklyn new york yes and it was i thought a very wonderful experience to share and hear them talking about reincarnation and judaism which is

23:14

something yes there is there is and you find that that a lot of religions when you boil it all down have such a commonality i was actually thrilled and they talked about how people from the west go to the east looking for something that they might find in the west religions it was an interesting experience to sit well have you found that there’s a common commonality i mean i was in the holy land and i studied with rabbis there but i the family was the the religion with the family of these houses wow

24:20

yeah i know i’m going to jump out and go back to my role on the camera but i wanted to stop in first of all because i wanted to thank you for joining us thank you and um you know i always really have enjoyed the fact that here in maui we have a great place to live you know where we’re sort of given a gift of a beautiful environment and when we see someone like you come here uh we here already experience a lot of the bliss that you are uh walking around and uh there are a lot of very high beings here i’m sure

24:57

you’ve met them i have met them and i have met someone here this young lady two here thank you we know that i’m gonna wrap up so you guys can wrap up that uh you are wonderful to grace our time here and we hope to share with you in the future in many ways in many levels i’m going to come here as often as i can will you do another show with us when you have more time [Music] [Laughter] now well we’re going to try to get him to change his and you know i just have a little question for you

25:41

that came up when jason was talking do you think that we ever find that the end of that quest the end of that search yes do you feel like you have found it no thank you you’re welcome [Laughter] so don’t know where yet yeah we want to thank ramdas i want to thank him i’m so greatly honored to be here beside him touching him holding his hand i’ve read his books i’ve been with him numerous times all around the country and i’m so honored to be with you and i’m i’m so honored

26:27

to call myself your friend and your ally and to stand behind you and just say no oh yes thank you god he’s doing it wonderful well with that maybe i’ll have a show [Laughter] well that means you get to come back and join us again and you’re going to come back to maui soon we’re going to make sure that we’re just going to put all our little maui feelers out there and pull him in so goodbye tomorrow thank you for joining us thank you we will see you very soon we hope that you enjoyed this and that it has

27:06

touched your heart and your mind and your spiritual being in many ways have a great day aloha aloha um [Music] [Music] don’t let me down [Music] [Music] don’t let me down [Music] your mother your father your sister and brother there is love in this family pick yourself up [Music] don’t let me down [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] me [Music] styling you

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