Ram Dass Quotes

But the arrival of the paramedics and my not being able to talk or move the right side of my body was a potent sales pitch for reality.

Compassion simply stated is leaving other people alone.

Don’t think about the future. Just be here now.

Did I ever tell you about the time that Tim and I . . .” And he’d say, “Don’t think about the past. Just be here now.” Silence. And I’d say, “How long do you think we’re going to be on this trip?” And he’d say, “Don’t think about the future. Just be here now.” I’d say, “You know, I really feel crumby, my hips are hurting . . .

I don't know,' I replied. 'But looking at you, it's like I see inside a burning house. The house is being destroyed, just as your body is being consumed. But you and I are still here. The body will go, and you'll still be there. It seems to me, the way you and I are connected isn't really defined by this disintegrating body. You sound just like you've always sounded. I feel like I've always felt. Your body is decaying before us, but the way you and I love each other, I just believe that love transcends death.

What you feel is most important may not be seen as most important to someone else. This is a very complex society we are a part of. Stay in the world, do your part, raise your children, earn your living, and assume your responsibility at every level.

It’s all right now But later?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . forget it baby That’s later Now is Now Are you going to be here Or not? It’s as simple as that!

Now isn’t preparation for later. Here and now is it. There is a spaciousness, an acceptance of what is in the moment, that says, “Yes, ah so!” to everything, whether it’s ugly, beautiful, boring, confused, dead, angry, the dark night of the soul, or the brilliant light of the spirit. This is just the way it is. And in just the way it is, is the spirit.

I began to live in love as a state of being. It was as if love was no longer a verb with an object. In that state, I simply became a loving being, an emitter of love. It's a two-way street: as you become a loving being, the Universe is loving you. You are at home in the universe. hOMe, hOMe on the range.

At night he didn’t seem to sleep like I did. That is, any time I’d wake up at night, I’d look over and he would be sitting in the lotus position. And sometimes I’d make believe I was asleep and then open sort of a half-eye to see if he wasn’t cheating — maybe he was sleeping Now — but he was always in the lotus posture.

Though Peter claimed not to be spiritual, he had found a peaceful place, as I had decades ago, in Quaker meeting

"How do I know if a person is my guru?" a devotee asked Maharajji. "Do you feel he can free you from all desires, attachments, and so forth? DO you feel he can lead you to final liberation?"

The caterpillar does not become a flying caterpillar; it morphs into a butterfly.

I was just getting more and more knowledgeable. And I was getting very good at bouncing three knowledge balls at once. I could sit in a doctoral exam, ask very sophisticated questions and look terribly wise. It was a hustle.

"For example, if you never got on well with one of your parents and you have left that parent behind on your journey in such a way that the thought of that parent arouses anger or frustration or self-pity or any emotion... you are still attached. You are still stuck. And you must get that relationship straight before you can finish your work. And what, specifically, does "getting it straight" mean? Well, it means re-perceiving that parent, or whoever it may be, with total compassion... seeing him as a being of the spirit, just like you, who happens to be your parent... and who happens to have this or that characteristic, and who happens to be at a certain stage of his evolutionary journey. You must see that all beings are just beings... and that all the wrappings of personality and role and body are the coverings. Your attachments are only to the coverings, and as long as you are attached to someone else's covering you are stuck, and you keep them stuck, in that attachment. Only when you can see the essence, can see God, in each human being do you free yourself and those about you. It's hard work when you have spent years building a fixed model of who someone else is to abandon it, but until that model is superceded by a compassionate model, you are still stuck."