Lovingly Aware: Ram Dass, the Ashtavakra Gita, and the Art of Going Home, blessed by Neem Karoli Baba
- in eternal aum consciousness
- May 7
- 24 min read
Summary
After an evening of mindless social media doom-scrolling, a chance encounter with the Netflix documentary Ram Dass, Going Home unfolds into a meditation on what it means to truly come home to oneself. Filmed in Maui in the final years of Ram Dass's life — decades after the stroke that stripped away his ego and left his body bent — the film distills a lifetime of teaching into two simple words: lovingly aware. This blog walks through the documentary scene by scene, pairing Ram Dass's own words with reflections that draw out the parallels with the Ashtavakra Gita, Anapanasati meditation, the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, and the lived practice of Kriya Yoga. Along the way, it explores how setbacks become grace, why drugs offer only a glimpse where sadhana offers a home, how dependency can be a teacher in a culture that worships independence, and why death is not an enemy but, in Ram Dass's unforgettable phrase, simply taking off a tight shoe. The deeper insight is unmistakable: awareness of the breath at Anahata, expanded into the realisation that everything seen and unseen is the Self, transforms naturally into universal love. There is nothing more to do, nowhere else to go. Loving awareness is the destination, the path, and the traveller — all at once.
Background
After the meditation at Igatpuri, and taking darshan at Agastya Rishi Ashram, I came back on Sunday evening. There was still time to go to sleep.
By habit, I opened Facebook. Then YouTube shorts. And started scrolling. It is actually called the “doom scroll,” as you do nothing but scroll endlessly for hours.
With a tiny awareness, I could see that the senseless social media scrolling was taking over my mind, so I decided to switch to Netflix. The idea was to watch some meaningful content.
After checking movies on action, sci-fi and the like, I typed the word “spiritual” and got this film as one of the options:
“Ram Dass, Going Home”
Ram Dass was a key disciple of Neem Karoli Baba.
I looked at the duration of the film. It was around 30 minutes. I decided to start — and not stop.
No wonder the movie touched me deep within. Very few films have. It comes straight from Ram Dass’s heart — at a time when he sees the certainty of death, the decades of disability, and the distillation of all the teachings into two simple words: lovingly aware!
I felt as if I were listening to the Ashtavakra Gita through a modern saint. It is no coincidence that his body too is bent, due to the stroke he had.
His key message of loving awareness aligns perfectly with service to all and liberation of the self — the two purposes of life that are the foundation of this website.
Hence this blog, which just got written. There was actually no plan to write. Many times I feel there is nothing more to write. Then the next one gets written.
I instantly recalled my yoga guru, Aadil, being unwell due to cancer — the youngest yoga teacher trained by B.K.S. Iyengar, now undergoing treatment, with one side non-functional. He is cared for by his loving daughter Zenia, who has come from the USA to look after him with love and dedication. Aadil, an enlightened soul himself, must be feeling what Ram Dass felt.
Part 1: About Ram Dass
Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) was a pivotal spiritual teacher who bridged Eastern spirituality and Western psychology. His landmarks include 1960s psychedelic research with Timothy Leary, his transformative 1967 India trip, the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now, the founding of the Hanuman Foundation, and his lifelong message of “loving, serving, and remembering.”
Key Highlights of Ram Dass’s Life
Harvard and psychedelics (1950s–1963): Known as Richard Alpert, he was a Harvard psychologist who, alongside Timothy Leary, researched psilocybin and LSD, becoming a major counterculture figure.
Transformation in India (1967): Following his firing from Harvard, he travelled to India, met his guru Neem Karoli Baba (“Maharaj-ji”), and was renamed Ram Dass (“Servant of God”).
Be Here Now (1971): Published his seminal book, which became a “counterculture bible” and helped introduce yoga and mindfulness to the West.
Hanuman Foundation and service (1974): Established this foundation to focus on spiritual service, including the Prison-Ashram Project (supporting inmates) and the Dying Project (conscious dying).
Life after stroke (1997–2019): Despite a massive stroke that left him with partial paralysis, he continued to teach, focusing on embracing aging and physical limitations as spiritual practice — detailed in his book Polishing the Mirror.
Key Themes of Ram Dass’s Life
Spiritual journey and evolution: Shifting from academic to seeker.
Seva (selfless service): A life dedicated to helping others, particularly in prison and in dying.
Modern yoga and mysticism: Translating Eastern philosophies for Western audiences.
Conscious loving awareness: Teaching the importance of being present and loving everyone.
Ram Dass’s legacy lives on through his books, the Love Serve Remember Foundation, and his role in normalising meditation and mindfulness in modern culture.
Experiences of Ram Dass with Neem Karoli Baba
Ram Dass (formerly Dr. Richard Alpert) met Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharaj-ji, in 1967 in India — a meeting that famously transformed the Harvard psychologist into a spiritual seeker.
Their relationship was characterised by Maharaj-ji’s uncanny clairvoyance, unconditional love, and disinterest in conventional spiritual teachings, focusing instead on “loving everyone and serving everyone.” Here are some of the most striking incidents:
The “Spleen” incident: Upon their first meeting, without any prior interaction or information, Maharaj-ji told Ram Dass that he had gone out under the stars the previous night, thinking about his mother. Maharaj-ji then leaned in and said in English, “Spleen,” identifying the organ from which Ram Dass’s mother had died — a fact unknown to most — shattering Ram Dass’s intellectual scepticism and revealing a profound clairvoyant understanding.
The LSD test: When Ram Dass brought him a large dose of LSD, hoping to learn whether his guru was enlightened, Maharaj-ji took it without any change in his demeanour, as if it were water. Later, Maharaj-ji asked why Ram Dass wanted to take something that made him feel small, and suggested the “real” medicine was meditation and love.
Omniscient knowing: Maharaj-ji frequently addressed his devotees’ inner struggles and private conversations before they spoke, often scolding people about recent lapses in judgement or answering questions that had not yet been asked.
The train incident: Early in his life as a sadhu, Maharaj-ji was forced off a train by a conductor for not having a ticket. The train subsequently refused to move. After he was allowed back on, the train started immediately — leading to a legend about his spiritual power.
The “fresh milk” miracle: While sitting in an empty boat during a festival, Ram Dass’s friend Sukla filled a lota (water vessel) with water from the Ganga at Maharaj-ji’s direction. Upon leaving, the water had turned into fresh milk, and Maharaj-ji told him, “This Ganga is not water, it is milk.”
Ram Dass often said that with Maharaj-ji, there was no secret in your heart — which was both terrifying and incredibly freeing.
Part 2: About the Movie
Movie Trailer
The trailer is here:
Full Movie
You will need a Netflix subscription to watch the full film.
See it.
Movie Summary
Here is a quick summary of the key points of the film. It is profound to see it first — so that you appreciate the summary.
This documentary provides a poetic and intimate look at the final chapter of spiritual teacher Ram Dass’s life as he resides in Maui and reflects on love, life and death.
Movie Overview and Context
Directed by Derek Peck, the 31-minute film is a peaceful meditation on mortality. Decades after suffering a massive near-fatal stroke in 1997, the author of the counterculture classic Be Here Now is shown living at his Maui home, cared for by a small circle of devoted followers.
Embracing the present moment: The film avoids a traditional chronological biography. Instead, it captures Ram Dass’s daily routines — such as using a modified wheelchair and being lowered into the ocean using a specialised beach stroller.
Reflection on the stroke: Ram Dass explains that while the stroke drastically limited his physical abilities, it brought him immense spiritual grace by stripping away his ego.
Death as a homecoming: Rather than treating death as something to fear, Ram Dass discusses it as an evolutionary transition. He memorably compares dying to “taking off a tight shoe.”
Connection with nature: Filmed with rich, cinematic visuals of Maui, the documentary portrays his deep connection to the natural world. He spends much of his time outdoors near a statue of the Hindu deity Hanuman.
Universal message of love: The core of the documentary is Ram Dass’s message of divine love and oneness. He reminds viewers that pain connects all human beings, and that true healing comes from opening one’s heart.
Theme Song
It is the nursery rhyme: “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream!” This is the theme song. It captures the essence of the movie and appears many times — sometimes in the background, sometimes only a few lines, complete in the end.
Part 3: Learning from the Movie
Here is the script of the movie with my reflections — to give the proper effect. Read each line slowly, assimilating. My commentary is set in italics, sometimes to set the context and at other times to capture the insights as they came while watching the movie and reading the script.
The Infinite Soul
“We are soul. As souls, we are not under time or space. We are. We are infinite.”
This is the ultimate realisation — that we are infinite beings, not bound by distance and time.
Connecting to the Soul via Breath
“Try following your breath. And every time any thought arises, notice it and then go back to the breath. Each time your awareness is drawn away from the breath — to a thought or a sensation, to a memory or a plan, to a sensation in your leg or a sound in the room — notice that it has gone away from the breath, and bring it back to the breath. Now, you don’t have to keep your eyes closed to do this. Try opening your eyes, but keep the breath the focus. Let it all be there. Don’t be busy not seeing or not thinking…”
Ram Dass is explaining the method of Anapanasati meditation — the very practice that gave the Buddha liberation. Apparently easy, but not so in actuality, because awareness does not mean control. It means witnessing. This is also one of the 112 methods given in the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra for self-realisation.
To be aware that the mind is drifting away itself needs a lot of awareness, which needs a still mind — which means the breath is still, which means the body too is still. A perfect state of the first four stages of yoga.
He also explains that being aware can be done with eyes open. There is no need to do meditation as a separate sitting practice.
Some people block the thoughts. It is like active suppression. The mind is still active. It is not observing. It is doing the action of suppression. The true state is when thoughts do not arise. When they do, you are aware. You let the thought come. You let the mind be still. You let the mind think about the past and the future with awareness. And when you wish, the mind comes back to being a witness of the breath. That is all.
I Am at Rest
“My guru hangs out at this place. It seems to be the holy ground… holy ground. I feel this place like that. It’s one step from India.”
“Maui is a refuge. It’s away from the hustle and bustle. All my life, I’ve been going city to city to city on speaking tours. It’s a good place to stop. No more planes. I’m going nowhere. Going nowhere.”
Ram Dass feels the presence of his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, in the gardens here. In nature, he feels it is very close to India. This is a quiet place in Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is a place where one takes refuge from the busy life — the life of a teacher flying around the world, teaching, speaking, writing, meeting people. This is a good stop, where there is peace. He knows he is not going anywhere from here. He is going to be here.
Many great people travelled a lot in their early days, only to settle down at one place later. Their seeking was over. It was only to help everyone that they travelled a bit. People came to see them. They did not travel much. Ram Dass reached that stage.
I Am a Witness
“Up here in my study, it’s a bird’s view. It’s a bird’s view. They fly. They do pirouettes. They do all kinds of things. And I see. I hear.”
From his window on the first floor, he can see the birds. They fly. They sit on the branches. They move about as if they are dancing. They spin around fast like a ballet dancer’s pirouette on one foot. He is now a witness of the birds’ movements. He can see. He can hear. But he is not an influence on the birds.
Nature is Limitless, Boundless
“I love the ocean. I think of where the ocean goes. Everywhere. Everywhere. The wind here is the trade winds. And they keep it cool. And their sound is in the trees.”
It is the vastness of the ocean that has no start and no end, extending to the horizon — just as our consciousness has no boundaries. The wind comes, the cool wind. The cold water. The sound of the waves and the trees nearby. This is nature at play. Everything happens without your intention or action — happening on its own. You are the witness. That is all. Being in nature gets you closer to becoming a witness — hence all the great seers used to be in the hills, the forests, by the river, by the sea…
Nature is My Friend
“Nature is my friend. And that just gives me the ambience. In Maui…”
Nature gives character, and the atmosphere breathes life into a place. This place is Maui — where he stays.
My Sadhana is Now More About Being Than Doing
“I’m just doing a stage of my sadhana, my spiritual work. More and more love, more and more love, more and more love. Truth, love, consciousness. That’s what God is to me. It’s just consciousness.”
Sadhana is the effort. The blessings of the guru are always there. You need a little effort to get results. Without effort there is nothing. Studying, reflecting, practising, chanting, meditating — whatever the path, consistent effort is the key.
Sadhana, or spiritual practice, has many stages. The last one is doing nothing, seeking nothing. Consciousness is only love and awareness. That is all. It just keeps growing.
My Experience with Power and Drugs
“My life has been a dance between power and love. The first part, until Harvard — power, power, power, power. Up until drugs… I thought power was end-all and be-all because I was a little individual. Then drugs, and on…”
Ram Dass experimented with drugs at Harvard. He thought he wielded immense power. He thought spiritual experiences were hallucinations.
Drugs Are Not the Best Means to Reach the Inner Self
“…love, love, love, love. My first mushroom trip — it was so profound that I saw that radiance was inside. And I said, ‘I’m home. I’m home. I’m home.’ My life was from roles to soul.”
Magic mushrooms, hallucinating honey, bhang and the like are substances that can take one close to the ultimate realisation. You feel you are home. The experience is short-lived, but it can give a glimpse when done under supervision. This glimpse, in the right context, can be the inspiration to make the state permanent — not by taking drugs, but with spiritual practice. Drugs are easy. Sadhana is not. Hence so many addicts in this world. It takes great mental balance to use drugs in the right way. As most do not have the balance or the guidance, it is best to stay away from them.
Drugs interact with your body, impact the energy and then the mind, which feels the ecstasy. After all, experiences are in the mind.
The guru directly transforms your energy and mind with his grace. This is experienced in Kriya Yoga deeksha, when many disciples see the light of the soul as the acharya touches their third eye.
With the right guru in life, there is no need to do drugs. It does not make sense at all.
He realises that his life has moved from playing roles to the soul going home. This is exactly the model of this website — the role-based model of awareness: doing what is right with full involvement, not getting attached to results, and being aware at all times.
Giving Up the Expectation of Having
“The great way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. I know nothing about the future.”
Anticipating the future, avoiding what you do not like, and getting attracted to what you like are the natural preferences. When there is no attraction or aversion, there is nothing to anticipate. The desire to know about the future therefore does not exist. The mind has accepted the past. There is no desire about the future. Such a mind is clearly in the present.
The Urge to Help is Natural
“Before the stroke, I had written a book that was called How Can I Help? And it was about helping. I was gonna help, you know?”
Ram Dass actually authored the book with this title. Once love expands, the universal concern prompts one to think about helping everyone. It is a natural outcome.
Ram Dass is no different from the samosa wala we met in Vrindavan, who wanted to feed a poor family.
Some give samosas. Some write books. The medium is different. The scale is different. But the underlying love is the same.
Read about the samosa wala here:
How Things Change!
“After the stroke, I would have titled the book How Can You Help Me?”
Said in his remarkably funny style, with a twinkle in his eye, he jokes around with a modified title.
The Culture of Being Independent
“In this culture, dependency is a no-no. The stroke showed me dependency. And I have people that are dependable.”
In Western culture, right from being a baby, you are alone in the room with a baby monitor. The whole idea is to be independent. However, being dependent on someone you love, someone who cares for you, is accepted more easily in the East than in the West. Ram Dass has a team of people around him on whom he can depend. You can see them taking care of him with utmost care and love. The stroke was a turning point. Almost everyone has a turning point at some stage in life. Some are impacted by disability, some by the loss of a dear one, some by being insulted, some by failure. The triggers may differ — but the waking up is the same. It is a wake-up call.
Acceptance of Limitations
“My stroke makes it hard to play the cello. It’s difficult to play golf. Those are out there and I’m in here.”
There are limitations when one is disabled. The word “disabled” simply means the inability to do something. It is not because of physical disability alone. It could be due to social, financial, emotional or professional factors too.
Ram Dass is observing things he cannot do that others can. He is not complaining. He is simply a witness.
This is a profound message. There are some things one cannot do that others can. This acceptance is the key. It keeps you away from the emotional roller-coaster of desires, anger arising out of futile effort, jealousy against others, sadness of failure — so many stages.
Why are Setbacks, Triggers?
“The stroke pushed me inside even more, and it’s so wonderful.”
With every setback, one questions: Why? Why me? What next? What did I learn? Did I grow? So many questions. You ask the right questions, you get the right answers. These times demand that you spend time alone with yourself. The more you do, the more inward you go. The more connected you are within. As the connection increases, peace and calm also increase.
From Setback to Self
“I don’t wish you the stroke, but I wish you the grace from the stroke. My guru told me that the stroke would be grace.”
The stroke caused Ram Dass to connect deeper. He wishes that you connect within too. The trigger could be different, but the path is the same — inward. This is what is meant by the grace of a guru, who shows the path from the darkness of ignorance to the light of bliss.
Experiencing Unconditional Love
“When I met Maharaj-ji, it was unconditional love. It was wonderful to be loved that way. And I said, ‘I’m home. I’m home.’ A guru is the doorway to God, to consciousness, to the One, Ram.”
Ram Dass was a high-profile Harvard professor (though dismissed), who came to Neem Karoli Baba. He felt the sea of love of Baba and instantly felt he had come home.
Drugs Can Just Give You a Glimpse
“With psychedelics, Maharaj-ji said you could go into the room in which Christ and Buddha exist. But you only stay… a few minutes. A few minutes.”
The effects of drugs stay only for a limited time. Being a substance that is limited by the body — how much and how frequently drugs can be taken — it is obvious that the effect stays only for a few minutes. You do not have to do drugs to find this out. There are other ways to get into the room — and to stay longer.
Time Stops with the Enlightened
“Every time I would sit with Maharaj-ji, time would stop. It was like a moment expanded. He lived in eternity.”
In the presence of an enlightened being — in a temple, while doing Kriya Yoga — one does lose track of time. The mind is completely in the present moment. Ram Dass has explained this beautifully.
The Judging Games of the Mind
“Most of what we encounter are thoughts. I project not only the names but values. So that’s around — judging everything.”
As the mind generates thoughts, it also attaches various weightings to them — good and bad, later and now, me and them, and so on. Doing this is needed when you think and make plans. But in a state where you are thoughtless, this becomes a hindrance.
Seeing Clearly
“Without those projections, I can see everything.”
Once the mind is not biased with the weightings, I see things, events, people — everything — clearly as they are. This is like removing coloured goggles and looking.
The Theme Song of Life
“Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream. Row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.”
This nursery rhyme, which we all learnt in pre-school, captures the essence of life.
Life in this body is like the boat. You are merrily rowing the boat. Without much effort, the boat is going slowly down the stream. The stream here is time, and going down is like ageing — until you realise that this is just a dream. The soul never was in the boat. There was no boat, no water, no river, no rowing. Nothing.
Something eternal and timeless cannot be bound by objects, time or body.
This is understood in the context of a dream. When you wake up, all the objects in the dream disappear. The dream felt real. Similarly, when the Self is realised to be everywhere and eternal, what is not permanent appears like a dream.
Many Dreams, Many Incarnations
“The incarnation is a dream. This incarnation suggests there are other incarnations.”
Following this logic, there must have been previous incarnations. It is logical. This is obviously not the first one. Many attribute it to karma. What was the karma at the time of the first one? There is no answer. So the soul decides to take a human form to get experiences — of its own free will. This sounds radical and opposite to karma theory, but keep in mind that the level of truth you know is as per your understanding, and what you are willing to accept.
Theme Song Again
“Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily… Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily…”
The Infinite Consciousness
“People don’t seem to know that they are a soul — that their consciousness goes way farther than the incarnation. We pinch ourselves to know we’re alive…”
When you pinch yourself, you come back to reality from a daydream. The incarnation is like a daydream. People are not aware that they are a soul, coming here to experience events in this lifetime. They feel that they are limited by the body, the energy and the mind — the physical limits of the body, the effort limited by the energy, and the imagination limited by the mind. They are unable to go beyond this triad as they are simply not aware. It is all about awareness. That is all.
The Seat of the Soul
“In this life, the soul is in the heart level.”
The Anahata chakra is the seat of the soul. Whereas the Ajna chakra is the seat of the mind in the waking state, Vishuddhi is the place where the mind resides in dreaming, and Anahata in deep sleep. As Shankaracharya says, “Nidra samadhi sthiti.” Samadhi is like deep sleep. This brings the mind to Anahata, meeting the soul. This is the awareness — that I am the soul. I am home now.
Mantra is the State
“That’s the entry point. And then you mantra: I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness.”
As the mind merges with the soul, with sadhana — and then later, just being present to the truth that I am loving awareness — this is the only state that remains. Loving awareness. Loving awareness. Loving awareness. That is all.
The Other Side
“Identify with loving awareness, and then go through the veil — that consciousness veil. Going through that veil is part of spiritual practice and the main part of dying.”
Once loving awareness is established, one goes beyond the body, energy and mind. This means death is just another experience for the soul. This time, however, it has chosen a different one.
It is said that the soul wants to experience 500 events. So it keeps incarnating again and again. In the Rudram, there are 300-plus spiritual and material desires. These are all positive ones. There could be perceived negative ones also. So the number 500 does not look unusual.
Once the life experiences are over — or there is nothing more to experience, or there is no one to experience — the body is dropped. This is explained in this blog:
Theme Song Again
“Merrily, merrily, merrily… Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily… Life is but a dream.”
The nursery rhyme conveys the subtle message: do not take life seriously at all. It is just a dream.
Embracing Change
“Make friends with change. And stay breathing. There’s change in the body, strength, memory. Death is change. Just another one. Just another one.”
What changes is not eternal. So accept that you have taken birth, you have incarnated, to experience the change. Things are constantly changing at the body, energy and mind level. One of these changes is dropping the body, or dying. There is no big deal about it. It is like what is given in the Bhagavad Gita — change of clothes. Remove one. Wear the other.
Accepting Death
“If you’re identified with your soul, death is a snap. The soul goes — birth, death, birth, death. Death is another step towards home. Okay.”
The soul returns home after dropping the body. Most people drop the body due to age, disease or accidents — they have no control. Some hold on to the body with yoga, extending their life to hundreds of years. Some leave it at will, like Swami Vivekananda, when their mission to help is complete. Whichever way, the soul returns home. It is free from the limitations of the body. It has completed the experiences it came for. Whatever is incomplete will be taken up in the next incarnation. No big deal.
Knowing the Other Side?
“And how is this side, Ram Dass?” — “It’s… it’s okay.” — “It’s okay.” — “Oh, wait a minute. You’re gonna retract that statement?” — “Yeah. It was okay. I give up.”
“I realise it’s presumptuous to talk about death, as if I know.”
Enlightened people are happy. They do not need a reason to be happy. There is nothing to do or to have to be happy. They are just happy as a state of being.
Ram Dass displays the lighter side many times, including this one — where he admits that he knows nothing about death, because if he knew, he would not be here, telling about it, for sure!
The Knowledge Mumbo Jumbo
“But I have a lot of chutzpah. That’s Sanskrit for, uh…”
He is deliberately confusing people to bring up the insight that knowing complex Sanskrit terms does not mean you are aware. It is said in a subtle, light manner. Those who get it, get it. The others keep chasing knowledge.
This blog explains why knowledge is a barrier to liberation:
No Fear of Death
“And something has happened to me as a result of my meanderings through the realms of consciousness over the past 30 years that has changed my attitudes towards death. A lot of the fear that death generated — that led to denial — has gone from me.”
When I fear something, I do not want it to happen. I am in denial that it can ever happen. This is true for everything I do not want — including death. The attraction to life and aversion to death in young age, and the exact opposite (I have seen old people who are waiting to die) — both are done with awareness.
The Presence of Death
“Death does not have to be treated as an enemy for you to delight in life. Keeping death present in your consciousness — as one of the greatest mysteries, and as the moment of incredible transformation — imbues this moment with added richness and energy that otherwise is used up in denial.”
When we breathe, we exhale, not knowing if the next inhale will happen. The one who is aware of the breath is aware of this fact, and is always present that a possible death is happening every time, with every breath. So it is nothing unusual. Death is a part of life — not a separate state. What is there to deny when it is present at every moment in my own day-to-day life? This is the function of awareness.
Taking Off the Tight Shoe
“Death is not an error. It is not a failure. It is taking off a tight shoe.”
Taking off a tight shoe is the most profound example given to show how limiting the soul feels when bound to the body. Imagine a bird in a cage, a foot in a shoe, a fish in a net. They are not in their element. Their nature is freedom. And here they are — bound, captive. The irony is that the soul only imagines it is bound, like the picture of a cage kept beside a bird. The soul is always free, just like the bird. It only has to fly away and go home.
In the Final Moments
“I’m one of the strange people that absolutely delights and enjoys being with people as they’re dying, because I know I’m going to have an opportunity to be in the presence of truth. So when I sit with somebody, the first thing I have to do is open myself to all my reactions to their predicament. All of it, all of the pain of it. Grieve for the other person’s loss. And when they feel heard in the grief, then we can start to meet behind the grief.”
“And I’m faced with the paradox that I, as a human, with a human emotional heart, want to take away your suffering. And at the same moment, there’s another part of me that understands that suffering is grace — that suffering is the sandpaper, from the spiritual point of view, that is awakening people.”
Suffering leads to introspection, which leads to insights, which leads to consistent seeking, which leads to the discovery of truth — self-realisation. The path usually starts with suffering of some type — physical, emotional, financial, etc. For most people, this is the path. So on one side, I want to help people and remove suffering, and on the other side, I want them to get on the path that starts from suffering. Is it possible to do both?
The Beginning
“And once you’ve started to spiritually awaken, you re-perceive your own suffering and start to work with it as a vehicle for awakening.”
Suffering is either in the body, energy or mind. There is no suffering anywhere else. Taking suffering as a trigger to inner awakening is the perspective one develops with time.
The Love of God
“As my guru says, ‘God comes to the hungry in the form of food.’”
This implies that every desire is taken care of. Every prayer is answered. As the need is different, the solution is also different.
Ram Dass, the Servant
“My name is a name for Hanuman. Hanuman is a loving servant.”
Ram Dass literally means “a servant of Ram.” This was the name given to him by Baba. The greatest devotee and servant of Ram is Hanuman. Hence the similarity.
Feeling the Presence
“The Hanuman garden is where Hanuman hangs out. Hanuman likes vegetation around him. He’s a child of nature, and I contact him there. I mistake his words by the quiet.”
Advaita, Finally!
“Ram said to Hanuman, ‘What are you, monkey?’ And Hanuman answered, ‘When I don’t know who I am, I serve you. When I know who I am, I am you.’”
This is where Ram Dass declares Advaita. There are no twos when self-realisation happens. The form and the formless are one.
Eternal Life
“We’ve lived longer than we think. You’re travelling through lives. What did you learn in this life?”
We think our life is only limited to taking this body and leaving it. It is much longer. It extends into eternity. We have come here to experience, to learn — to be in a state which we are not. Limited, incomplete, emotional, bound by the limitations of body, energy and mind.
What have you learnt in this lifetime? What are the experiences that we got?
Merging with Love
“Considerable joy. Considerable joy. When you’re in your soul and you love something, and the things become melding, melding… so you love something and you become one with it.”
Joy is when you get something. Joy is when you do something. Joy is when you are something. When you know that you are the soul, everything merges together — the love, the awareness, the connection. Everything was just to become one.
Setting Things Right in the World
“All of us, one. All of us, one. Yeah. One consciousness. One consciousness. And that’s the way in which the world could right itself.”
All of us are one consciousness. Once this realisation comes, the world will be a much better place to live in. No fights, no wars, no poverty, no greed, no hoarding. No bias. No suffering. Only peace and love with awareness.
Making it Happen
“Start with your peace, your love, your compassion, and go from there. And then, love everything. Everything. Let’s all walk each other home.”
The way to make this happen is to start with yourself, with awareness — connect with your own love. The compassion you feel for everyone and everything will bring about a remarkable change in the world.
Theme Song Yet Again
“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” playing on piano.
End of script.
Part 4: Implementation
After watching this Netflix film, I realised that:
Awareness of Anahata, of the breath, with Khechari, helps us to connect within by being Kutastha. This requires no rituals.
This awareness expands into the realisation that everything seen, everything unseen — in past, present and future — is the Self itself. This automatically transforms into love. Universal love.
Everything is only about awareness and love. That is all there is.
Unless gyana (knowledge) is firmly established, bhakti (devotion) does not begin. The path to realise this is given above.
It is not very complicated at all.
Part 5: Summary
Ram Dass left his body around two years after the release of this film. He has left us with his own experience of being spiritual and embracing death — without any fear of losing life or any greed of living more. A true jivanmukta.
Call to Action
Awareness
Watch the movie. Read the script. Assimilate, reflect, and note down the key learnings.
Love
Share them in the comments, so that they become a valuable insight for other readers. One insight can transform someone’s life.
Blessing
Blessing you with realising loving awareness in every moment of your life.
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