Lessons from Ram Dass - Walking Each Other Home

<p>I first learned of Ram Dass (aka Richard Alpert) when I was experimenting with LSD at 15 years old and heard about his research at Harvard with Timothy Leary in the 60s. At the time, I didn’t pay too much attention to him, but eventually he started appearing in my life more and more.</p><p> </p><p>Later in life, he was a guest teacher at a death dula training on Maui. During that time, I also dove more deeping into his teachings on death and dying.</p><p> </p><p>I respected his approach as he himself had suffered a debilitating stroke in 1997; he managed to find a blessing in this, saying it taught him “fierce grace” and allowed him to practice change, the ultimate change being - in the end - death.</p><p> </p><p>While I still haven’t read an entire book of his, I’ve studied with him, read some of his articles, and jotted down truth bombs whenever I heard him teach. Even in that limited context, he greatlyimpacted my life.</p><p> </p><p>So today, I want to pass along to you 3 simple teachings that I he taught me that - if I could integrate just these three - I’d die a happier person with fewer regrets.</p><p> </p><p><strong>The first is “Be here, now.”</strong></p><p> </p><p>Rarely have I found suffering to occur when focusing on what’s happening in the present moment. It’s usually when I’m regretting the past, feeling shame or bitterness about it or trying to change it (which, as a reminder, is impossible ;), or when I’m worried/completely freaked out about the future.</p><p> </p><p>But if I’m in the present, I often realize that in <i>this</i> moment, right here and right now, I am safe. I have all I need. Nothing bad is happening to be <i>in this moment.</i></p><p> </p><p>Being fully present not only decreases suffering, but also offers a precious gift to ourselves and other. Ram Dass said, “When you give another human being the fullness of your being at any moment, a little is enough. But when you give them half of it because you’re time binding with your mind, there’s never enough. Being fully present in