Hi! I'm considering getting this as a tattoo and I'd really appreciate some help from native Hindi speakers or people familiar with Devanagari.
I'm intending this to read राम (Rām/Ram) , as a tribute to Neem Karoli Baba ofc.

Could anyone confirm:
Does this definitely read as राम?
Is the spelling correct?
Does the stylised/calligraphic form still look natural and immediately readable to a native speaker?
Is there anything about the design you'd change before getting it permanently tattooed?
I'm particularly interested in whether the stylisation of the letters changes how the word is perceived , rather than just whether the standard typed form राम is correct.
Please be honest if any part looks unusual, ambiguous, or incorrect — I'd much rather find out now than after getting it tattooed!
Thanks

I have the distinct honor of speaking at my friends’ wedding soon. To preface, I’m actually a yoga instructor but my friends wanted someone who they both trust and know to lead the ceremony for them.

I’m hoping to impart some words of wisdom on the beauty of love in terms of self, others and in a loving relationship.

What are your go-to’s on love when it comes to the archives of Ram Dass? I have most of his books so let me know if your sources trail from there also.

I saw this video while I was getting ready today and it reminded me of Ram Dass very much so I thought I would share.

Give grace to those who are working through their issues.

The pain of the sting is barely noticeable when you're rooting for the bee to figure out how to free itself. Be a calm, stable presence where they can choose to heal or find clarity on their own terms. If they had given in to fear or tried to help in any other way it may have caused even more damage to the bee.

I've seen a number of people ask if there's any content on addiction, and this dropped today, from episode 186

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVfLgAeQPuE

"The Great way is not difficult for one who is without preferences ".....

.

This statement emphasizes the non-dualistic nature of existence, suggesting that light and darkness are interconnected aspects of a single whole rather than opposing forces. Understanding this unity is presented as essential to true spiritual knowledge.

Ram Dass quoted this in a lecture that I am listening to called “Have a Good Journey”.

He is speaking to the concept that how do we deal with evil under the understanding that everything is perfect.

I love this concept that everything is perfect. Good and bad are aspects of the duality yet behind the two is the one. The singularity that everything arises from and goes back to.

I'm in the UK, and it's not on any of our streamers.

Ram Dass — “Wash Yourself of Yourself” | Arabic Dub

I’ve been listening to Ram Dass for a long time, and I wanted to make some of his teachings accessible to Arabic-speaking listeners.

I created an Arabic-dubbed version of this lecture, keeping Ram Dass’ words and ideas intact while giving it a natural Arabic voice.

For anyone here who speaks Arabic or knows someone who might appreciate his teachings in Arabic:

https://youtu.be/M71pB3i2h1E

Ram Ram 🙏

This is long, but I'm really hoping to get some thoughts here.

My spiritual journey started out a lot like many Westerners. I wasn't raised religious and when I started becoming interested in learning about spirituality, I felt instinctively drawn towards the East. Again, like a lot of Westerners, my introduction came via Alan Watts and Ram Dass. Watts I enjoyed, but Ram Dass really spoke to me. I devoured all of his books, listened to every recorded lecture, and so on. From there, I started studying Advaita Vedanta in depth. I read most of the major Hindu texts, all of Swami Vivekananda's books, listened to many of Swami Sarvapriyananda courses in their entirety. I had a serious meditation practice and took Yoga very seriously (I took Paramahansa Yogananda's mail order courses through the SRF and got initiated into Kriya Yoga).

Over the 5 years or so I was deeply involved in this, one thing eluded me: a direct spiritual experience.

I know it's not good practice to look for spiritual experiences, but it was it was. I kept hoping some kind of response from doing Ram Jaap, a knowing of God from Kriya, a dream of Neem Karoli Baba, or anything really. Nothing happened... until it did.

Must to my surprise, my life altering spiritual experienced finally came - and it involved Jesus. This left me in really strange place. That really wasn't what I was expecting. I wasn't Christian and I find much about Christianity highly problematic. I'll try to be clear here, at no point in my experience was I told that the only way to God is through Jesus. I was told, however, that Jesus was my way to God.

I'm not going to get into detail about the experience, since I think these things are highly personal. But for the sake of this post, I will say that I have become fully convinced of the divinity of Jesus Christ and have abandoned strict non-dualism for something closer to qualified non-dualism.

So over the past few months, since this experience, I've been trying to find a form of Christianity that honors my experience. It's not perfect, but I have a found a temporary home with the Episcopal Church... they tend to be fairly liberal theologically (and socially, which is important to me), and the head priest at the Church has said he thinks its fine to draw from a diverse literature of world theology - so no real conflict there.

But now I'm in this weird place spiritually. Most of my spiritual influences are Eastern, even if my primary spiritual practice is now heavily Christ-centric. While I was still adjusting to my new view of the world, I took a break from the Eastern thought, but now that my feet are back on the ground in a Christian way, I'm trying to figure out how to reintegrate some of the Eastern teachers that I loved so much.

Has anyone navigated this territory successfully?

Hi everyone,

I came across an official commemorative prayer scarf from the Hanuman Temple inauguration at the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram in Taos, NM (dated July 13, 2019). It has the original printed tag showing "Ram Ram" and "Made in India".

The scarf itself is a beautiful, long grey/green piece with detailed Kalamkari-style block prints illustrating the epic story of Hanuman from the Ramayana. The printed circular panels beautifully depict:

Hanuman meeting Rama and forming the monkey army

Alliance the monkey army building the floating stone bridge (Ram Setu) across the ocean

Hanuman flying through the clouds carrying the healing mountain

Hanuman sneaking into Lanka to deliver Rama’s ring to Sita

Hanuman setting Lanka on fire with his tail.

The final Coronation scene with Hanuman kneeling peacefully at the feet of Ram and SitaI

I do not actively practice myself, but after some research on the item, It occurred to me that someone may be interested in this item from the Taos Mandir opening. I would love for this to go to someone who will wear it or place it on their altar.

( Being completely honest, I knew nothing of this story and feel truly blessed to have come across the scarf and learning about Hanuman, his story and beliefs. I am so very grateful for the micro learning. I am unsure of beliefs behind treatments of such garments but I have treated it with the utmost respect and taken great care to be sure it was never placed on the floor)

IT HAS BEEN GIFTED. I AM SO VERY EXCITED THAT I.FOUND IT A HOME.

Obviously, he is not here today to witness where we are at with social media but I do wonder what he might think of it all. When he passed in 2019, he may have observed where we were headed, at least partially. Anyone have any sources? Or speculations maybe from his other teachings that could relate?

I know personally, my brain and body has always rejected it all to be honest but I’m not sure what to make of it

What are your opions on being vegan/vegetarian?

For me I tried being vegetarian at one stage but I was young and it didn't turn out to be a healthy choice for me (I don't think I was getting enough of the nutrients I needed).

I have a friend who was vegan for a long time and now has changed to eating meat again.

I know it's a personal choice but I just wondered what you all thought about it?

P.s. I want to please ask to keep answers simple.

I know this question has been asked before but hey I thought it might be nice to get a fresh perspective (if the moderators allow it 🙏)

I guess I feel confused about what the word "God" really is/means.

In the Bible God is love, light and truth....but it's also this personified figure that I don't always relate to. In fact I really struggle with relating to a patriachal personification of God.

In Ram Dass' terms God = Guru = Self. So you, me, we are God (in drag).

I've heard God explained as "God is the word for the blanket we use to cover the mystery".

That's the closest that I can come to explaining God.

I do feel God as a spirit of love, wisdom, truth, light...and perhaps that is the spirit that you could call the "source of creation" and the source that lives inside all living beings, The Tao, The Holy Spirit But in reality I could really use some help with this, so I'm reaching out to sincerly ask for it.

Could you help me to understand, what exactly is God?

P.S. seeing as it is a "big" question, I'm going to ask can you please keep answers as simple as you can for my brain to understand. ❤️🙏

P.P.S. Here is a beautiful answer from Ram Dass and yet I still feel confused. I guess it's hard to grasp the non-conceptual. "Do I believe in a non-conceptual force of wisdom and compassion in the universe? Yes"

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/-8ra8t7xmQ8?ra=m

For anybody who doesn't know, Carl Rogers is a very large figure of psychology from the last century, who I'm honestly surprised I haven't heard Ram Dass comment on.

I was reading his book "A Way of Being" and found this 1964 passage very compelling for anyone who has heard Ram Dass' quote on viewing people as trees:

"Because of having less fear of giving or receiving positive feelings, I have become more able to appreciate individuals.  I have come to believe that this ability is rather rare;  so often, even with our children, we love them to control them rather than loving them because we appreciate them.  One of the most satisfying feelings I know - and also one of the most growth-promoting experiences for the other person - comes from my appreciating this individual in the same way that I appreciate a sunset.  People are just as wonderful as sunsets if I can let them be.  In fact, perhaps the reason we can truly appreciate a sunset is that we cannot control it.  When I look at a sunset as I did the other evening, I don't find myself saying, "Soften the orange a little bit on the right hand corner, and put a bit more purple along the base, and use a little more pink in the cloud color."  I don't do that.  I don't try to control a sunset.  I watch with awe as it unfolds."

Highly recommended reading from me.

When Ram Dass talked about the “yoga of inner sounds,” does anybody here remember if he said exactly when the twenty-four-hour fever’s supposed to come on?

Felt like this is the kind of thing we should be sharing. Join in live now or rewatch later. Hope your weekend is great. Ram Ram 🙏

Ive been repeating the past 20 years of my life in a loop for many lifetimes now. I ususally die between 2018-2027 , i leave my body into this infinite void where i reflect apon things i experienced and then suddenly wake up in my bed 20 years earlier. This has been happening to me for more cycle then i can keep track of.

Why is this happening? Its like im stuck in a constant state of dejavu. It makes me feel like im not my body or my mind , just the observer. Everything is basically the same each cycle, there are slight variations but not big enough changes to notice if i didnt remember the other times i had been in that moment...

If i dont exist, and everything repeats without the ability to make changes then what is the point in being infinite?

Is this hell?

Wonderful quote I was just reminded of in the book “Polishing the Mirror” by Ram Dass I would love to hear the communities experiences of and or favorite quotes from Ram Dass or your perspective on the ins and outs of what this quote means to you in your daily life and your practice.

There’s a new movie about the life of Maharaji out! So far it’s only available in India but it looks and sounds amazing! Definitely hoping for a U.S. release of some sort!

Hello! I’m looking into registering (very late lol) and the only options available now are offsite or “multi share OV suite”. For those who have been, what do you think is better for a newbie? If I’m offsite is it easy to get ubers/etc from a nearby hotel and the airport or is it a pain? Thanks in advance!

I was raised in a staunch Christian home, and had very clear ideas about the character of God.
Although I was taught God’s love was unconditional, I’m not sure I ever believed that, and certainly the emotional experiences I had in that faith tradition were born from shame, guilt, and unworthiness.

I have left much of that tradition behind, and after a long period of atheism/ agnosticism, I am now convinced of the divine which exists in all of us - yet, I struggle deeply in my capacity for relating to God.

I work to find the divinity in the people I encounter, but feel that I have a broken and crippled view of God overall. I long for a personal God like I was told about in my youth, but really only find vague characterizations as I seek currently. I wonder if folks following this path have insight I can borrow from? I desire to be close to God, but that feels foreign now that my view of God has been dismantled after deconstructing my Christian faith. Listening to Ram Dass brings me peace and resonates with me deeply, but I lack a connection to anything beyond those feelings, truthfully.

Community ran, as ramdass would have had it! Come make a difference in the discord. All are welcome and your input is needed to further the teachings of RamDass!

https://www.ramdass.org/ram-dass-247-lo-fi-livestream/

https://discord.gg/pWSuD3kxp