Ram Dass

Ram Dass

Co-founder, Seva Foundation

"On Faith" panelist Ram Dass is an internationally recognized scholar of Eastern religions. Formerly known as Richard Alpert, he was a psychology professor at Harvard University in the early '60s when he began exploring with professional colleague Timothy Leary how to expand human consciousness through mind-altering substances. Their research was described in the 1964 book, The Psychedelic Experience. In 1967, Alpert traveled to India , where he met the man who was to become his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharajji. He gave Alpert the name Ram Dass, which means "Servant of God." At that point, Ram Dass' intense dharmiclife began, and he became a pivotal influence among Western spiritual seekers, particularly after the publication of his seminal work, the 1971 international best-seller Be Here Now, which explains Eastern philosophy and advocates living joyously in the present. Ram Dass has pursued a panoramic array of ancient spiritual methods and traditions, including bhakti or devotional yoga that is focused on the Hindu deity Hanuman; Buddhist meditation in the Theravadin, Mahayana Tibetan and Zen Buddhist schools, as well as Sufi and Jewish mysticism. Perhaps most significant is his practice of karma yoga or spiritual service. His other books include Paths to God: Living the Bhagavad Gita (2005); How Can I Help? Stories and Reflections on Service (1985) and Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying (2001). Upholding the boddhisatva ideal for others through compassionate sharing of true knowledge and vision, Ram Dass is co-founder and advisory board member of the Seva Foundation, an international service organization. Seva, which means "spiritual service" in Sanskrit, supports programs designed to wipe out curable blindness in India and Nepal, restore the agricultural life of impoverished villagers in Guatemala, assist in primary health care for American Indians, and bring attention to the issues of homelessness and environmental degradation in the United States and other nations. Ram Dass also created the Hanuman Foundation, which developed the Prison Ashram Project to help prison inmates grow spiritually during incarceration, and the Dying Project, a spiritual support structure for those facing death. Ram Dass lives on Maui where he continues to teach about the nature of consciousness to a new generation of seekers. Close.

Ram Dass

Co-founder, Seva Foundation

"On Faith" panelist Ram Dass is an internationally recognized scholar of Eastern religions. Formerly known as Richard Alpert, he was a psychology professor at Harvard University in the early '60s when he began exploring with professional colleague Timothy Leary how to expand human consciousness through mind-altering substances. Their research was described in the 1964 book, The Psychedelic Experience. more »

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Why Atheism in Vogue
Athesim is in vogue because of the amount of suffering in the world. There can be a productive conversation between believers and atheists over the design of nature....

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who said it's in vogue:

I feel like I can't be open about my Atheism. Why would you think it's in vogue? And why would you think it's tied to the suffering in the world?

I am an atheist because the idea of a God doesn't fit with how I see the world. Everything in nature is cause and effect. If a god existed you would have at least the occasional effect without a cause. And if God doesn't occasionally affect things here on Earth then what good is he?

June 21, 2008 1:13 AM | Report Offensive Comments

Posted on June 21, 2008 01:13

annavictoria:

I believe that atheism is in vogue because of two reasons. One is certainly suffering. Unfortunately that suffering is not caused by real religious believers, but people who are in reality anti-social, who are the enemies of God and the truth and who are two faced. They perch themselves inside religious groups of all religions and they cause disharmony and distort the truth. They need to be identified and exposed to help resolve the problems we are facing all over the world, especially with terrorism.

The other reason why a lot of people are turning to atheism or at least secularism is that science is made to appear to support only a material reality and therefore atheism. It is made to appear that by default a spiritual reality and God are just fantasy. The truth is that there is scientific evidence that points to a non-physical or spiritual realm but this evidence is played down and attempts are made to either discredit it in the eyes of the public or explain it away in ways that effectively denies it. If you are interested visit my website at http://www.annavictoria.net for more info. You will find that not only is there evidence but it discredits atheism. Such evidence also has enormous implication for areas outside religion, such as health. When people can become informed then people will see that in fact belief in God is well founded and not atheism.

November 26, 2007 10:32 AM | Report Offensive Comments

Posted on November 26, 2007 10:32

Anonymous:

Atheism is in vogue because 9/11 showed clearly
that supernatural religious belief is irrational
and dangerous in the extreme,as well as just plain stupid.
Religion is an unthinking custom that one takes for granted
having been surrounded with it all of ones life.

August 11, 2007 4:30 PM | Report Offensive Comments

Posted on August 11, 2007 16:30

Paul Oaklander:

Hey Ram,

Do you ever get the feeling that living religious culture can enforce a surrender of the gift of humility to the conclusive realm of knowledge (as a noun) over the breathing realm of understanding (being a verb) in it's survey of existence/nature?

January 17, 2007 11:28 PM | Report Offensive Comments

Posted on January 17, 2007 23:28

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