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Excerpt 1 from "Transformation of a Man" - Ram Dass

In this fascinating and delightful transcribed exerpt from "Transformation of a Man", Ram Dass -- author of the seminal work Be Here Now --  describes some of his experiences as he travels around and explores India in the early 1960s, giving us true insight into the life and times of a spiritual seeker. Part of our ongoing partnership with The Love Serve Remember Foundation.

His big feet were just paddling along like a camel, and he was looking every other way, and he was always stepping around all of this stuff, and I could never figure it out. Now, as we got out of the big cities… in the big cities, you know, people look at you like, what kind of a nut are you? Barefoot in a cloth -- we know you’re a westerner, you know. Like, who are you kidding? But as you get out into the villages it’s much purer in India, and they still respect the spiritual endeavor, and the people would call, “Hey Babaji!” Which is, well, Baba means grandfather. It also means holy man. It’s usually given to Vaishnavites, which is the white cloth. And Babaji is sort of the affectionate title. In Yiddish it would be bubbala. [laughter] It’s the same thing. And so they call, “Babaji!” and I would always be embarrassed because I wasn’t a holy man. I was just wearing a white cloth. I was a western intellectual overage hippy looking to see what was going on in India. That’s who I was in my head, in my fixed model of myself.
 
And we got to these caves at Baneshwar;

Excerpt 2 from "Reflections on Suffering" with Ram Dass

This brief excerpt from "Reflections on Suffering" with Ram Dass, recorded live in 1987, gives us insight into how Ram Dass uses guided meditation to access our deepest thoughts and feelings.

Now let your awareness let arise into your awareness, thoughts that concern some way in which you personally have experienced suffering. Just let the thought arise in your mind. Keep your witness strong. How do I suffer? What suffering has there been in my life? Let yourself into it just a little. It will awaken a lot of thoughts that arouse that are feeling like emotions. Perhaps your suffering is around illness. Perhaps it is around loneliness and separateness. Perhaps it is around addictions, obsessions. Perhaps it is around shame, loathing towards your acts or your fantasies or qualities of your body or personality. Perhaps your suffering has been around the suffering of loved ones or the death of loved ones.

Ram Dass bio and links

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Excerpt 1 from "Reflections on Suffering" with Ram Dass

Suffering -- the nature of it, how to be with it (ours or someone eles's), what attention we give it in our lives -- can be a major dilemma for most of us.  We often don't know how to be with it, whether to embrace it or shun it, give it space or re-direct it.  In this brief yet profound excerpt from "Reflections on Suffering", a talk given by Ram Dass in 1987, the heart of the matter is revealed, offering succint and direct teaching and wisdom on the place that suffering should have in our lives.

Now, just as I said before, if you are going to be able to deal with see somebody else’s beauty, you have to be able to acknowledge your own beauty. In a similar way, if you are going to be able to be available to someone else’s suffering, you have to be able to acknowledge your own suffering and be able to understand the nature of suffering in such a way that you have converted the quality of suffering in yourself.
 
Gurdjieff, the Russian philosopher said, “There is nothing that can be obtained spiritually without suffering in life, but at the same time, if you are going to proceed on the journey you must sacrifice suffering.”

Excerpt 1 from Ram Dass in Brazil - A Visit to Healer John of God

Even in something as simple as the process of a question and answer period, Ram Dass explores being utterly in the moment of that particular interchange.  This fascinating transcribed excerpt is part of a talk Ram Dass gave in Brazil in 2003 during a visit to the healer John of God.

This game is played with silence and then the silence is broken for somebody who has a question, and you can clothe the question as personal life, as my life, or sadhana, or the world condition. It can be clothed any way. Then I answer the questions. I am playing the role of Ram; R-A-M is “rent-a-mouth”. You are renting my mouth to represent what we all have, which we all share, is a certain plane of consciousness, and I don’t come by that plane naturally. As you don’t. Natural because we are in incarnations. And it is not natural in an incarnation to consider the incarnation from outside of it. You may have a question, you reach for it, I will see your hand, and I will call on you. In between questions, there are waves of silence so we can go, we can surf the silence.

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Ram Dass Bio and Links

Robert Bly - The Human Shadow - Free Download Friday

Free Download Friday: The iconic Robert Bly title based on the classic A Little Book On The Human Shadow. This awesome title is free throughout the weekend (and maybe longer if Irene knocks out our power for an extended period.)

Click here to download. Enjoy

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

In 1994, the United Nations General Assemby designated August 9 as the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.  2011 marks the 17th year of recognition, and the theme for this year is "Indigenous Designs: Celebrating Stories and Cultures, Crafting Our Own Future."  An event highlighting this theme was held at the UN Headquarters in New York City. 

We at BetterListen! have great interest in the contributions and concerns of indigenous cultures around the world.  BetterListen! staff were privilged to attend the First World Conference of Indigenous Peoples in 1992, and witnessed and recorded this historic event. In recognition of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, we are delighted to offer a free download (for a limited time only) of "The Indigenous Peoples Message to the World" recorded at the Conference in 1992.

Click here for free download of "The Indigenous People's Message to the World"

More information on the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

 

It's Free Download Friday!!! "A Kabbalistic Approach to Fixing the World" by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

In this timeless and timely talk by the late and beloved Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, we are exposed to his deeply spiritual and simple truths, lessons and inspirations. Interspersed in the teachings are wonderful melodies composed by Rabbi Carlebach, who offers this profound yet simple truth: “When you see something wrong with the world you are the one to fix it”. 

We hope you enjoy this wonderful program!

Click here for free download