Ram Dass

Spiritual Teacher, Author

Ram Dass was a spiritual teacher and author known for his influential work 'Be Here Now,' which blends Eastern spirituality with Western psychology.

Heart Spiritual Mind Thinking Soul People

Born: April 6, 1931
Died: December 22, 2019
Quotes: 338
Rank: #253

About Ram Dass

Ram Dass — Life and Legacy

Ram Dass, originally Richard Alpert, emerged as a significant figure in the spiritual landscape of the 20th century, particularly through his groundbreaking book 'Be Here Now.' This work encapsulates his journey from a Harvard psychologist to a devoted spiritual seeker, illustrating the profound impact of Eastern philosophies on Western thought. Central to Ram Dass's teachings is the idea of presence, encapsulated in his famous phrase 'Be here now.' This concept urges individuals to embrace the present moment, shedding the burdens of past regrets and future anxieties. His reflections on love, such as 'We're all just walking each other home,' reveal a deep understanding of human connection and the importance of compassion in our shared journey. Ram Dass's insights continue to resonate, as they challenge conventional views on spirituality and encourage a more profound engagement with life. His emphasis on mindfulness and acceptance of death invites individuals to confront their fears and embrace the beauty of existence. Through his quotes and teachings, Ram Dass remains a guiding light for those seeking deeper meaning and connection in their lives.

Quote collection

Ram Dass quotes (page 1 of 17)

338 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"Watch how your mind judges. Judgment comes, in part, out of your own fear. You judge other people because you're not comfortable in your own being. By judging, you find out where you stand in relation to other people. The judging mind is very divisive. It separates. Separation closes your heart. If you close your heart to someone, you are perpetuating your suffering and theirs. Shifting out of judgment means learning to appreciate your predicament and their predicament with an open heart instead of judging. Then you can allow yourself and others to just be, without separation."

Heart Mean People

Read quote 154 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can't be organized or regulated. It isn't true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth."

Spiritual Truth Yoga

Read quote 153 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion--and where it isn't, that's where my work lies."

Life Lying Compassion

Read quote 149 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"If you think you’re enlightened go spend a week with your family."

Acceptance Family Love Thinking

Read quote 147 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back. In most of our human relationships, we spend much of our time reassuring one another that our costumes of identity are on straight. When we see the Beloved in each person, it's like walking through a garden, watching flowers bloom all around us."

Flower Heart Garden

Read quote 140 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"The greatest thing you can do for another being is to provide the unconditional love that comes from making contact with that place in them that is beyond conditions, which is just pure consciousness, pure essence. That is, once we acknowledge each other as existing, just being here, just being, then each of us is free to change optimally. If I can just love you because here we are, then you are free to grow as you need to grow."

Love You Unconditional Love Essence

Read quote 122 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"Souls love. That’s what souls do. Egos don’t, but souls do. Become a soul, look around, and you’ll be amazed-all the beings around you are souls. Be one, see one. When many people have this heart connection, then we will know that we are all one, we human beings all over the planet. We will be one. One love. And don’t leave out the animals, and trees, and clouds, and galaxies-it’s all one. It’s one energy."

Heart Animal Clouds

Read quote 116 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"We are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we are so deeply interconnected with one another."

Hippie Mean Mind

Read quote 113 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"The game is not about becoming somebody, it's about becoming nobody."

Spiritual Yoga Games

Read quote 113 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"The intellect is a beautiful servant but a terrible master. Intellect is the power tool of our separateness. The intuitive, compassionate heart is the doorway to our unity."

Beautiful Heart Unity

Read quote 111 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"The universe is made up of experiences that are designed to burn out your attachment, your clinging, to pleasure, to pain, to fear, to all of it. And as long as there is a place where you’re vulnerable, the universe will find a way to confront you with it."

Pain Attachment Long

Read quote 109 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"We're all just walking each other home."

Home Brotherhood Be Here Now

Read quote 106 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"The dark night of the soul is when you have lost the flavor of life but have not yet gained the fullness of divinity. So it is that we must weather that dark time, the period of transformation when what is familiar has been taken away and the new richness is not yet ours."

Taken Dark Night

Read quote 104 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"As you dissolve into love, your ego fades. You’re not thinking about loving; you’re just being love, radiating like the sun."

Love Thinking Loving Someone

Read quote 91 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are"

Mean Practice People

Read quote 83 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"I would say that the thrust of my life has been initially about getting free, and then realizing that my freedom is not independent of everybody else. Then I am arriving at that circle where one works on oneself as a gift to other people so that one doesn't create more suffering. I help people as a work on myself and I work on myself to help people."

Independent Circles People

Read quote 78 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"If you want to cure the world, don't emanate fear - emanate love."

World Want Cures

Read quote 73 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"Everything changes once we identify with being the witness to the story, instead of the actor in it."

Life Stories Actors

Read quote 73 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"This is the pathless path - returning to where you were initially before you got lost. The deepest truth in you is where the journey leads - shedding, like taking off layers of an onion, until you come to your essence. The key to the spiritual journey is not acquiring something outside of yourself. Rather it is shedding the veils to come back to the deepest truth of your being."

Spiritual Journey Keys

Read quote 69 likes

Ram Dass Spiritual Teacher, Author

Popular

"The most exquisite paradox… as soon as you give it all up, you can have it all. As long as you want power, you can't have it. The minute you don't want power, you'll have more than you ever dreamed possible."

Spiritual Money Long

Read quote 66 likes