The Quieter You Become The More You Can Hear

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“The quieter you become the more you can hear.” – Ram Dass

Ram Dass (1931 – present), previously known as Dr. Richard Alpert, is an American spiritual teacher and author of the 1971 bestseller, “Be Here Now.” Before he became Ram Dass, he was a Harvard psychologist with Ph.D., and a psychedelic pioneer with Dr. Timothy Lear. When he travelled to India in 1967, he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharajji, who gave him the name Ram Dass which means “servant of God.”

He took upon the Dharmic life as part of his transformation and led the cultural moment with the words “Be Here Now” ever since. His spiritual methods and practices are inspired from potent ancient wisdom traditions; Buddhist meditation in the Theravadin; Mahayana Tibetan and Zen Buddhist schools, and Sufi and Jewish mystical studies. He leads people toward spiritual enlightenment and living a life with compassion, without a specific dogma.

While in Harvard, his highly controversial research study with psilocybin resulted to his dismissal from the University, along with his research partner Timothy Leary. What seemed to be a major hurdle became an opportunity for them to go from being academics to counter culture icons. Experimenting with psychedelic mushrooms in Mexico paved the way to spiritual enlightenment and mind expansion via chemical substances. Eventually, his spiritual pursuit led him to India where he met with Neem Karoli Baba and transformed from Richard Alpert to Ram Dass.

“Be Here Now” continues to be an influential guide on living joyously in every situation. It instills the act of being quiet but emerged in the moment.