In this unique recording from 1995, Ram Dass talks to the Shivas Irons Society about the mystical nature of golf and how he’s using the game as a practice to become more conscious.

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This episode of Here and Now is from a talk Ram Dass gave to the Shivas Irons Society at Stanford University in August 1995.

• Ram Dass shares why he decided to take up the game of golf and how it helped him work out some old anxieties around the process of learning a new skill.
• Ram Dass talks about how his concentration practices and cultivation of the Witness allow him to connect to the mystical nature of golf. He explores not being attached to being the actor or to the fruits of an action. Are you being the golfer or are you playing golf?
• Finally, Ram Dass shares how he’s using the game of golf as a practice to become more conscious and develop qualities such as equanimity and joy in the moment. We can live our storylines, which means picking the right club for the next shot, while simultaneously having a free awareness that delights in the timelessness of each moment.

About Ram Dass:

Ram Dass’s spirit has been a guiding light for generations, carrying millions along on the journey. Ram Dass teaches that through the Bhakti practice of unconditional love, we can all connect with our true nature. Through these teachings, Ram Dass has shared a little piece of his guru, Maharaj-ji, with all who have listened to him.

“What I’m saying is the game of golf is an exquisite practice for cultivating the qualities of mind that, in the long run, relieve suffering for you and other people. So I’m saying to you that you have the attraction to and the skills in and the involvement with something that is basically a vehicle for liberation. And to see it as less than that is interesting, but it’s not the full ballgame at all. And it doesn’t diminish the beauty of the game of golf. In fact, it seems to me it enhances it because you’re just appreciating the whole process, including the humor of your own mind.” – Ram Dass

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At this rowdy Q&A session from their 20-year reunion event at Harvard, Ram Dass and Timothy Leary answer questions and banter about the scenarios and myths surrounding our lives.

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This show is also sponsored by Magic Mind, a matcha-based energy shot infused with nootropics and adaptogens designed to crush procrastination, brain fog, & fatigue. Use the code RAMDASS at checkout to get up to 50% off your subscription: Magic Mind

This episode is part three of the Ram Dass and Timothy Leary reunion event at Harvard University on April 23, 1983. Be sure to check out part one, The Explorer’s Club, and part two, No Signposts. In this recording:

• Ram Dass and Timothy begin with a little banter about their relationship and how it has evolved over the years.
• Dealing with a slightly rowdy audience, they take questions about where we go from here, emptiness and form, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and Ken Kesey.
• Ram Dass and Timothy both share their thoughts on collaboration and writing as a team, what the future might hold for the use of psychedelics, and whether or not psychedelics cause brain damage. They have a lively debate about Gandhi versus ET.
• Ram Dass explores some of the myths and scenarios surrounding our lives. Timothy talks about his Revelations per Minute meter and some of the future possibilities he’s most excited about. They quibble over Ram Dass’ use of the word “God” and make some predictions about the remainder of the 1980s.
• The event wraps up with some extended banter about voting, righteousness, and breaking bread with old enemies.

This talk was chosen in celebration of the new book, Dying To Know, which chronicles the epic friendship between Ram Dass and Timothy Leary that shaped generations of seekers. Get your copy today!

“My feeling is that we see through scenarios and myths so much that all we can do from here is be true to our self from moment to moment. Because every time we say, ‘Well, where we go from here is…’ We are already sending a whole structural thing forward.” – Ram Dass

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In this talk from their 20-year reunion at Harvard, Timothy Leary reflects on the journey he and Ram Dass shared as they explored the boundaries of consciousness with no signposts to guide them.

Ram Dass Here & Now is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ramdass and get on your way to being your best self.

This show is also sponsored by Magic Mind, a matcha-based energy shot infused with nootropics and adaptogens designed to crush procrastination, brain fog, & fatigue. Get Magic Mind at 50% off with the Black Friday offer, available only through our link until December 6th: https://www.magicmind.com/ramdassbf

This episode is part two of the Ram Dass and Timothy Leary reunion event at Harvard University on April 24, 1983. Don’t miss part one: The Explorer’s Club. In this recording:

• Timothy Leary takes center stage to share his perspective on the journey he and Ram Dass took when they came together at Harvard. He begins with a brief history of the tradition of transcendental thinking at Harvard which began with Ralph Waldo Emerson.
• Timothy talks about the simplicity of their work in those early days as he and Ram Dass explored the boundaries of human consciousness with no signposts to guide them. He shares some thoughts on the notorious Good Friday Experiment and discusses the important insights into psychopharmacology they discovered, including the concept of set and setting.
• Shifting topics to their post-Harvard lives, Timothy talks about the “happiness hotels” he and Ram Dass were running. They share some laughs about the Harvard Crimson, being tracked by the CIA, and Timothy’s description of Ram Dass in his autobiography. Finally, they discuss the mileage they got out of various myths over the years and what their post-Harvard voyages of discovery were like for each of them.

Today's talk was chosen in celebration of the new book, Dying To Know, which chronicles the epic friendship between Ram Dass and Timothy Leary that shaped generations of seekers. Get your copy today!

“In those days, it did seem almost miraculously simple. We gave, we shared; we took these drugs as novices, as amateurs, hesitantly moving into a field that had no signposts or guidelines. There was simply no language in Western psychology to describe altered states of consciousness or ecstasies or visions or terrors. A psychiatrist said these were psychotomimetic experiences, but that didn’t seem to tell us too much. We were smart enough, and I give us this credit, to know how little we knew.” – Timothy Leary

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