Ram Dass Quotes

The giving and receiving is the tricky thing. It's not the gift. It's what the heart says in giving the gift, and from my point of view, one doesn't give or receive - that's a role we have to play. But the gift - it's God's gift. I think that it's better to be souls than roles.

Our culture's zeal for longevity reveals our incredible collective fear of death.

My life is a creative act--like a painting, or a concerto.

The reality we live in is selected by our conceptual definitions. You and I may be in the same physical space, but each of us will see it as entirely different.

It's very hard to grow, because it's difficult to let go of the models of ourselves in which we've invested so heavily.

Treat everyone you meet like God in drag.

I think that people will find a tremendous joy and fulfillment in service to other human beings, and that often this is what is missing in their lives.

A man said to me, "You talk to your dead guru?" And I said, "Yeah." He said, "That's in your imagination." And I said, "Yeah!" Because my guru is in my imagination anywhere. Anywhere.

Old age spiritualizes people naturally

Death has such great importance in this society that it affects everything. I learned from my guru that death is not the enemy, I see it as another moment. Yet it's the end of an incarnation and means going on to other incarnations.

The shadow is the greatest teacher for how to come to the light.

The gift you offer another person is just your being.

Each of us finds his unique vehicle for sharing with others his bit of wisdom.

Being in love means seeing the Beloved all around me.

By acting compassionately, by helping to restore justice and to encourage peace, we are acknowledging that we are all part of one another.

Love flows. Love doesn't know boundaries. The mind creates boundaries. The mind creates the boundary of separate me and you. The heart just keeps embracing and opening out.

Suffering brings me so close to God.

If you want oneness in society, you have to teach people to go inside instead of going outside, because if they want peace, they need to find it within.

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.

Just because you are seeing divine light, experiencing waves of bliss, or conversing with Gods and Goddesses is no reason to not know your zip code.

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.