Ram Dass

“I don't really believe anything I say. Because the nature of my work concerns the spaces between the words, rather than the words themselves.”

“All acts of healing are ultimately our selves healing our Self. -Ram Dass”

“Working with the dying is like being a midwife for this great rite of passage of death. Just as a midwife helps a being take their first breath, you help a being take their last breath.”

“When I look at my life, I see that I wanted to be free of the physical plane, the psychological plane, and when I got free of those I didn't want to go anywhere near them.”

“The stroke has given me another way to serve people. It lets me feel more deeply the pain of others; to help them know by example that ultimately, whatever happens, no harm can come. 'Death is perfectly safe,' I like to say.”

“When you are already in Detroit, you don't have to take a bus to get there.”

“We're fascinated by the words--but where we meet is in the silence behind them.”

“Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being. It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being. It's not 'I love you' for this or that reason, not 'I love you if you love me.' It's love for no reason, love without an object.”

“Prolong not the pastInvite not the futureDo not alter your innate wakefulnessFear not appearancesThere in nothing more than this”

“Only that in you which is me can hear what I'm saying.”

“I have always said that often the religion you were born with becomes more important to you as you see the universality of truth.”

“You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don't have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success - none of that matters. No one can take this love away from you, and it will always be here.”

“Your problem is you're... too busy holding onto your unworthiness.”

“I feel vulnerable because my mind - because of the stroke, my mind doesn't focus. And then I feel vulnerable because I don't understand the world around me.”

“רוב האנשים חרדים מהסבל ומהמוות שמצפים להם בעתיד. העתיד הוא מחשבות. את מפחדת מהמחשבות שלך. הדרך כאן היא להיות בהווה, בתוך ההווה. משום שהפחד הוא מהעתיד. להיות בהווה – שכולל גם את הפחד. אי אפשר לדחות את הפחד. חייבים לחיות אותו במלוא עוצמתו. אחרת, את פוחדת מהפחד.”

“שמירת המוות במודעות שלך... ממלאת את הרגע הזה בעושר נוסף ואנרגיה שאחרת מתבזבזת על הכחשה.”

“מוות הוא מקום בטוח.”

“מוות זה להסיר נעל לוחצת.”

“לא צריך להתייחס למוות כאוייב כדי שתוכל להנות מהחיים.”

“מוות הוא צעד נוסף לעבר הבית.”