Ram Dass – Here and Now – Ep. 127 – What Survives?

What Survives?

This time on the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass explores the question of what survives after death.

 

Show Notes

What Survives? (Opening) – What will happen to our consciousness when we die? Ram Dass shares his beliefs on what survives death and looks at what the teachings around karma say about what comes next.

“At the moment after death, what one experiences is a function of one’s evolution as a soul. This evolution is most clearly reflected in the quality of the manifestation of the life one is just completing. A human birth is a little like enrolling in the fourth-grade. We stay just as long as is necessary to achieve what the soul needs from that specific grade and then we are naturally ready to go on for further evolution by leaving that life.” – Ram Dass  

 You’re Not Your Brain (28:15) –  Ram Dass challenges the conventional thought that our consciousness resides solely in our brain. He examines the realms we encounter after death and the role that attachment plays in our next incarnation.

“When spiritual teachers like Ramana Maharshi, or other beings like him, talk about it being a place in the heart, they aren’t talking about a physical heart. They are talking about a spiritual entity.” – Ram Dass

The True Self (39:40) – We look at the teachings around the Atman – the true self. Ram Dass talks about how the different spiritual paths all lead us to the realization of this true nature that lies behind every incarnation.

“The ultimate game of liberation is that at the end of it everything you were isn’t, and yet you are everything – which is why it is so scary.” – Ram Dass

Listen to more from Ram Dass about the Atman and what near-death experiences have to teach us about what survives death on Ep. 87 of the Mindrolling Podcast.

      

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