In this dharma talk from 1975, Ram Dass talks about how a taste of awakening makes it possible for us to tune into the continuity of consciousness that builds through our incarnations.
Explore the intersection of Buddhism & Bhakti at the inaugural Love Serve Remember Summer Mountain Retreat August 25th – 29th in Boone, NC!
Rush Collectors (10:20)
Ram Dass begins by exploring how we go through life trying to collect our rushes, that the more we have in life the better life will be, but it’s not enough. So we try to live the “simple life,” but we still end up busy plotting rushes. Even as we simplify our lives further and open ourselves to the space of meditation, the concept “I am meditating” is still a type of rush collecting.
“So you start to have spaces. And the spaces are a little freaky at first because your mind keeps making models of what those spaces are. It keeps saying, ‘You’re lazy,’ or, ‘This is meditating.’ That’s a good one. It keeps labeling what it is the space is because you have to have a label, you have to know where you’re at.” – Ram Dass
Ethan Nichtern explains how to make a sustainable meditation practice in The Road Home Ep. 31
The Veil of Illusion (16:54)
Ram Dass talks about the predicament of peace turning out not to be enough for most of us. He shares how we miss the mark when we don’t realize that we are the creator of our own dance, exploring the process we go through in between births into different incarnations. At some point, almost all of us get a taste of awakening, to see through the veil of illusion, if only for a moment.
“For to be the son without knowing the father is to have missed the point of the game. To not recognize your source, to not be identified with your source, to not realize that you are the creator of the dance that you are doing, is to miss the mark.” – Ram Dass
Ram Dass talks more about seeing through the veil of illusion in Here and Now Ep. 7
The Continuity of Consciousness (28:00)
Ram Dass talks about how if we take that taste of awakening and utilize the new awareness as a way to get free, we can start to tune into the continuity of consciousness that builds through our many incarnations. At this point, the whole meaning of an incarnation changes; we can see that each birth is simply a process for awakening and cleaning up our game.
“And now you have started to tune into the continuity of consciousness that exists behind the dips into incarnations and back again. And as you get more evolved in an evolutionary sense you get to the point where you are helping to program your own incarnations. And you say, ‘Well, let’s see what I need to do this time.’” – Ram Dass