Beloved spiritual teacher and author, Ram Dass was originally known as Richard Alpert. He earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University and went on to become one of the youngest tenured professors at Harvard. After experimenting with psychedelic drugs, he went to India and became a devotee of Neem Karoli Baba, a Hindu guru who renamed him Ram Dass which means a servant of God.
After studying meditation and yoga, he returned to the United States in 1971 and wrote Be Here Now a book that sold more than 2 million copies and helped to engender the New Age movement. Over the years, Ram Dass cofounded the Hanuman and Seva Foundations and worked with environmental organizations and the socially-conscious business community.
In February 1997, he experienced a stroke which led him to write Still Here, a forward-looking book aimed at the Baby Boom generation and their fears about aging, debilitating illness, and death.
Ram Dass serves as a collective mirror for many spiritual seekers over the years with his encounter with Eastern religion, his dedication to compassionate service, and his experiences with conscious aging, illness, and near-death. “Wisdom is one of the few things that does not diminish with age,” Ram Dass has stated. He continues to serve as a spiritual scout who is exploring the territory ahead for all of us.
Title of UFCSH talk: “Still Here”
Ram Dass spoke to more than 2000 of us about “Still Here”, his story of illness and spirit.