Sometimes illumination occurs spontaneously or, as Ram Dass experienced, in a cosmic moment of the heart opening. More commonly, it happens when we remove the dust from the mirror of our spiritual heart with daily practice-to see beyond the illusion of our transient thoughts and emotions to the vast and luminous landscape of our true nature.
For five decades, Ram Dass has explored the depths of consciousness and love and brought back insights as his service to others. With Polishing the Mirror, he gathers together his essential teachings for being and loving, here and now, in the eternal present. For those just starting on the path, this is a primer for living from the spiritual heart. For those already practicing it, is a reference point for daily life in the spirit.
In this audiobook, read by coauthor Rameshwar Das, listeners will discover perennial wisdom, humor, teaching stories, and guidance into Ram Dass's own spiritual practices, including:
Bhakti Yoga-devotion, opening our hearts to unconditional love
• Practices for living, aging, dying, and embracing the natural flow of life
• Karma Yoga-transformation through selfless service
• Working with fear and suffering as a path to grace and freedom
• Step-by-step guidance in devotional chant, meditation, mantra, and more
Polishing the Mirror is Ram Dass's invitation to experience who we are and why we are here, and how to become beacons of unconditional love.
This unabridged audiobook includes four bonus tracks:
Pure Awareness-a guided meditation with Ram Dass
• I Am Loving Awareness-a guided meditation with Ram Dass
• An Introduction to Vipassana Meditation with Ram Dass
• Sita Ram-kirtan chant music with Jai Uttal
"This book is a blessing! Simply reading it will open your heart and bring you to mysterious, spacious, loving freedom. Ram Dass is one of the great sages of our time who can make us laugh, cry, and awaken!"-Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart
"Ram Dass has been the most influential person in my own spiritual development. I treasure his wisdom as well as his spirit. Let his words in this book enter your soul-for my friend Ram Dass is divine love personified."-Wayne Dyer, author of The Power of Intention
Ram Dass
Ram Dass (1931–2019)first went to India in 1967. He was still Dr. Richard Alpert, an already eminent Harvard psychologist and psychedelic pioneer with Dr. Timothy Leary. He continued his psychedelic research until his journey to the East in 1967, driving overland to India, where he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharaj-ji. Maharaj-ji gave him the name, Ram Dass, which means "servant of God." Everything changed then-his intense dharmic life started, and he became a pivotal influence on a culture that has reverberated with the words "be here now" ever since.
Be Here Now, Ram Dass's monumentally influential and seminal book, still stands as the highly readable centerpiece of the Western articulation of Eastern philosophy and practicing to live joyously in the present moment, be it luminous or mundane. From a backpackers' bible in the 1970s, Be Here Now continues to be the instruction manual of choice for generations of spiritual seekers. Fifty years later, it's still part of the timeless present. Being here now is still being here now. Ram Dass's work continues to be a path of teaching and inspiration to so many. His loving spirit has been a guiding light for three generations, carrying millions along on the journey, helping free them from their bonds as he has worked through his own. For more about Ram Dass's teachings, visit ramdass.org.
Rameshwar Das
Rameshwar Das is a writer and photographer who met Ram Dass in 1968. Ramesh has collaborated with Ram Dass on many projects, most recently as coauthor of Be Love Now and Polishing the Mirror.
