Cultural Silence Around Death and Aging

Ram Dass explores facing fears of the future as we age, opening up to the mystery of death, and seeing dying as a window of opportunity for awakening.

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This episode of Here and Now comes from a talk Ram Dass gave in August 1995 as part of an aging study group. If you’re interested in stepping even deeper into the mystery of aging and death, check out Love Serve Remember Foundation’s new course: Walking Each Other Home. 

• Ram Dass begins with a brief meditation centered around the words of Dudjom Rinpoche. It’s used as an example of how we can learn from these powerful texts. 
• Ram Dass discusses facing future fears as we age and how death has begun to emerge from the cultural closet. For him, death is an incredible movement of consciousness into the mystery; it’s a window of opportunity.
• Ram Dass explores dealing with pain as we age and face death. He shares the story of a friend who created an incredible space for the process of her death, rather than being in a space where there was denial around the idea of death. He urges us to remain students of the mystery of life and death.
• Ram Dass ends by reading a series of quotes about death and near-death experiences. He talks about opening to death and making friends with it, rather than seeing it as a dreaded, dark hole. 

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About Ram Dass:

Ram Dass’s spirit has been a guiding light for generations, carrying millions along on the journey. Ram Dass teaches that through the Bhakti practice of unconditional love, we can all connect with our true nature. Through these teachings, Ram Dass has shared a little piece of his guru, Maharaj-ji, with all who have listened to him.

“It’s like the moment of birth, the moment of death, it’s the same thing; it’s an incredible movement of consciousness into the mystery. It’s a window of opportunity. Every death or every birth I’m present at is like a gift from God, as far as I’m concerned.” – Ram Dass

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