Ep. 246 – How to Be Responsive, Not Reactive

Ep. 246 – How to Be Responsive, Not Reactive

Author: Ram Dass / Love Serve Remember March 6, 2024 Duration: 1:10:29

In this classic talk from 1987, Ram Dass explores working with suffering, keeping our hearts open, finding the intuitive heart space, and being responsive rather than reactive. This episode is a continuation of the talk started in Here and Now Ep. 245 – Taking Off Our Spacesuit.

Want to be part of the discussion about this episode of Here and Now? Join us for the SoulPod Meet-Up on March 12 at 8 pm EST. Subscribe to the General Fellowship Group for more information.

Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ramdass

This episode is also brought to you by Magic Mind, a matcha-based energy shot infused with nootropics and adaptogens designed to crush procrastination, brain fog, & fatigue. Use the code RAMDASS at checkout to get up to 50% off your subscription: Magic Mind

In this week’s episode:

  • Using his stepmother’s death as an example, Ram Dass explores how pain and suffering can become a curriculum through which one awakens.
  • Ram Dass discusses how he has begun to fall in love with everyone, and how his guru opened him up to the possibility of unconditional love. If we’re caught in our separateness, it’s hard to keep our hearts open.
  • Ram Dass shares classic stories of how other beings, including a dolphin, have helped him escape the trap of his own mind and find the intuitive heart space. He talks about taking care of his aging father and learning how to just be present with him.
  • Finally, Ram Dass explores the difference between being reactive and being responsive, reading a story from ‘How Can I Help?’ to illustrate his point. He talks about how, when we are quiet enough on the inside, we can begin to hear how to awaken through the journey of the spirit.

“As you quiet your mind just a little bit, you get so that you’re not automatically reacting to everything. You become what’s called responsive rather than reactive. In other words, something happens and there’s a moment when it’s just happening, you’re just with it. As your awareness expands to include more than your separate self, it’s as if you’re part of the gestalt of it all, and you experience the totality of it. And then, out of that quietness comes an act that is appropriate to that moment.” – Ram Dass


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.


The voice of Ram Dass carries a unique and enduring warmth, a blend of profound spiritual insight and grounded, often humorous, humanity. Ram Dass Here And Now is a curated archive of this wisdom, drawing from a rich tapestry of lectures recorded over four decades. Each episode is a focused journey into themes of consciousness, love, service, and the intricate paths of awakening, all filtered through Ram Dass's distinctive heart-centered perspective. The podcast is presented by the Love Serve Remember Foundation, with longtime friend and director Raghu Markus providing contextual introductions that connect these timeless talks to our contemporary moment. Listeners will find themselves immersed in conversations that weave together Eastern philosophy, particularly from the Hindu and Bhakti traditions, with practical Western psychology, exploring how spiritual principles manifest in everyday life, relationships, and societal challenges. It’s less a formal lecture and more an intimate, meandering dialogue with a wise elder, offering reflections that feel both ancient and immediately relevant. This isn't about dogma, but about the shared, often messy, human experience of seeking meaning and connection. To spend time with this podcast is to encounter a gentle guide, one who points persistently toward the present moment, toward compassion, and toward the recognition of our shared essence.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 307

Ram Dass Here And Now
Podcast Episodes
Ep. 252 – An Imaginary Playmate [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:49
In this Q&A session, Ram Dass talks about dealing with disturbances in meditation, letting go of identifications, seeing the guru as an imaginary playmate, being too formless, and more.This episode is brought to you by B…
Ep. 251 – Resting in ‘I Am’ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:20
In this classic talk, Ram Dass explores resting in ‘I am,’ a place where we can see the perfection of all things, including suffering, and how we can balance that place with an open heart.This episode is brought to you b…
Ep. 250 – Eat It Like It Is [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:14
Who are you? What are you doing here? In this classic talk about identity and attachment, Ram Dass asks where you could possibly stand in a world filled with pain and suffering to ‘eat it like it is?’This episode is brou…
Ep. 249 – Balance and Tension [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:34
In this exploration of suffering, death, and love, Ram Dass talks about resting in change and handling the balance and tension of inhabiting multiple planes of reality simultaneously.Want to participate in the discussion…
Ep. 248 – Patterns of Interdependency [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:00
Speaking to issues of ecology, politics, and social action, Ram Dass shares stories of compassionate action and explores patterns of interdependency we can recognize in the world.Want to participate in the discussion abo…
Ep. 247 – Dreams Within Dreams Within Dreams [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:08
In this Q&A session, Ram Dass talks about transcending dualism, the significance of clairvoyance, how reincarnation is part of our dreams within dreams within dreams, and more.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp.…
Ep. 245 – Taking Off Our Spacesuit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:31
In this essential talk from 1987, Ram Dass uses his life experience to guide us through the process of taking off our spacesuit of identity and embracing the curriculum our lives offer us.Want to be part of the discussio…
Ep. 244 – A Love Song Between Form & Formless [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:22
In this deeply meditative recording from 1976, Ram Dass talks about going beyond form and intellect and then is joined by Krishna Das to chant a love song between formless and form.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterH…
Ep. 243 – The Blueprint for Liberation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:48
In this essential talk, Ram Dass leans on the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, Ramana Maharshi, and Groucho Marx to explore identity, change, and how incarnation is the blueprint for liberation.Today's podcast is sponsored by…
Ep. 242 – The State of No Mind [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:55
Ram Dass explores how we can have perspectives and models about the universe without being attached to them, as long as we cultivate the state of no mind and trust our intuitive validity.Want to be part of the discussion…