Ep. 255 – Touched By Grace

Ep. 255 – Touched By Grace

Author: Ram Dass / Love Serve Remember July 9, 2024 Duration: 49:28

Ram Dass explores the paradox of suffering a spiritual person lives with, the perfection of it all, better living through chemistry, how we’re touched by grace, and the path of service and love.

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ramdass and get on your way to being your best self.

Today’s podcast is also sponsored 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

This episode of Here and Now continues the talk from Here and Now Ep. 254—The Up-Level. It was recorded at a meeting of the San Francisco Christian Community in 1978.

  • Ram Dass begins by explaining the paradox a spiritual person lives with when it comes to suffering and the perfection of all things. He touches on karma and righteousness.
  • Ram Dass talks about how he came into spirituality through his experimentation with psychedelics and better living through chemistry. He explores the power of the mystical experience, motivations for service in the face of suffering, and the limits we place on ourselves by defining who we are. 
  • Ram Dass touches on our attachment to our methods, and how we’re all touched by grace. We can fight it all we want, but we can’t fall out of grace. He tells the story of how he began to give up his anger and ends the talk with an exploration of love. For Ram Dass, his path was simply one of service and of love.

“We have been touched. We have been touched by grace. That’s what we’re doing here. That’s why we’re in this room rather than at movies or out getting more and more sensual gratification at a punk rock concert or whatever. The reason we are here is because we’ve touched something. That is the grace, that is the thing. It has happened.” – 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. 231 – The Universe of Compassion [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:12
Ram Dass answers a wide range of questions on topics such as free will, working with fear, and falling in love – plus, he leads a Metta meditation to help us tap into the universe of compassion.Today's podcast is sponsor…
Ep. 230 – The Truth of Your Deepest Being [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:08
Ram Dass explores how to find the balance between emptiness and compassion in the face of immense suffering and tap into the truth of your deepest being to hear your unique dharma.This episode is a continuation of the ta…
Ep. 229 – The Sword of Discrimination [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:40
Ram Dass explores how his work with death and dying keeps him at his own leading edge of consciousness and talks about why compassion is truly the sword of discrimination.Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click…
Behind The Clinging - Bonus Podcast [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:48
Raghu Markus returns to Here and Now to present this bonus excerpt from a talk titled “Behind the Clinging,” which features Ram Dass discussing how to deal with neuroses, fear, and family.Today's podcast is sponsored by…
Ep. 228 – You Can’t Have An Us and Them [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:49
In this episode of the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass talks about practice in daily life and answers questions about polarization and fundamentalism, integrating psychodynamic and spiritual techniques, dealing with addic…
Ep. 227 – Awareness Without Identification [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:18
In this Q&A session from 1993, Ram Dass explores an array of topics, including psychedelics as a method, assisted suicide, dealing with suffering, and awareness without identification.Today's podcast is sponsored by Bett…
Ep. 226 – Escaping the Prison of Separateness [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:04
In this potent recording from 1994, Ram Dass talks about the nature of suffering and how we can escape the prison of separateness created by our cultural infatuation with individualism.Today's podcast is sponsored by Bet…
Ep. 225 – The Story of Hanuman and the Ramayana, Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:09
In this epic conclusion to the story of the Ramayana, Ram Dass recounts the heroic actions of Hanuman as he helps Ram rescue Sita and defeat the demon king, Ravana. Before you begin this episode, be sure to listen to Her…
Soul View - Bonus Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:02
In this bonus episode, Ram Dass explores methods available for seeing through our conditioning and navigating life on more than one plane of awareness. Raghu Markus returns to share a special excerpt from Ram Dass around…
Ep. 224 – The Story of Hanuman and the Ramayana, Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:02
Settle in for a treat as Ram Dass shares the first part of the story of the Ramayana, which features the monkey god, Hanuman, as he serves lord Ram on the journey to defeat Ravana.Want to be part of the discussion about…