Ep. 257 – Perspectives on Death

Ep. 257 – Perspectives on Death

Author: Ram Dass / Love Serve Remember August 5, 2024 Duration: 39:05

How can we learn to live by changing our relationship to death? Ram Dass addresses the staff at a hospital and shares his vast perspectives on death, not getting caught in the drama of dying, and dealing with burnout.

Ram Dass Here & Now 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.

This show 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

Today’s episode is from a lecture Ram Dass gave to the staff of Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York, on November 26, 1986.

  • Ram Dass begins by exploring different perspectives on death. He talks about how the Western perspective on dying can often frame death as the enemy, then shares how the Eastern perspective contains a lot more lightness about death.
  • Ram Dass touches on the hospice movement and then discusses his work with the Living Dying Center. He talks about how death is often the biggest drama in town, but the process of dying can be used to awaken rather than keep people identified with their separateness. 
  • Finally, Ram Dass addresses the issue of burnout in the medical community. How can one function in the role of being a healer without emotionally being attached to whether or not the patient lives or dies? But we can approach pain and suffering in a way where we don’t get lost in it.

Listen to this podcast ad-free and support these great talks from the Ram Dass Archive. 7-day free trial: patreon.com/RamDassPodcast

“I must just encourage you to explore the possibility that you use the adventure of service as a vehicle for opening up the exploration of who you are in relation to what you’re doing. Because I think if you were less a nurse and less a doctor, and more an awareness who was being a nurse and doctor, your payoff would be improved considerably, and death would become an interesting part of nature rather than an error or a failure. And you could still do your work, in fact, perhaps even more impeccably.” – 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. 16 – Little Shmoos [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:27
Ram Dass talks about the somebody training we all go through in life, and how he turned his big, frightening neuroses into friendly, little Shmoos.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy No…
Ep. 15 – Samadhi [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:58
Ram Dass takes us on a journey outside of time and space as he explores the trance-like state known as Samadhi and what it might be like to be the guru.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priva…
Ep. 14 – Meditation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:47
In this talk from 1969, Ram Dass shares several meditation methods to help go behind the rational mind to the next state of consciousness.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at h…
Ep. 13 – Fast Forward [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:20
Fast forward from 1974 to the present-day – though the year has changed, the questions asked of Ram Dass during this recording of the 'Love Serve Remember’ box set are as relevant as ever.See Privacy Policy at https://ar…
Ep. 12 – Behind it All [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:29
Buckle in for a journey with Ram Dass to a place behind it all, beyond the grand illusions, beyond the groovy trips of the mind, and beyond desire and attachment.This episode has been remastered thanks to listeners like…
Ep. 11 – Letting it All Go [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:26
This time on the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass examines the evolution of consciousness and explores the many dimensions of consciousness available to us through practice.This episode has been remastered thanks to listen…
Ep. 10 – Through Illusions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:33
On this episode of the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass talks about seeing through illusions of the ego while still carrying the burden of one’s personality through life.This episode has been remastered thanks to listeners…
Ep. 09 – The Tibetan Lama and the Rational Mind [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:50
This time on the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass discusses the seductiveness of the rational mind and explores another option we have for interacting with the world.This episode has been remastered thanks to listeners lik…
Ep. 08 – It's All One [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:07
Ram Dass examines the interconnection between faiths and breaks down one of Maharaj-ji’s most essential teachings: ‘Sub Ek’ – it’s all one.This episode has been remastered thanks to listeners like you.You can support the…
Ep. 07 – The Veil [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:50
On this episode of the Here and Now Podcast, Ram Dass examines our perception of identity and asks us to look beyond the veil of illusion between our true selves and who we think we are.This episode has been remastered t…