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. 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…