Ep. 258 – River Bank Guided Meditation

Ep. 258 – River Bank Guided Meditation

Author: Ram Dass / Love Serve Remember August 20, 2024 Duration: 32:18

In this half-hour guided meditation, Ram Dass uses concentration and mindfulness techniques to help us sit on the river bank of the mind and watch the thoughts, sensations, and feelings flow by.

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

Take a seat on the river bank of your mind with this guided meditation Ram Dass conducted during a retreat in Vancouver, Canada, in February 1992.

  • Ram Dass begins the guided meditation with a Samadhi, or concentration, practice. “Every time the mind wanders to any sensation or thought,” he says, “the minute you notice that it has wandered away from the breath, just very gently, non-judgmentally, draw the awareness back to the next breath.”
  • The meditation shifts to a mindfulness practice. “Now just open up into mindfulness,” says Ram Dass, “just being aware of what is. Let the mind be drawn to whatever primary object it is drawn to. If it’s drawn to a feeling in your back or in your legs, notice that. If it’s drawn to a memory or a plan or an emotion, a listening, tasting, whatever sensation or thought, let it flicker to that, let it sit with it, don’t hold onto the thought or sensation, and then watch it be replaced by another one.”
  • For the last part of the meditation, Ram Dass tells us to focus on the thought of “I.” He says, “Look and see if you can find out where that is. Where is the thought of I? Who is this I? In the ocean of awareness, where is I?”

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

“It’s as if you were sitting on a river bank watching the mind’s stuff go by. Here comes a floating sensation from the knee. Here comes a thought about the whole process. Here comes the listening to a sound. They just come, and they go.” – 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. 176 – Loving & Dying [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:00
In this collection of clips from his core teachings on death and dying, Ram Dass explores love, loss, and soul, elucidates the art of grief, and encourages us all to make peace with death.See Privacy Policy at https://ar…
Ep. 174 – Being Ram Dass [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:19
On this special episode of Here and Now, Raghu Markus and Rameshwar Das celebrate the release of Being Ram Dass by reflecting on some of Ram Dass’s most important teachings.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy…
Ep. 173 – The Problem With Personality [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:34
In this dharma talk from 1982, Ram Dass tackles the problem with personality, exploring how we need to honor the power of our personality without identifying and being attached to it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.c…
Ep. 172 – The Context of Reality [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:15
In this dharma talk from 1983, Ram Dass looks at the context of reality from the perspectives of both the social and political domain, and the domain of spiritual awakening. Being Ram Dass is now available to pre-order –…
Ep. 171 – Reducing Oneself to Zero [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:17
In this late 1970’s Dharma talk from New Lebanon, NY, Ram Dass explores the innate power of reducing ourselves to Zero in order to be truly effective individuals in our practice, service, and being.See Privacy Policy at…
Ep. 170 – Stories on Karma [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:09
Looking at life as a series of lawfully unfolding events, Ram Dass shares rare stories and Eastern wisdom that elucidate the concepts of karma and reincarnation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Califor…
Ep. 169 – The Many Forms of Yoga [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:56
Exploring the various forms of Yoga, Ram Dass shares methods for coming into the One.Links from this episode: Ram Dass Soul Land Live Music Series | The Yoga of Service: 4 Week Online CourseSee Privacy Policy at https://…
Ep. 168 – The Domain of Spirit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:00
Ram Dass explores how spiritual practice helps us find a home in the domain of spirit and root ourselves in presence, even amidst all the suffering and pain of this world.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy a…
Ep. 167 – Dharmic Roles [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:39
In this 1992 session, Ram Dass explores patriarchy and the Ramayana, dharmic roles, planes of consciousness, and being a good adversary.In this question and answer session from July 17th, 1992 in Rhinebeck, NY at the Ome…