BEING RAM DASS: INDIA BOOK LAUNCH WITH RAMESHWAR DAS
July 10, 2021
Hosted by The Dais on the 10th July with Mr. Rameshwar Das.
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The event saw a moving tribute to the Life of Baba Ram Dass by Devesh Gupta, from Emerge, followed by an insightful conversation about Ram Dass, Neem Karoli Baba and Being Ram Dass. Rameshwar Das, Co-author of the Book, also read out a few passages from the book for the audience and gave an interesting peak from his perspective.
Tribute To Baba Ram Dass at Being Ram Dass : India Book Launch with Rameshwar Das
By Devesh Gupta, Emerge 10 July 2021
Namaste, and Ram Ram
As I begin to understand as to what is to be talked about, about Ram Dass, sudden jolts of energy rush through my cells, for any description I will give of the described will be limited, and Ram Dass is not a body, a person, an idea, which can die, Ram Dass is Love, and Love is activated, It is still here, right here. In hinduism, ‘ Ram’ is the God, and Dass is the servant, who serves the true, the one, selflessly, being in loving awareness.
A living awareness of Love, Compassion, energy, Baba Ram Dass’ life can never be put into a compartment, for from where I see, He lived a fierce life, explored anything and everything that is under the sun or behind the moon, to find out what is true, and what ain’t, and this faith and remembrance fueled his journey, or like he says, ‘ Guru chooses the disciple’, he got led to meet Neem Karoli Maharaj, and the rest is history leading to this moment, and if you are here, you already are a part of it, it is not a co’-incidence, there is no glitch, you are exactly supposed to be here, so what else can you do, than to open your hearts and have a profound experience, for there is no where to go.
Baba Ram Dass left his body on the 22 December 2019, but where can he go. He is still here. I met Baba Ram Dass through his / Maharajji’s book ‘be here now’, you see. I never met him in body, so the attachment to his body never happened, when I opened be here now for the first time, I had actually confused Baba Ram Dass with Neem Karoli Maharaj’s Picture. Did his passing away hurt me ? Yes . Did I have grief ? Yes. Has he gone anywhere. No?
What ended ? The Fear of Death, for nothing changed, He has still been here, form changes, spirit and awareness, they are right here.
So you see, Baba Ram Dass never left, no one really leaves. And This understanding is a grace, which came to me from Baba Ram Dass, his life being a message of learning to become one, and learning to let go .
The Jewel he carried back in his Heart, led to many finding their way back home, to the one, to their ownselves, to Neem Karoli Maharaj, and Ram Dass became the bridge to science, western philosophy, different religions, to the language of heart, to the loving awareness, and Rameshwar Dass ji, Krishna Dass ji, and many others are carrying the same awareness within them, which also resides within each one of us, and we all have to do is to be here now, and remember that we are all one.
Before meeting Neem Karoli Maharaj, Ram Dass’s Experiences with Timothy Leary and many others, with entheogen, observing life and nature, his own training in psychology and academic background further formed ground for him to understanding the love of Neem Karoli Maharaj.

Ram Dass transcended ego, and knowledge, I’d like to quote Ram Dass here ‘ I would rather be in love than being right’
What Ram Dass has done is that is he given the words which can remind the self of the higher states of consciousness which is unity in nature, and his words act has a mirror, as a ladder, to set one free of their selves and be in love. His words are true transmissions, which are happening from a place which is beyond space time, beyond the realm of mind. He speaks from Love. Or Love Speaks Through Baba Ram Dass.
Baba Ram Dass has not only been a bridge between philosophies, but also generations. The Seva and the sense of service, his different projects like the prison project, the dying project, with with the Seva foundation for the blinded, are few examples I’d like to share
To further put light, Ram Dass says
‘ When I don’t know who I am, I Serve You, When I know who I am, I am You, a journey from duality to oneness, to unity, to here we are, in the present.
The meaning of what service is, and what action is has to be understood, the point where the server, the served, and the action are part of one. That that has to happen from understanding the space Time we are at. The Path to god passes through Love and Service.
The learning about not identifying with a particular thing as to who we are, a path to God without a lineage, Baba Ram Dass has shown us how to use everything in our life as a vehicle to get free.
He says ‘ while some are trying to get higher in this game, some want it to be done ‘
Love Serve Remember, three words given to Baba Ram Dass by Neem Karoli Maharaj as a way to transcend, became an organization which kept loving, serving, Remembering, since then.
From George Harrison’s song of Be Here Now, to Steve Jobs looking for Neem Karoli Maharaj, Mark Zukerberg, To Larry Brilliant There can be countless co-relation and causations which can be drawn out, but this is all a divine Leela like Maharajji would say, a point where free will meets determinism, and all of us being here, is also set, it is just being acted out, So I thank you all for being open, and Beyond that, I would like to thank The one.
SO, here we are, at the book launch of Baba Ram Dass, . did we do anything ? Or is it all determined ? Does the question ever matter, I am living it, and many others see the same magic in their life, and , that’s how it is. Maharajj’s / God’s Work happens on its own, we are just here to learn, and witness, to become one in his dance. Thats the only dance there is. and when we are one, then it is not you, not I. Only the Dance.
There can never be a conclusion or a limited legacy which can be spoken of . What we can do is to remember that we are one, and in that Remembrance is remembering Baba Ram Dass, Remembering Neem Karoli Maharaj, and in acting in the world, in the society, from our heart where there is no subject object differentiation, where we are all one, where we are all walking each other home.

Being Ram Dass is not a journey of a separate being, it is a journey to home, from I to we, from them to us, and to the one.
Love, Selflessness, truth, purity is what Ram Dass means, and that Manifesting into action. I’d like to thank the Dais for the great work they are doing.
I ‘d like to thank Mr. Keshav Gupta, and the team at the Dais, Mr. Rameshwar Dass for Giving me this opportunity, and also to Krishna Das Ji, Love Serve Remember and Raghu Markus , Nina Rao ji, My own parents and family and thousands of us, who have lived the message and learning given to all of us in our lives through this divine happening, and also to everyone for doing what they are doing with this loving awareness .
Thank you once again.
Ram Ram
Being Ram Dass : India Book Launch with Rameshwar Das, hosted by The Dais and Partners
You can watch the video of the Tribute to Baba Ram Dass, and the Book Launch here.