Ep. 260 - The Bliss of Pure Awareness: Satsang with Ram Dass and Friends Pt. 3

Ep. 260 - The Bliss of Pure Awareness: Satsang with Ram Dass and Friends Pt. 3

Followed by spoken-word poetry from Dreaming Bear, Ram Dass and Uma Reed explore how the union of Bhakti and Vedanta leads to unchanging bliss and eternal awareness. Recorded in 2008 at Studio Maui, this mini-series features Ram Dass and guests from his satsang. Check out the first two episodes of this mini-series on episodes 245 and 255 of the Be Here Now Network's Guest Podcast. Help us celebrate 10 years of Be Here Now Network and support the next chapter of Ram Dass Here and Now. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Learn more and give here: BHNN 10th Birthday Fundraiser [https://beherenownetwork.com/10years] Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow [http://betterhelp.com/beherenow] and get on your way to being your best self. In this episode, Uma Reed and Ram Dass share insights on: * Weaving together the paths of Bhakti and Vedanta  * Connecting to our blissful nature and a joy that is unchanging * Ram Dass’s mushroom trip at Tim Leary’s house: seeing the roles vs. the soul * Stripping everything away until you are pure awareness and love * Spoken word with Dreaming Bear * Loving all of each other the way we love our beloved * Giving yourself permission to become wild and undomesticated About Uma Reed: Uma was first exposed to Hindu devotional chanting in the early 1970s, while studying meditation and spiritual practices with Ram Dass and various other teachers. Kirtan was a practice that touched her deeply, and as a devotee of Neem Karoli Baba, she often participated in kirtan gatherings with fellow devotees, as well as in other ashrams and spiritual communities. For years she held kirtan in her home, and for the past dozen years or so, she has led kirtan formally in yoga studios, spiritual centers, and retreat settings. She has taught workshops and led kirtan on numerous retreats and in satsang with Ram Dass and other spiritual teachers in the U.S. and abroad. About Dreaming Bear:  Dreaming Bear is a master word-smith delivering his fervent message with extraordinary verbal dexterity and relevance. He's a nomadic bard, a hip mystic and modern-language Sufic style philosopher-poet. If you'd like to experience a living combination of Spaulding Gray, Rumi, Jack Kerouac, Robin Williams, Shel Silverstein, Michael Talbot and Thich Nhat Hanh, you owe it to yourself to see Dreaming Bear. The foundation for Dreaming Bear’s work as a transformational epic orator and poetic storyteller is deeply attuned to the natural world. His work as a university teacher/researcher was further defined by years spent living 'off the grid'. While in a deep communion with what the Hawaiians call the a'ina, or life force of the land, he began to take his artistry to a new level and developed many of the works that have proven to be inspiring to so many. Find out more about Nature’s Poet Laureate by reading a book [https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Love-Kissed-Into-Consciousness/dp/1440100896] of his poetry. “You will always exist. Isn’t that reassuring? You always exist.” –Ram Dass See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Ep. 259 - Ram Dass Fellowship: Navigating the Human Predicament with Duncan Trussell & Jackie Dobrinska

With humor and wisdom, Duncan Trussell shares how the ego can turn spirituality into another achievement, and why freedom comes from realizing there's nothing to prove. Help us celebrate 10 years of Be Here Now Network and support the next chapter of Ram Dass Here and Now. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Learn more and give here: BHNN 10th Birthday Fundraiser [https://beherenownetwork.com/10years] Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow [http://betterhelp.com/beherenow] and get on your way to being your best self. This time on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Duncan chats about: * Lessons on spiritual materialism from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche * Staying connected to everyday life while being spiritual  * Transcendental common sense vs. getting puffed up in the ego * Staying connected to everyday life while being spiritual  * The trouble with actively ignoring parts of ourselves  * Reconciling higher consciousness with everyday affairs  * Surrendering to all of it and becoming ‘normal’ again * Hyperfixating on suffering rather than the end of suffering About Duncan Trussell: Duncan Trussell is a stand-up comedian, podcaster, and actor. His popular podcast, The Duncan Trussell Family Hour [https://www.duncantrussell.com/], has been downloaded over 25 million times and is known for its blend of humor, fringe ideas, eclectic guests, and great interviews. The DTFH is the foundation for Duncan’s Netflix animated series, The Midnight Gospel [https://www.netflix.com/title/80987903], which he co-created with Pendleton Ward in 2020. To learn more about Duncan’s work, visit his website at duncantrussell.com [https://www.duncantrussell.com/]. “It’s a very frustrating thing to our ego to imagine that you don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to learn Sanskrit, know about your chakras, have those scars on your arm from frog venom, do 90 ayahuasca retreats, go to the Ram Dass retreats, listen to Alan Watts lectures. You don’t have to do anything because you’re already there.” –Duncan Trussell  About The Host, Jackie Dobrinska: Jackie Dobrinska is the Director of Education, Community & Inclusion for Ram Dass’ Love, Serve, Remember Foundation and the current host of Ram Dass’ Here & Now podcast. She is also a teacher, coach, and spiritual director with the privilege of marrying two decades of mystical studies with 15 years of expertise in holistic wellness. As an inter-spiritual minister, Jackie was ordained in Creation Spirituality in 2016 and has also studied extensively in several other lineages – the plant-medicine-based Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, Sri Vidya Tantra, Western European Shamanism, Christian Mysticism, the Wise Woman Tradition, and others. Today, in addition to building courses and community for LSRF, she leads workshops and coaches individuals to discover, nourish and live from their most authentic selves. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Ep. 258- The Five Things That Lead to Awakening with Trudy Goodman

Exploring the factors of enlightenment, Vipassana teacher Trudy Goodman offers listeners ‘the good news’ of Buddhist Practice. Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow [http://betterhelp.com/beherenow] and get on your way to being your best self. This time on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Trudy Goodman explores: * The balancing factor, energizing factors, and calming factors of enlightenment * Manifesting metta through mindfulness * Investigation into the truth of the dharma  * Offering compassion to the pain we feel * The beauty and profound stillness of a unified heart-mind * Being both the subject and object of experience  * Having faith in the strengthening of our mindfulness skills This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed [https://dharmaseed.org/talks/18882/] About Trudy Goodman: Trudy is a Vipassana teacher in the Theravada lineage and the Founding Teacher of InsightLA [https://insightla.org/]. For 25 years, in Cambridge, MA, Trudy practiced mindfulness-based psychotherapy with children, teenagers, couples and individuals. Trudy conducts retreats, engages in activism work, and teaches workshops worldwide and online. She is also the voice of Trudy the Love Barbarian in the Netflix series, The Midnight Gospel. You can learn more about Trudy’s flourishing array of wonderful offerings at TrudyGoodman.com [https://www.trudygoodman.com/] “We can be both the subject and object of experience. We can drop the whole thing and be neither. We have this capacity when we are willing to focus our attention, and, to focus our attention somewhere besides here, we discover a whole world of empathy, love, and intimate connection.” –Trudy Goodman See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Ep. 257 - Knowing, Sensing, Relaxing: Guided Meditation with Gil Fronsdal

While offering a guided meditation, Gil Fronsdal traces the movement between knowing, feeling, and relaxing in our practice.  Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow [http://betterhelp.com/beherenow] and get on your way to being your best self. This week on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Gil Fronsdal dives into: * The 3 levels of mindfulness practice (knowing, sensing, relaxing) * Considering what it feels like to be thinking  * Knowing the changing phenomena of the moment * Allowing yourself to be both alert and relaxed * Feeling the activation of our thinking minds * Calming the brain and body  "You’re just kind of flowing along with the changing phenomena of the moment. And the changing phenomena of the moment might just be the changing sensations of breathing. You’re just knowing them in a very, very simple way, maybe even a non-cognitive way. You’re not necessarily thinking about them, having words, but you’re really letting it register, this is the changing sensation of breathing." –Gil Fronsdal This episode was originally published on Dharmaseed [https://dharmaseed.org/talks/76257/] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

Ep. 256 - The Ever-Changing Nature of Identity with Coral Short & Vincent Moore

Embracing the ever-changing nature of identity, queer somatic experiencing practitioner Coral Short discusses Buddhism’s place in polyamory, trans-embodiment, and more. Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow [http://betterhelp.com/beherenow] and get on your way to being your best self. In this episode, Coral Short and Vincent explore: * Bringing Buddhist insights into polyamory  * Encouraging others to share their truth * Anattā (non-self) and accepting the fluidity of identity and body * Performance art and celebrating community through joint creativity * Digital dharma offerings and eco-somatic hikes * The importance of sangha and exploring what forms of Buddhism resonate with you * The book Transcending: Trans Buddhist Voices [https://www.amazon.com/Transcending-Buddhist-Voices-Kevin-Manders/dp/1623174155] * Taking the practice off the mat and into the world * Coral’s performance art and the somatic element to many of their creative avenues  * The radical act of taking up the full space of your body  This conversation was originally recorded on the Paths of Practice Podcast. Listen to more episodes HERE [https://open.spotify.com/show/1RfF8iAhAQIIm75obrZTN7?si=-cy7UjUERsiqCBJu5WcdqQ&nd=1&dlsi=e550637652124cb9]. “I think I am just at home in my body. I’ve been on testosterone, I’m off testosterone. I'm aging, I had a menopause party with my friends. I am constantly changing, hormones, aging, whether you like it or not everything is changing. This idea when I was younger of an attachment to gender, I remember teachers telling me this gender will shift, and watching gender shift as people age across genders and sexualities is fascinating.” –Coral Short About Coral Short: Coral Short is a queer, non-binary, white settler born in 1973. They completed their Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) training in March 2023 with Dea Parsanishi. They specialize in working with LGBTQIA+ folks, recovery, activism, creativity, and all forms of radical sexuality. They are a graduated active Community Dharma Teacher at True North Insight in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal and co-lead a weekly Queer Sangha. Coral has been working with the Stretch Festival in Berlin for several years at the Somatische Akademie/ Village Berlin and at the Montreal Somatics Festival. They offer anti-racist courses, somatic workshops, and eco-somatic walks to international communities. They have been an organizer, activist, and artist for the last two decades.For more information about Coral, please visit the following website: https://www.coralshort.com/ [https://www.coralshort.com/] “Knowing that there is that freedom inside my body and that there’s sangha members who also know, people coming together and being like ‘this is possible’. We can be super gay and also in a state of bliss. It is possible to get these glimmers of joy in the body.” –Coral Short About Vincent Moore: Vincent Moore is a creative and creative consultant living in San Francisco, California, with over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry and holds a graduate degree in Buddhist Studies. For years, he performed regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, an improv and sketch comedy theatre based in New York and Los Angeles. As an actor, Vincent performed on Comedy Central, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Seth Meyers, Above Average, and The UCB Show on Seeso. As a writer, he developed for television as well as stage, including work with the Blue Man Group, and his own written projects have been featured on websites such as Funny or Die. Additionally, he received a Masters of Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies with a Certificate in Soto Zen Studies and engages in a personal Buddhist practice within the Soto Zen tradition. Vincent is also the creator and host of the podcast, Paths of Practice, which features interviews with Buddhists from all over the world. Learn more on Vincent’s website HERE [https://www.goodfornothingideas.com/]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].