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In 1992 Sripad Jagannatha Das was asked if he would do an exclusive interview with the Maharishi in Switzerland. The author readily agreed as the reclusive spiritual master almost never met the press and was embarking on an ambitious mass meditation program to purify vast areas of the United States. After a great deal of negotiation, the two finally got together on Christmas Eve and had a prolonged, stirring conversation that is documented here.

This is the true story of each of the spiritual "Gang of four" and their master and deep inspiration Neem Karol Baba.

In Being the Guru, Ram Dass turns the teaching inward, examining what happens when responsibility replaces seeking. This recording includes a full biographical narrative, interwoven with talks that explore the transition from student to teacher, from devotion to embodiment.

The Sri Brama-samhita is a collection of prayers by Brahma at the beginning of material creation after the Supreme Person Krishna gave Brahma a divine vision of the spiritual world. Brama, in his amazement, speaks volumes of divinely inspired praise before beginning his work of creation. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu acquired the Fifth Chapter of the Brama-Samhita from the Adi-Keshava temple in South India.

Author Sripad Jagannatha Dasa became friends with Ram Das in the early '70s and traveled across America, playing Indian drums at his speaking engagements. During that time, the two discussed the publication of some of his lectures, but nothing was ever done, and the two lost touch. Now, finally, after all these years, Jagannatha Dasa keeps his promise to his old friend, publishing this original audio history of one of our most inspired and cherished spiritual teachers.

Dr. Richard Alpert, a former Harvard professor and Timothy Leary cohort, was an icon of the hippie, LSD-fueled revolution of the 1960s. Thereafter, on a trip to India—like Clark Kent changing into Superman—he became the much-beloved spiritual teacher Baba Ram Das. His 1970s iconic book Be Here Now turned on a generation to the deep, non-sectarian spirituality within us all.

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, also known as Srila Prabhupāda, was a prominent spiritual leader and revivalist of the Gaudīya Vaisnava tradition in early 20th-century India.

Neem Karoli Baba or Maharaj-ji—was a guru, mystic, and devotee of Lord Hanuman. He is the spiritual master of a number of prominent Americans who traveled to India in the 1960s and 70s, including spiritual teachers Ram Dass, Bhagavan Das, and musicians Krishna Das and Jai Uttal. Maharaji was a lifelong adept of bhakti-yoga and encouraged service to others (seva) as the highest form of unconditional devotion to God.

The Hanuman Chalisa is a Vedic devotional hymn (stotra) in praise of Hanuman authored by the poet sage Tulsi Das. The word "chālīsā" means the number forty in Sanskrit, as the Hanuman Chalisa has forty verses. Lord Hanuman is a great devotee of Sri Ram and one of the central characters in the epic, Ramayan. Hanuman is also an incarnation of Shiva. The qualities of Hanuman—his strength, courage, wisdom, celibacy, devotion to Lord Ram, and the many names by which he is known are all in the Hanuman Chalisa. Devotional recitation of this sacred prayer is done by millions every day.

The Hanuman Chalisa is a hymn in praise of Hanuman authored by Tulsi Das. The qualities of Hanuman - his strength, courage, wisdom, celibacy, devotion to Ram, and the many names by which he is known - are all in the Hanuman Chalisa. Hanuman is the epitome of ultimate devotion manifested with its full glory unchallenged. By the power of his devotion to Sita Ram, he easily achieved supreme status as the perfect devotee and servitor. Reciting the Hanuman Chalisa infuses one with unlimited energy and prana.

Throughout history, some of the most thoughtful minds have advocated that life does not end with the death of our body, but continues via a process known as reincarnation. The Vedic literature of India advocates that the soul, or atma, gives life to the body. Life does not arise from a particular combination of material elements as some modern scientists theorize. At the time of death, we leave one body and enter a new one. That is called reincarnation.

The incarnations of Vishnu are a recurrent theme in Vedic history. Vishnu exists outside the material realm as the creator, and within every being as the Supersoul. He also enters this world as an avatar, ‘one who descends’, to restore balance whenever his presence is needed.

Neem Karoli Baba known as Maharaj-ji—was a guru, mystic and devotee of Hanuman. He is very well known outside India for being the spiritual master of a number of prominent Americans who traveled to India in the 1960s and '70s, including spiritual teachers Ram Dass, Bhagavan Das, and musicians Krishna Das and Jai Uttal. His ashrams are in Kainchi, Vrindavan, Rishikesh, Shimla, Neem Karoli village near Khimasepur in Farrukhabad, Bhumiadhar, Hanumangarhi, Delhi in India and in Taos, New Mexico. Maharaji was a lifelong adept of bhakti yoga, and encouraged service to others (seva).

Throughout history, some of the most thoughtful minds have advocated that life does not end with the death of our body, but continues on via a process known as reincarnation. In the Western world, followers of the Orphic religion in ancient Greece were the first known exponents of reincarnation. They were succeeded by Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and a host of other philosophers.

In these talks, Ram Dass speaks openly about devotion, service, and the inner transformation that comes through love rather than effort. He returns again and again to Hanuman as the clearest expression of this path—not as a story or belief, but as a living example of selfless service, humility, and unwavering dedication to truth.

This recording brings together the clearest, most enduring wisdom shared by Ram Dass—spoken from the place where spirituality meets ordinary human life. Here, Ram Dass speaks not as a guru above experience, but as a fellow traveler. He talks openly about ego, fear, desire, love, suffering, aging, and death—not as problems to solve, but as realities to be met with awareness and compassion. His words move gently between humor and gravity, reminding the listener that awakening is not an escape from life, but a deeper participation in it.

Newly discovered and preserved in their original form, these lectures present Ram Dass speaking directly and without mediation. There is no polish and no performance—only the teaching as it arises in the moment.

In these extended talks, Ram Dass speaks at length about truth and divine love as direct experience rather than belief. He examines how the search for meaning often becomes entangled with ego, identity, and fear, and how those same obstacles can become the doorway to awakening when met with awareness. Love, in these reflections, is not sentiment or morality, but a state of being that arises when resistance softens.

Lord Brahma saw Krsna directly and composed a prayer based on his realizations–a striking prayer by one who has seen the truth.

Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, was a spiritual teacher who lived in ancient India between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is the founder of Buddhism, one of the major religions of the world. Buddha was born into a royal family, but he renounced his luxurious lifestyle at the age of 29 to seek the truth about life and the nature of suffering. He spent six years as a wandering ascetic before attaining enlightenment at the age of 35.