Ram Dass talks about the fleeting nature of thought, and of our experience, as an uninvolved witness, of our thoughts and sense perceptions. "All the furure and all the past are thoughts. They are not here..., now. Then you get so you see the thoughts going through your mind like a river of thoughts. You're a witness to your thoughts. Like you're a witness to your eyes registering sight. You're a witness to ears. So you're a witness to your thoughts..."
Tech Note: the aspect ratio of this video is a bit squished (i.e., RD is rather skinny). That's the way it was posted to youtube. Still, his words hold up.
Ram Dass first went to India in 1967. He was still Dr. Richard Alpert, an already eminent Harvard psychologist and psychedelic pioneer with Dr.Timothy Leary. He had continued his psychedelic research until that fateful Eastern trip in 1967, when he traveled to India. In India, he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharajji, who gave Ram Dass his name, which means "servant of God." Everything changed then - his intense dharmic life started, and he became a pivotal influence on a culture that has reverberated with the words “Be Here Now” ever since. Ram Dass’s spirit has been a guiding light for three generations, carrying along millions on the journey, helping free them from their bonds as he has worked his way through his own.
