#@babaramdass

[ramdassloveserveremember]

“Our whole spiritual transformation brings us to the point where we realize that in our own being, we are enough.” - Ram Dass

[ramdassloveserveremember]

CULTIVATING THE PRACTICE OF 'BE HERE NOW'⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

"What’s changed now is that much more of the time, when I am ‘here,’ this is it, I am here, and when I’m not here, I’m not here.

⁣⁣⁣⁣It’s interesting how when you give another human being, your family, or your business, the fullness of your being at any moment, a little is enough; while when you give them half of it because you’re time binding with your mind, there’s never enough. ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

You begin to hear the secret, that being fully in the present moment is the greatest gift you can give to each situation.⁣⁣"⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

- Ram Dass

Illustration by @thesoulshineco⁣⁣⁣⁣ 🌼

[dinacharya]

[ramdassloveserveremember]

The devotional path isn’t necessarily a straight line to enlightenment. ☽ There’s a lot of back and forth, negotiations if you will, between the ego and the soul. You look around at all the aspects of suffering. And you watch your heart close in judgment. Then you practice opening it again and loving this too. As a manifestation of the Beloved, another way the Beloved is taking form. Again your love grows vast. ☽ In Bhakti, as you contemplate, emulate, and take on the qualities of the Beloved. Your heart keeps expanding until you see the whole universe as the Beloved, even the suffering. ☽ As I have explored my own and others’ journeys toward love. I’ve encountered different types of happiness. There’s pleasure. There’s happiness, and then there’s joy. Addiction, even in the broad sense of just always wanting more of something, gives only pleasure. Pleasure is very earthbound when you’re getting it from sensual interaction. And it always has its opposite; also, the need for satisfaction is never-ending. Happiness is emotional. And emotions come and go. It may play into the complex of other emotional stuff that we all carry. ☽ But there is also spiritual happiness, which gets very close to joy. ☽ As it becomes less personal, spiritual happiness becomes joy. Joy is being part of the One. It’s spiritual, the joy-full universe like trees are joyful. It’s bliss or ananda. It’s all those things. The difference is that it comes from the soul. ☽ - Ram Dass