Being Ram Dass (Audiobook)

This memoir puts us in the passenger seat with the one-time harvard psychologist and lifelong risk-taker Richard Alpert, who loved to take friends on wild rides on his Harley and test nearly every boundary–inner or outer–that came his way.

Here, Ram Dass shares his life's odyssey in intimate detail: how he struggled with issues of self-identity and sexuality in his youth, pioneered psychedelic research, and opened the doorway to Eastern spiritual practices. In 196 he trekked to India and met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba–to return with a perspective on spirituality and psychology that changed millions.

Populated by a cast of luminaries ranging from Timothy Leary to Elisabeth Kübler Ross, Allen Ginsberg to Sharon Salzberg, Aldous Huxley to Alan Watts—this intimate memoir chronicles the cultural and spiritual transformation Ram Dass experienced that resonate to this day, a journey from the mind to the heart, from the ego to the soul.

Before, after, and along these waypoints, listeners will encounter many other adventures and revelations—each ringing with the potential to awaken the universal, loving divine that links us to this beloved teacher and all of us to each other.

DISC 1 (75:42)

1. Introduction to Being Ram Dass (1:15)
2. Being Ram Dass (0:28)
3. Dedication (0:30)
4. Foreword by Anne Lamott (15:46)
5. Introduction (15:50)
6. PART I: LEARNING & UNLEARNING
7. Chaper One: Fired––and Free (10:14)
8. Chapter One, Part Two (6:44)
9. Chapter One, Part Three (5:18)
10. Chapter Two: Power & Love (9:48)
11. Chapter Two, Part Two (9:30)
    

DISC 2 (75:38)

1. Chapter Two, Part Three (11:57)
2. Chapter Two, Part Four (4:59)
3. Chapter Two, Part Five (6:17)
4. Chapter Three: Mind Fields (9:11)
5. Chapter Three, Part Two (6:49)
6. Chapter Three, Part Three (9:22)
7. Chapter Three, Part Four (10:58)
8. Chapter Four: Working on the Railroad (9:42)
9. Chapter Four, Part Two (6:18)
   

DISC 3 (75:43)

1. Chapter Five: Harvard Yard (7:47)
2. Chapter Five, Part Two (6:08)
3. Chater Five, Part Three (10:50)
4. Chapter Six: Becoming No Body (21:14)
5. Chapter Six, Part Two (3:58)
6. Chapter Seven: The Harvard Psilocybin Project (15:29)
7. Chapter Seven, Part Two (10:14)
   

DISC 4 (72:35)

1. Chapter Eight: Acidification (14:45)
2. Chapter Eight, Part Two (5:18)
3. Chapter Eight, Part Three (5:40)
4. Chapter Nine: Hotel Nirvana (13:11)
5. Chapter Ten: Newton Commune (9:29)
6. Chapter Ten, Part Two (8:56)
7. Chapter Ten, Part Three (1:00)
8. Chapter Eleven: The Center Does Not Hold (14:13)
   

DISC 5 (75:30)

1. Chapter Eleven, Part Two (12:11)
2. Chapter Eleven, Part Three (8:26)
3. Chapter Twelve: Millbrook Morphs (7:00)
4. Chapter Twelve, Part Two (11:27)
5. Chapter Twelve, Part Three (6:52)
6. Chapter Twelve, Part Four (10:16)
7. Chapter Thirteen: East Versus West (4:44)
8. Chapter Thirteen, Part Two (11:27)
9. Chapter Thirteen, Part Three (6:52)
   

DISC 6 (72:12)

1. Chapter Thirteen, Part Four (5:16)
2. Chapter Thirteen, Part Five (6:20)
3. Chapter Fourteen: Mother (8:04)
4. Chapter Fourteen, Part Two (10:22)
5. Chapter Fourteen, Part Three (7:58)
6. PART II: PILGRIM OF THE HEART (0:12)
7. Chapter Fifteen: Journey to the East (12:43)
8. Chapter Fifteen, Part Two (8:07)
9. Chapter Fifteen, Part Three (3:43)
10. Chapter Fifteen, Part Four (9:22)
    

DISC 7 (73:19)

1. Chapter Sixteen: The Mapmaker (19:30)
2. Chapter Seventeen: Instant Yogi (6:24)
3. Chapter Seventeen, Part Two (12:35)
4. Chapter Seventeen, Part Three (9:06)
5. Chapter Seventeen, Part Four (8:40)
6. Chapter Seventeen, Part Five (6:29)
7. Chapter Seventeen, Part Six (10:32)
   

DISC 8 (67:15)

1. Chapter Eighteen: Quick, Get in theCar (3:28)
2. Chapter Eighteen, Part Two (11:07)
3. Chapter Eighteen, Part Three (7:53)
4. Chapter Eighteen, Part Four (12:34)
5. Chapter Eighteen, Part Five (6:57)
6. Chapter Nineteen: From Bindu to Ojas (9:55)
7. Chapter Nineteen, Part Two (11:10)
8. Chapter Nineteen, Part Three (4:09)
   

DISC 9 (74:27)

1. Chapter Twenty: A World Tour (17:05)
2. Chapter Twenty, Part Two (12:23)
3. Chapter Twenty, Part Three (14:14)
4. Chapter Twenty, Part Four (5:35)
5. Chapter Twenty–One: Power Plays (7:33)
6. Chapter Twenty–One, Part Two (10:28)
7. Chapter Twenty–One, Part Three (8:21)
8. Chapter Twenty–One, Part Four (7:45)
   

DISC 10 (73:20)

1. Chapter Twenty–One, Part Five (7:31)
2. Chapter Twenty–One, Part Six (10:44)
3. Chapter Twenty–Two: Be Here Now (3:13)
4. Chapter Twenty–Two, Part Two (6:53)
5. Chapter Twenty–Two, Part Three (7:03)
6. Chapter Twenty–Two, Part Four (4:04)
7. Chapter Twenty–Two, Part Five (4:49)
8. PART III: SERVICE CENTER (5:56)
9. Chapter Twenty–Three: All Doing Time (5:56)
10. Chapter Twenty–Three, Part Two (9:18)
11. Chapter Twenty–Three, Part Three (13:32)
    

DISC 11 (76:51)

1. Chapter Twenty-Four: Brookly Detour (6:04)
2. Chapter Twenty–Four, Part Two (9:24)
3. Chapter Twenty–Four, Part Three (4:55)
4. Chapter Twenty–Five: Dying Project (16:10)
5. Chapter Twenty–Five, Part Two (4:16)
6. Chapter Twenty–Five, Part Three (7:11)
7. Chapter Twenty–Five, Part Four (1:53)
8. Chapter Twenty–Five, Part Five (3:53)
9. Chapter Twenty–Six: How Can I Help? (14:25)
10. Chapter Twenty–Six, Part Two (4:21)
11. Chapter Twenty–Six, Part Three (4:15)
    

DISC 12 (76:12)

1. Chapter Twenty–Six, Part Four (8:20)
2. Chapter Twenty–Six, Part Five (5:12)
3. Chapter Twenty–Seven: It's Only Love (4:36)
4. Chapter Twenty–Seven, Part Two (5:33)
5. Chapter Twenty–Seven, Part Three (12:27)
6. Chapter Twenty–Seven, Part Four (3:57)
7. Chapter Twenty–Eight: Looking Inward, Reaching Out (7:31)
8. Chapter Twenty–Eight, Part Two (5:51)
9. Chapter Twenty–Eight, Part Three (6:31)
10. PART IV: THE WHEEL TURN (0:12)
11. Chapter Twenty-Nine: The New Old Age (8:17)
12. Chapter Twenty-Nine, Part Two (7:39)
    

DISC 13 (69:36)

1. Chapter Twenty-Nine, Part Three (7:15)
2. Chapter Twenty-Nine, Part Four (9:17)
3. Chapter Thirty: Stroked (15:17)
4. Chapter Thirty, Part Two (4:21)
5. Chapter Thirty, Part Three (3:11)
6. Chapter Thirty–One: Long Road Back (13:28)
7. Chapter Thirty–One, Part Two (5:10)
8. Chapter Thirty–One, Part Three (3:11)
9. Chapter Thirty–Two: Marooned on Maui (6:19)
   

DISC 14 (66:00)

1. Chapter Thirty–Two, Part Two (9:27)
2. Chapter Thirty–Two, Part Three (6:54)
3. Chapter Thirty–Two, Part Four (5:39)
4. Chapter Thirty–Three: Only Son (12:35)
5. Chapter Thirty–Three, Part Two (9:28)
6. PART V: OCEAN VIEW (0:13)
7. Chapter Thirty–Four: Heart 2 Heart (13:50)
8. Chapter Thirty–Four, Part Two (7:49)
   

DISC 15 (57:30)

1. Chapter Thirty–Five: Maharaj-ji's Lila (13:58)
2. Chapter Thirty–Five, Part Two (7:41)
3. Chapter Thirty–Six: Closer to Home (7:23)
4. Chapter Thirty–Six, Part Two (9:44)
5. Chapter Thirty–Six, Part Three (4:02)
6. The Next Chapter: Ram Dass: Here/Not Here (12:37)
7. Conclusion to Being Ram Dass (2:03)

Ram Dass (1931-2019) is the author of the classic Be Here now, Walking Each Other home, Paths to God, Still here, The Only Dance There Is and many more books.

Rameshwar Das is a writer and photographer who met Ram Dass in 1968. Ramesh collaborated with Ram Das on many projects most recently as coauthor of Be Love Now and Polishing the Mirror.