Maharajji's Three Teachings • Ram Dass

General Love & Compassion
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Hi Everyone,

I’m so thrilled to be logging into our new Be Here Now community! My first post is about what’s happening in my inner life as of late.

I am one of those sensitive beings that has been working through some negative emotions especially in relationship to people in my life. Anger, resentment, bitterness to name a few…

A few days ago I was trying to tie ‘Love Serve Remember’ into a project I was working on so I went browsing through Ram Dass’ Teachings page and found this great story about Maharaj-ji’s 3 Teachings. The article definitely spoke to a lot of what I have been feeling around relationships with people.

Since reading this story I have been sitting in ‘loving awareness’ around my negative emotions and I’m having a very interesting journey inward.

I’m curious to hear more about anyone else who might be exploring this realm and hearing about your experience.

Ram Ram :purple_heart:

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Thank you for sharing! What a beautiful reflection.

Every moment I find as an opportunity to practice remembering to love everyone, serve everyone, and remember the unified god within us all.

Anger, resentment, and bitterness for example, can often make us feel less connected to everyone. I find doing funny tricks like imagining Maharaji’s face on folks I’m disagreeing with can help. “We’re all just god in drag” after all!

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Thanks for your response Mangala. It’s lovely to see how you are able to handle those kinds of situations.

What I’m finding is that the negative emotions are seeking to connect me to myself.
The relationships are a good mirror so they aren’t so personal.
The resentment is letting me know that I’m not getting something I need and if I don’t do something about it then bitterness will take root and hollow me out.
As you were saying disconnecting me from others and myself.
Anger is letting me know that I need to act.

Accepting my state and being through it definitely makes it easier to love everyone from a real place and I’m grateful for these experiences as they are serving me and leading me to truth.

It’s all very icky and I often want to run away though so maybe putting Maharaj-ji bobble heads on people is a good middle ground I could incoporate :slight_smile:

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Thank you for sharing your reflections on this. I think it’s a very common thing, to feel at odds with the teachings when we are sitting with our very human emotions, and I too understand what you are saying. I have found it fascinating to observe my unconscious narrative, the voice that runs through my head and how, at times, it isn’t exactly the most pleasant company - and that how, when I remember to see it all as the path, including the people who I find challenging, a huge space opens up and I am freer with myself and with everyone else. Remembering it and interrupting myself with the teaching is the key.

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I remember, I think it was around 2016 or so, there was a lot of vitriol around a certain political figure who was onctentious, angry, and who engaged in a lot of criticism and what felt like hateful rhetoric. This person was causing a lot of damage. Somewhere I heard that Ram Dass also found this person difficult. His response was to put that person’s picture on his altar and include them in his prayers/meditation/reflections. When I think about the call of loving kindness meditation, that is the core, to wish that all beings are happy, healthy, and live with ease. It is a story that has been a guidepost for me, something I come back to when I feel upset or judegment arising about someone whose actions or policies seem hurtful to others.

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Yes. I know this teaching. I hear it echoed in Tara Brach’s teachings about ‘getting up close’ to those we find challenging. So not to dehumanise.

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I just posted a meditation in the thread about our favorite Ram Dass recordings on pure light. It is a great one for this because as we connect with our own heart light he points out that this light is in everyone’s heart and he goes through lists of people we come across in our days… a bit outdated… but still relevant… and a reminder for me how to be in the world rather than feeling so separate alone and judgmental…

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Hello beautiful people :wave:
Yes, I’ve come across those moments in time were I get caught up in my distortion of the mind & want to push away from what is about to unfold.

Once had a young man approach me on the street wanting directions. He had ripped clothing holes in his shoes & was dirty. So I directed him & as he walked away I judged him. Suddenly I hear “judge not as he is a son of God”.:face_with_monocle:

So I began to envision him as Aladdin. My prospective completely shifted. And I suddenly run into him again . He ran up to me & said I made it! He was radiant full of joy.
I witnessed Gods presence in this young man .

Love everyone !

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such a wonderously beautiful lesson Adrianna…I appreciate your sharing it with us

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Thank you for sharing this…today I walked by a co-worker and usually I would just keep walking (it was lunchtime) and today for some reason I thought I’ll stop and engage her in conversation. I need to do that more often, I tend to focus too much on the tasks and not the people. This is a great reminder of “people first,” connection is important, we are all souls on the path… <3

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I have been sitting with this teaching still. 2 months later. It’s been very nice to read through everyone’s feedback - experience. What I am finding is that you also have to be compassionate with yourself. There’s a reason why we are sometimes turned off by people and that is ok to. Ram Dass would probably say something like ‘you don’t like that person’ well that’s your problem. That person is just being as they are in the moment and it is my problem for feeling put off by them. I’ve been focusing on Marshall Rosenberg’s non violent communication principles and have found that I couldn’t agree more with Ram Dass that our reactions and perceptions to things, people are ours and not someone else. That doesn’t mean we don’t set boundaries and address conflict when there is something but the conversation needs to come from a place of what am I needing that isn’t being met and is it possible to make a request of this person to see if they want to offer what I’m needing. Just in identifying what I’m needing makes the person’s actions or being less personal. I’ve been chewing on that. I can’t imagine it would be healthy for us to engage with people we just don’t jive with or that everytime we are around them we experience pain or suffering in some form. What is important is how we acknowledge those feelings and make sure we are not projecting them on the person we are having a conflict with. Sometimes people just aren’t good for you to be around. Whatever their dharma or karmic path is just isn’t healthy for you and that’s ok. We can’t be friends with everyone but we can have compassion for everyone. I had a situation like this not long ago with a friend. They were depressive all the time and it would affect our interactions like they wouldn’t show up after making plans, they would kind of invite themselves into my life when it was convenient for them or when they needed something. At first I would react with anger and resentment and would sometimes feel passive aggressive towards them. I found that it wasn’t working and that it was just feeding all of the negative aspects of our relationship and I could feel them projecting what I was projecting back at me. A mirror so to speak. In the end I just accepted that this is who they were. I had a conversation with them in a NVC kind of way and felt so much better that I spoke to what I needed. Nothing changed on their end and they weren’t very receptive and in a way ‘declined’ my request for what I was needing. They just weren’t up for it and that is ok so we don’t really hang out anymore. My anger and resentment dissipated the moment I communicated my needs and now I feel so much compassion for them and in a way can’t be upset with them because of the journey they are on and the choices they are making. We may not be as close but we are relating in a far healthier way.

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Thank you for sharing this Tania, I agree its on our end to navigate the openness and decide if this is a “good fit” so to speak. I love that you shared your story and once you opened up to the person and shared your true thoughts, needs, and feelings, your heart and compassion followed suit. In a way, the more open we become and comfortable with letting go of outcomes from life and others, it all unfolds so nicely. Until the next time we need to learn the lesson, again, and again…lol :green_heart: :yellow_heart: :blue_heart: :pray: :pray:

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Wise teachings. Their depth is not easily apparent. Investigating the dharma, phenonomena, and perceptions within the context of the teachings has supported more contemplation and spaciousness when encountering uncomfortable situations.

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This post resonates with me as well. Specifically, I think of Ram Dass pointing out that it is easy to sit in loving awareness when you are alone, in nature, or in a “good place”. But, putting ourselves in a true space that inhabits our human form, with others around us, work that stresses us or even in a place that carries with it negative energy is a yes of our practice and brings grace through suffering. But I also am reminded that these three teachings pertain to how we relate to ourselves in form. I’m trying hard at this very moment to love and serve myself. Maybe it is about letting go of the attachment to self-evaluation.

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This is a similar teaching from Jack Kornfeld.

Once two Tibetan monks traveling on pilgrimage came to a rushing river. There they saw an ugly old leper woman sitting on the bank, begging alms.

When the monks approached, she begged the priestly pair to assist her in crossing the river. One monk instinctively felt revulsion; disgusted, he gathered his long, flowing monastic robes about himself and waded into the river on his own, soon to reach the other side. There he wondered if he would even bother to wait for his tardy friend, being unsure as to whether or not the other monk would abandon the leper or wish to continue traveling on with her alongside.

But the second monk felt sorry for the decrepit old hag, and compassion naturally blossomed in his heart. He picked up the leprous creature, hoisted her onto his back, and struggled down the riverbank and into the swirling current.

Naturally enough, his brother monk had safely reached the far side long before the heavily laden lama, bearing his dirty bundle or rags and bones, even reached midstream.

Then an amazing thing happened. At midstream, just where the going seemed to be becoming most difficult, with the muddy water boiling about his thighs and his water-logged woolen robes billowing out like sails, the kindly monk suddenly-miraculously, it seemed-felt the burden lifted from his back. Looking up, he saw the female Buddha Vajra Yogini herself soaring gracefully overhead, reaching down to draw him up to Paradise with her.

The first monk, greatly chastened-having been so directly instructed in the nature of both compassion and illusory form-had to continue alone on his solitary pedestrian pilgrimage.

~Tibetan Buddhist

This excerpt is taken from the book, “Soul Food: Stories to Nourish the Spirit & The Heart

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