Ram Dass

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Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert in 1931) is a spiritual leader, author, and lecturer. He is known for his personal and professional association with Indian philosopher and teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti; their relationship ended when they dissolved the intellectual partnership to pursue individual paths of spirituality. In the late 1960s, he was a principal investigator in the Harvard Psychological Study of Human Nature — a project involving psychedelic drugs and new forms of consciousness research. Throughout the 1970s he continued to lecture on Hinduism, meditation, and other spiritual topics while also becoming heavily involved with the new age movement and New Age thinking – including Eastern philosophy, holistic healing practices such as astrology, and mystical traditions such as Kabbalah. Today Ram Dass continues to lecture on these subjects while traveling around the world as a prominent speaker.

Early Life

Ram Dass was born Richard Alpert in 1931 to Jewish parents in New York City. Raised in a secular household, he showed little interest in religion while growing up. His father, a physician, died when he was just 10 years old. He gained his first exposure to religious studies while at Stanford University, where he majored in psychology and philosophy. After graduating, he traveled to India and studied meditation with Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba, who became his spiritual teacher and mentor. Alpert and a fellow Stanford student, Andrew Weil, were given the task of studying the use of psychedelic drugs — including psilocybin, mescaline, and LSD — in an attempt to understand their effects on the human psyche.

Harvard Psychedelic Research

After gaining his PhD from Stanford, Alpert accepted a position at Harvard University, where he became a principal investigator in the Harvard Psychological Study of Human Nature — a project involving psychedelic drugs and new forms of consciousness research. The team of researchers, which included himself and fellow psychologist Timothy Leary, conducted experiments with the psychedelic drug psilocybin, which is found in certain mushrooms, and is thought to have been used in religious rituals for thousands of years. They studied the effects as well as the chemical makeup of the drug, attempting to understand why and how it induces certain states of mind. The team also researched other psychedelic drugs such as Mescaline and LSD.

Transcendental Meditation and Hinduism

Alpert began to study Transcendental Meditation (TM) under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the mid-1960s. He traveled to India to study with Yogi full-time and was involved in the development of the TM movement. After eight years of study and practice, Alpert became a teacher of the technique and co-authored the book, "Transcendental Meditation: A New Approach to Escaping the Worry Trap", with fellow TM teacher Charles Johnston. The book offered a new approach to the teaching of TM and the practice of meditation. It also discussed how the practice of TM could be used for stress reduction and to improve the quality of life.

The Path to Kriya Yoga

Alpert was a student of Krishnamurti from the early 1960s until the dissolution of their intellectual collaboration in 1973. During that period, he was also a dedicated meditation practitioner, and was authorized as a TM teacher by Yogi. Krishnamurti, who was a friend of Yogi’s, had been involved in a study of the TM technique and was invited to teach the technique to Alpert and other TM students. Krishnamurti’s approach to the teachings of meditation and spiritual awakening differed greatly from the Yogi’s instruction. The teachings of Krishnamurti, which focused on the dissolution of the ego and the relinquishing of intellectual pursuits, were more closely related to the path of meditation as taught by Alpert’s own guru.

Final Words

After the dissolution of the intellectual partnership, Alpert continued to practice TM and to teach, lecture, and write about the technique and other forms of meditation. He also studied other Eastern philosophies and mystical traditions, including the teachings of Kabbalah. Through the following decades, Alpert continued to write, lecture, and travel, becoming a prominent speaker and author in the field of spirituality and self-help. He became heavily involved in the New Age movement, which attempted to combine the best of Eastern philosophies, ancient wisdom, and mystical traditions with modern thinking. During this time, he took the name “Ram Dass,” which is Sanskrit for “servant of God,” and continued to expand his knowledge of both Eastern and Western philosophies and mystical traditions.