The Ember Within
A Timeless Teaching from Ram Dass
Ram Dass was a teacher who helped bridge Eastern spirituality with Western psychology. Born Richard Alpert, he began as a Harvard professor before a journey to India in the 1960s transformed his life. Under the guidance of Neem Karoli Baba, he turned from intellectual achievement toward a path of service, meditation, and inner awakening.
In his writings and talks, Ram Dass returned again and again to the truth that beneath all the roles we play and the thoughts we carry, there is something deeper — the spirit itself. His words are not meant to be analysed, but to remind us of what is already within.
The passage that follows is one of his well-loved reflections.
Beyond all polarities… I am.
Let the judgments and opinions of the mind
be judgments and opinions of the mind.
And you—
you exist behind that.
Ah so… ah so…
It’s really time for you to see through
the absurdity of your own predicament.
You aren’t who you thought you were.
You just aren’t that person.
And in this very lifetime,
you can know it.
Right now.
The real work you have to do
is in the privacy of your own heart.
All of the external forms are lovely—
but the real work
is your inner connection.
If you’re quiet when you meditate,
if you truly open your heart…
Just quiet your mind.
Open your heart.
Quiet the mind… open the heart.
How do you quiet the mind?
You meditate.
How do you open the heart?
You start to love…
that which you can love.
And just keep expanding it.
You love a tree.
You love a river.
You love a leaf.
You love a flower.
You love a cat.
You love a human.
But go deeper, and deeper into that love,
until you love that
which is the source of the light
behind all of it.
Behind all of it.
You don’t worship the gate—
you go into the inner temple.
Everything in you that you don’t need, you can let go of.
You don’t need loneliness,
for you couldn’t possibly be alone.
You don’t need greed,
because you already have it all.
You don’t need doubt,
because you already know.
The confusion is saying:
“I don’t know.”
But the minute you are quiet, you find out that in truth…
you do know.
For in you— you know.
Plane after plane will open to you.
I want to know who I really am.
As if in each of us, there once was a fire.
And for some of us, it may seem there are only ashes now.
But when we dig in the ashes, we find one ember.
And very gently, we fan that ember.
Blow on it… it gets brighter.
And from that ember we rebuild the fire.
The only thing that’s important is that ember.
That’s what you and I are here to celebrate:
that though we’ve lived our life
totally involved in the world—
we know.
We know that we are of the spirit.
The ember grows stronger.
The flame begins to flicker.
And pretty soon, you realize…
that all we are going to do, for eternity,
is sit around the fire.
— Ram Dass
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Much love,
David