Ram Dass: Fierce Grace
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Movie Reviews of Ram Dass: Fierce Grace
Movie Review: A gift of love
Summary: 5 Stars
Mickey Lemle's documentary Ram Dass, Fierce Grace, describes the life of Ram Dass (Richard Alpert), author, 60s guru, spiritual teacher, cohort of Timothy Leary, and author of Be Here Now, one of the most influential books of the 1970s. The film begins in the present as Ram Dass deals with the effects of a massive stroke he suffered in February 1997 that left him physically incapacitated and with impaired memory and speech.
Interweaving current conversations, interviews with people in his life, and archival footage, Lemle then looks back at his childhood, the controversy surrounding his research with Timothy Leary in psychedelics at Harvard, his studies in India with Neem Karoli Baba who renamed him Baba Ram Dass (Servant of God), his work with the Seva Foundation in social action projects dedicated to relieving suffering in the world, and his impact as an author and guru to millions of followers. Several examples are shown of his compassion and his ability to feel the pain of others. In an opening sequence, his beautiful "Rachel's Letter"*comforts a family after their daughter was murdered. In the final sequence, Ram Dass listens to a young woman struggling to overcome her grief at her boyfriend's violent death. In a powerfully moving segment, she brings Ram Dass to tears when she tells him about a dream she had in which her boyfriend speaks to her from beyond with a reassuring message.
When Ram Dass received the "fierce grace" of being "stroked", he admits he did not have any unusual spiritual epiphany. He recalls, "Here I am, Mr. Spiritual, and in my own head I didn't orient toward the spirit. It showed me I have some work to do". He has written about the stroke in his latest book, "Still Here" in which he talks about slowing down, and finding out about the "everything" that is out there. For Ram Dass, aging has become a gift. "I was galumphing through life before the stroke", he says. "I'm at peace now more than I've ever been. The peace comes from settling in to the moment". Enhanced by the music of Krishna Das, the documentary is more than just a bio-pic or a meditation on the process of aging, it is an inspiring portrait of a man whose life can be summed up in one word -- service. Ram Dass has said, "What one person has to offer to another is their own being, nothing more, nothing less". In Ram Dass, Fierce Grace, Mr. Lemle has given us Ram Dass' being, nothing more, nothing less. That is a gift of love.
Movie Review: A Place of Grace
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't know if it was just me or what, but when I was fifteen, I thought I was somehow going to be the one that magically escaped "old age". But then I got to be in my twenties and I still clung to a shred of hope that maybe I could still escape it. After my thirties I knew I was going to be no different than all the others that preceeded me, age was inevitable, but getting old was entirely up to me.
In this exceptional movie, Ram Dass shows us that even though the body may betray us, the Spirit that is within is always willing to make all things new. He is a "true" Spiritual teacher. He lives what he talks about. I was always kind of suspect of those "teachers" who claimed to be so exalted and beyond this world. What makes a "true" spiritual teacher is someone who shows us the we are in the world, but we are not of it...that our limitations are not here to thwart us, but are given to us so that we may get the opportunity to prove that our soul/our spirit is infinitely stronger than any situation we may be going through.
I have to admit, I've done my fair share of pouting the last few years. My body has had its share of trials and tribulations to overcome and after seeing Fierce Grace, I was actually embarrassed about my physical complaining. Ram Dass has faced his physical limitations with an even greater willingness to "serve God". He truly is the embodiment of Love, Compassion, and Service.
We can all learn from this beautiful movie. Do we curse the things that we are given or do we realize that even the so called difficulties that are in our lives are blessings? We really don't know what is for our Highest Good, but there is something that does and it is that something greater that we need to continually surrender to moment by moment by precious moment.
Every moment of our lives has gotten us to right here and right now and where we will eventually end up will be determined by what we predominantly used our time for. Did we use our time helping others or by seeing what we could get from others? Did we use our time for celebrating or for mourning our losses? Did we realize the amount of grace that is available in each and every moment or did we argue that life isn't fair? We may not be able to escape age, but we can use it to our greatest advantage.
This movie is a blessing. You will feel blessed just by watching it.
Peace to all...
Movie Review: A hippie guru learns to live with the challenges of old age
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a documentary about the legendary Harvard professor, Richard Albert, who experimented with LSD in the 60s, then went to India, changed his name to Ram Das, and came back to become a guru for the hippie generation. Now he's about 70, and, due to a stroke he suffered in 1997, is wheelchair bound. "I never expected old age to be like this," he says with difficulty, as his speech is slow now as he struggles to find the right words. The camera takes us right with him on his daily routine. Aides help him dress and drive him to his many therapy appointments and we are witness to his acupuncture as well as speech and physical therapy sessions.There's background of course, home movies of him as a child in the 1930s, one of three lively siblings whose father was the president of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. There's some footage of him with a fresh face and short cropped hair as a professor at Harvard as he and Timothy Leary saw the mind altering drugs of the time as a major breakthrough in human psychology. And then we see him with his guru in India, taking on the spiritually that was even more powerful than the drugs. He then returned home, bearded and dressed in what his father described as a "bedsheet", and held outdoor yogi sessions for his hundreds of his followers right on the golf course of his family's New Hampshire estate. His book, "Be Here Now" became a best seller and is still in print.
But now he's an old man, struggling with his physical challenges. Much of the film focuses on him this way, and sometimes it's hard to watch as he's learning to live with his limitations. I was impatient with some of these scenes, in which he struggles to speak; I would have much preferred the film tto be about his history, rather than his present. However, I realize that the film is exactly what he intended it to be and it gives a powerful message. He's now a guru to the aging baby boomers and he's a living example of how to deal with old age with dignity. Aging is a natural part of life and we all have to learn to live with it. Ram Das is a fine example. He's recently written a book, takes on speaking engagements, and finds time to give individuals spiritual counseling.
I give this film a high recommendation. There's a lot to learn from it. It might not be comfortable to watch, but it
certainly is worthwhile.
Movie Review: Still Here And Dancing The Only Dance There Is!
Summary: 5 Stars
Baba Ram Dass was one of the major spiritual influences in my life during the early '70's. I discovered his books and tapes just about the time I decided to change my college major from Anthropology to Religious Studies. It's books like: 'Be Here Now', 'The Only Dance There Is' and more recently 'Still Here' that continue to break through my rigidity of thought and open my mind and heart to new vistas of understanding and acceptance.
I had the priviledge of meeting Ram Dass back in '76 after a talk he gave at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA. During that brief moment in his presence I experienced an unmistakable flow of energy emanating from this ex-Harvard professor, turned subversive LSD user, turned Hindi guru and devotee of Hanuman, the Monkey-God. I felt totally alive, empowered and so bursting with emotion that I didn't get a wink of sleep that night.
Through the years I've met, or stood in the presence of numerous famous spiritual figures from a wide variety of faiths and traditions and I can honestly say that I've never experienced anything comparable to what enveloped me that night in '76 as I looked into the smiling, grandfatherly face of Ram Dass.
Seeing Ram Dass old, infirmed and confined to a wheelchair since his stroke in '97 takes a little getting used to, but once you gaze deeply into those mischevous eyes and see that knowing smile you realize he hasn't changed a bit. At least not concerning the things that really matter. 'Fierce Grace' is a magnificent visual document presenting one mans' commitment to love, endurance and living life "in the moment." His teachings and attitude have remained as clear and consistent today as they were thirty-five years ago; humorous, insightful, deeply personal and above all compassionate.
Ram Dass: Guru to the baby boomers
Summary: 5 Stars I went to see Ram Dass in Santa Fe, New Mexico just before his stroke in 1997. I had recently gotten interested in his books and they were giving me a much needed perspective on how to live my life during a very challenging time. Many hearts were broken when the news of his stroke were released.Now he comes back to show us how to grow old. He is such a wonderful example. I don't think that he would consider himself an enlightened being. Perhaps highly awakened. But that's the key to being on The Path, accepting exactly where you are now with all of your hangups and negativity. His outstanding book "Be Here Now" has been the catalyst for many spiritual aspirants. Anyway "Fierce Grace" is absolutly wonderful. Very well produced and edited. It takes through Ram Dass's childhood and then through his years experimenting with hallucinogens to his search for a more "natural" high which eventually brought him to his guru, Neem Karoli Baba. The DVD brings me to tears a few times. Some from sadness, some from the fact that it touches that spot in me that holds it all, sadness, fear, ecstasy, love, all of it. Ram Dass has helped many to find that place and this film is such a well deserved tribute to him.