Ram Dass is a spiritual teacher. Very popular guy. I recommend reading his Wikipedia page if you are unfamiliar. Before learning of Ram Dass, all the spiritual knowledge I engaged with was very derivative. It was coming in the form of content online, from people who had learned from teachers like Ram Dass, and were regurgitating their own understandings. That’s good for them but now I just go to the big man directly. He has a wonderful book, Be Here Now, and recordings of his talks are available for free on Spotify There are many many things he has taught me but the two most potent to me right now are these:
1. You cannot rip the skin off of a snake.
This has taught me that growth will happen as I am ready for it. I do not need to be anxious, as the shedding of old skin is inevitable.
2. Words are like fingers pointing at the moon.
The more I write, the more I am captured by the space before words, by all that the world contains which cannot be articulated into a box. I’m currently in love for the first time and my friends want to know what I’ve been writing about it. The answer is nothing, I’m just staring at the moon for now.