Portrait of Ram Dass by my brother Jeremy Hoffeld

It’s been five years since Ram Dass left his body, but it still feels like yesterday. I remember the pain of getting the news shortly before Christmas, in a text message from a buddy in the Krishna Das band, and the hole it left in my heart. Later that day, friends gathered to chant and hold each other in a space of love and mutual support to get through it. It wasn’t easy. But we had RD’s guiding love and presence to help us through. And his wise words echoed through us. At that time, his famous phrase, “We’re all just walking each other home,” was especially poignant for me, ringing for days in my inner ears.

Where is that home that he was talking about? I know I’m far from there yet. Some days I even question my ability to get there at all. And I question my capacity for walking others there or being walked! When I’m shut down, and find myself living inside my own thought-world, sticking my head in the sand to avoid facing the suffering in others and on the earth at large, I’m not available for a walk.

What would Ram Dass say?

As far as I can tell, RD spent his life opening his own Heart. By the time he reached his golden years, although bound to his wheelchair from the stroke, the guy was really ready to walk others home, and be walked too. All the work he did on himself, through his sadhana and service to others, by opening himself to his guru Maharaji, brought him from a place of tight narrowness to one of complete openness. Maharaji told him to “love everyone and tell the truth.” When I first met him in person in 2016, RD told me with a smile that for almost 50 years he’d “been working with that.”

Those two commandments could have been engraved on two tablets for us when Ram Dass came down from the holy mountain of India. Each would have plenty of space on there and we could think clearly about each one, without getting lost in the complexity of having ten to work on. Who can remember them all anyhow? Those two commandments say it all.

Ram Dass did us the great service of broadcasting those messages to us. That was a huge part of his gift to the world. It’s really interesting just to settle down into those two phrases (or any of the teachings he shared) and think about their implications for our own lives, meditating on the words, contemplating the ways they might inform our own personal journey. Asking not what they mean for everyone, but what exactly do they mean for me? Where have I begun living them, and where am I not even close? At the turn of the year now, it’s a good time to reflect with a little intensity on such questions.

For me, I know I have plenty of room for growth in both areas. A long, long way to walk! I can see my own nasty tendencies on full display every single day. It seems strange to me that I’m still more invested in my own self-interest than in being open and available for helping others. I guess that’s a testament to the staying power of bad habits. The good news is that I still feel Ram Dass’ presence with me to help me walk forward, and I know he’s there for anyone else who wants to feel him and be walked home too.

He’s there, patiently holding our hands, despite our own resistance to growth, or to even opening ourselves a little bit to being held and helped.

What would Ram Dass want for us at this trying time in history? What would he say to help us all through? I wish he were here to give us guidance and perspective, or even just be present with us to make us feel better and laugh a little bit. He was so good at that. But even though he’s not here to speak, I believe we can look back at all he said and wrote and have a good guess at what he might come out with. Like his presence, his words have a timeless quality that makes them as relevant now as when he said them, even as far back as in Be Here Now in 1971.

As 2024 draws to a close and we’re cozily awaiting Kris Kringle to arrive, an interesting meditation might be to just sit quietly and imagine Ram Dass with you, maybe coming down the chimney and beating Santa to the punch. If you imagine hard enough, I know he’ll be there with you for real. Once you’ve tuned into his presence and feel him with you, holding your hand and smiling, feel into what he has to say. What’s his message for you right now, at this time on the planet and in your life? What gifts does he bring?

You might hear some words, or maybe just a gentle sense of something. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s just enough, just right for you right now.

Thanks for reading. I’m gonna go sit and try this meditation for myself now. Let me know how it goes for you in the comments below, and we can compare notes.

Happy and Healthy 2025 to you, and may Ram Dass always be present for you, walking you home and helping you to walk others too.

In Love,

Noah

#ramdass #loveeveryoneandtellthetruth #meditate #maharaji #neemkarolibaba #krishnadas #beherenow

In 1971, my beloved teacher Ram Dass wrote in BE HERE NOW that “police make hippies and hippies make police.” He hit the nail on the head. Believing there’s an ‘other’ and seeing them as separate from us, polarizes our society. It creates artificial boundaries and destroys our cohesion as one human race, one human family. It was a year ripe with new observations about our life on earth, a year when astronaut Edgar Mitchell had a spiritual experience while looking at our planet from outer space and, in a revelatory moment, saw that all our borders and all of our separateness, exist only in the mind.

It’s not that we shouldn’t hold views or stand up for them, but putting people into categories, and closing down our hearts to them, is hurting us. Even when we’re so sure that we’re right.

Othering also sets us up to feel more isolated than we really are. We’re not born into bubbles- we blow them for ourselves as we grow (or have them blown for us) and then climb inside and cozy up. I was an infant at the time RD shook the world with that wisdom, before blowing any bubbles of my own.

These bubbles harden our hearts to those we see as outside them. But, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said so powerfully, “Only love can overcome hate.”

What if we read MLK’s words as more than rhetoric? What would the implications be for our lives if we read them as an imperative, a statement of truth, a cornerstone in our way of being?

What do you feel?

Do us and them really exist? Personally, I don’t think so. If so, only in our minds. Like all labels, they are merely a layer we superimpose on reality, on what truly is. Not only are these categories fabricated, but they are a big part of what’s hurting our world. A huge part, in fact. It’s the divisive mind that’s driving the madness on all sides, leading us to spend our time finger-pointing instead of reaching across the aisle. It causes us to neglect what desperately needs our attention- our planet, hunger, the endless wars, and all the beings who aren’t getting what they need, but could be.

In physics, Newton’s Third Law states that every force creates equal resistance. Could this be true in human affairs too? It would seem that when we use force against those we disagree with, they push against us with equal (or greater) force. This force can be present in thoughts, words, and deeds. Whenever we’re in an us and them state of mind, we’d do well to remember Newton.

When I find myself ussing and theming from inside my bubble, I like to go deeper inside and ask, “what am I feeling here?” When I meditate, I’m able to hear what’s going on inside. As Ram Dass said, “the quieter you get, the more you can hear.”

Often what I hear when I quiet down is that there’s a sense of hurt underneath all the anger. A small child lives inside me, who didn’t have a say, who had to do what others told him. He feels hurt and frustrated. Out of that space comes the anger and blame, the feeling, “You’re forcing your will on me, your view of what’s right.” From there, I close down and react, where I could remain open and respond…..

You may have a similar story.

When a lot of people who carry similar sentiments get together in groups, us and them are born. Could it be that out of our unconscious feelings and drives, we’re creating a world we find unlivable?

Could it be that our righteousness is blinding us? When we’re convinced of our position, we forget the reality of others and insist that they’re misguided or somehow just plain wrong. We forget to question, to inquire into the reality of their lives, and into the source of their views. We forget that othering them just makes the whole world a lot sadder, a lot madder, and a whole lot more messed up.

It can also have devastating political consequences. Putting others into boxes, without listening to their reality, means not hearing or responding to their needs.

When will we learn to drop our othering, our constant creating of us and them? This question may be more important than we think, more important than any of the issues we have squabbled over for decades, for centuries, and since time immemorial. For if we can’t get together and establish a common ground, can’t address the urgent issues that face all of us, our time to solve these issues may be limited. 

Are we ready to create a world without categories, to drop our labeling? It can only begin with us. Or is it easier to just continue blaming, and as Ram Dass said, continue making police or hippies as we go? 

The choice is in our hands, yours and mine, and in our hearts and minds.

What will you do?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below. I’d love to hear where you’re at with all of this.

You can learn to quiet down with me so you can hear more of your own truth through mindfulness. Learn more about one-on-one meditation sessions here.

In Love and Music,

Noah

ps- please share this blog with someone who might enjoy it. 

#loveeveryone #beherenow #ramdass #onefamily

Spooky! This was 10 years ago? I was so happy to play on this score by Nathan Larson. Going over to record, I had no idea my cello would play a key role in the film.

Skeleton Twins is a very authentic, heartfelt story w Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. I was proud to play on other beautiful Nathan scores too- Tiger Eyes, and A Walk in the Woods with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte.

Nathan also did the incredible music for one of my foves of all time, Boys Don’t Cry, with Hillary Swank.

Enjoy and stay well.

Noah