Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying

I laughed aloud and then lapsed into a contemplative silence when I recently encountered a church sign which read, "Ten out of ten people die. Are you ready?"After reading Ram Dass' Still Here, I'm ready.With gentleness and compassion, spiritual pioneer and stroke survivor Ram Dass guides readers in an exploration of two much maligned - yet inevitable - human undertakings, aging and dying. The wisdom he shares is simple and profound: Yes, we are our bodies, but we are also infinitely more.As we age, Ram Dass reminds us, the focus of our lives gradually shifts from activity to stillness - a sometimes frightening prospect for a society that places such enormous emphasis on productivity and accomplishment, not to mention the physical show more beauty, good health, and independence which youth often swaps for old age.Grounded by his own human experience and illuminated by years of spiritual study and practice, Ram Dass' insights invite us to begin stripping away the layers of fear surrounding our own inevitable futures. In doing so, we find that aging is just as beautiful, just as much a blessing, just as much an opportunity for growth, as the youth we often cling to. show less

A refreshingly frank exploration into aging and disease as it hits us now. A sensitive and spiritual approach to facing death and dying. Ram Das helps us deal with difficulties we would not otherwise willingly face. With the benefit of his experience both before and after his stroke, we gain insight into how we might make our way.

There is nothing dense about Ram Dass. One doesn't need to be steeped in the scholarship of whatever topic he is writing about. But he makes you feel...peace. In this book he discusses painful topics, but he does it with no attachment to the pain. He does not claim to be special--far from it! But he does put his faith in a higher power--which he names Maharajji--and I wonder if that isn't his secret. He says he as been blessed with [Fierce Grace]. May we all find such blessings.

Not knowing a great deal about Ram Dass or his background and what he stands for I had at least heard of him and decided to see what he had to say in this book. Getting on in years now and having suffered a stroke he imparts upon us his parting wisdom so to speak on how he and most of us will have to come top grips with our eventual decline and departure from this worldly existence. Any ones guess as to where it will take us, Ram Dass does not get into particulars here but does offer some food for thought and consideration in coping with this ultimate and the difficulties of enduring the pain and battle of letting go with as much peace and resignation that each of us must determine for ourselves.

This book helped me as my grandmother was going through Alzheimer's. It reminded me that it wasn't about me, it was about her. I was able to keep that in mind when I visited her and realize that her smiles outweighed my sadness.

More than thirty years ago, an entire generation sought a new way of life, looking for fulfillment and meaning in a way no one had before. Leaving his teaching job at Harvard, Ram Dass embodied the role of spiritual seeker, showing others how to find peace within themselves in one of the greatest spiritual classics of the twentieth century, the two-million-copy bestseller Be Here Now. As many of that generation enter the autumn of their years, the big questions of peace and of purpose have returned demanding answers. And once again, Ram Dass blazes a new trail, inviting all to join him on the next stage of the journey.