Reasons to watch:
- Ram Dass, now 88, is an American spiritual guru whose life was changed by the psychedelic psilocybin and his own teacher, Maharaj-ji, who he met in India.
- One of Ram Dass’ own students created the documentary Becoming Nobody to collect and share his teachings with the hopes of transforming future generations.
- Wise and spiritual but fun and loving, Ram Dass is an experience in and of himself you can learn from through the film.
At 88 years old, Ram Dass continues to impart his wisdom upon the world, and now, thanks to his devoted follower and filmmaker Jamie Catto, the essence of his spiritual teachings are captured in the film Becoming Nobody, soon to play here at Hopewell Theater on Tuesday, October 22nd at 7pm.
Born as Richard Alpert in 1931 to a Jewish family in Massachusetts, Ram Dass wasn’t very interested in religion early on, but he was interested in human nature and psychology. After college he went to India where he met his own guru and became Ram Dass “servant of God.” He published his bestseller, Be Here Now, a few years later.
With a new career as an American guru, he eventually met the film’s director, his student Catto, who began the interviews that would pave the way for the film Becoming Nobody, described in a High Times article as “more like a highlight reel of all the teachings he espoused throughout the decades” rather than a life story.
He also spoke of his first experience with psychedelics while studying in college, specifically psilocybin, and how the scary yet exhilarating experience changed his life in the sense that it “undercut the models” he had of who he thought he was, giving him a deeper understanding of his true being. “Not of who he was, but that he simply was, period.”
Dass describes gurus as doorways to God, a pure mirror who isn’t anybody at all, and that the psilocybin experience is what lead him to meeting his. This is how Dass became a guru himself, able to learn and teach his own wisdoms – that true transformation comes from not getting what you want, that suffering is a valuable experience but humor and love are key, that death should not be treated as an enemy, but a moment of incredible transformation, and more.
His student Catto says he wants Becoming Nobody to capture the profound love and authenticity of Ram Dass, and that he hopes future generations will be transformed by him.
Get tickets to see the documentary on Tuesday, October 22nd here.
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