Although he has never said it before, about six months ago, Ram Dass began admitting to close friends that, yes, something has shifted, and now he is enlightened. Something new has happened with Ram Dass! He’s abiding now, deeply, simply, in joy, with contentment, as love. Whereas before there was a “doing” of love, as he puts it, he’s simply being love now, just like the title of his new book.

For 40+ years, Ram Dass had always very explicitly said that he wasn’t enlightened, just a person on the path. But, recently, something profound has shifted.

I was deeply moved by the experience of interviewing him — I just naturally slowed down and simply opened, paying attention, and being with him—and feeling, even in the pauses between words, a deep and profound spiritual transmission. Many people who listened to our conversation last night wrote to tell us that they felt the same thing—several said they were moved to tears. There was something about his simple presence—even during pauses—that communicated a profound transmission of spiritual love.

I was blessed by the opportunity to interview Ram Dass—twice. That wasn’t the plan. We had simply arranged to conduct the interview beforehand, and to edit it (since he often pauses for words since his stroke in 1997.) So I recorded a conversation with him the week before our broadcast. It was a beautiful, moving exchange; we edited it, and planned to play it, and then to shift invisibly to the live broadcast for the questions and answers that we planned to take after the main interview had played.

But last night we had a series of technical glitches, and we couldn’t broadcast the recording. Both Ram Dass and I had called in to listen to the recording beforehand, so, after my introduction, we went live, and (after a delay) we dived right back in, and had an entirely new conversation. Many of you listened to that live. And if you did, you may remember me announcing that we’d be posting our previous conversation for download. Well, it’s ready now. So please be our guest and meet Ram Dass in a new and very beautiful moment of his journey on this planet, and tune into his profound transmission of love via two (beautiful, and yet very different) audio downloads.

The original interview, here, lasts a little less than an hour, and contains a beautiful discussion of the themes of Beyond Awakening, in relation to Ram Dass’s commitment to “being love”—simply and directly—right here and right now—first, last, and always.

The second one, which we just engaged spontaneously after our technical problems, was tender and disarmingly transmissive. It had a few truly special moments, and includes questions and answers. In its edited form (no need for you to re-endure the technical difficulties) it’s a little over an hour, and you can find it here.

With gratitude and in service,

Terry — on Monday, November 29, 2010

PS – One of the members of our community, Peggy Wrenn, transcribed some sections, which read almost like a poem. You can find it below, in the comments.