Notes On…Be Here Now, with Ram Dass
There’s something about Be Here Now that just sticks with you—not just as a book, but as a way of seeing the world. Ram Dass had this rare ability to take something as elusive as presence and make it feel like an invitation rather than an instruction. His message wasn’t about “fixing” yourself or achieving some enlightened state—it was about showing up for your life, exactly as it is.
Mindfulness is a word we throw around a lot, but at its core, it’s simple: Can you be here, right now, without trying to escape? That’s what Ram Dass was getting at. He believed that the present moment is where freedom lives. Not in rehashing the past. Not in worrying about the future. But in the now, where you can actually feel your life happening.
But let’s be real—being present is easier said than done. The mind is a noisy place, full of should-haves and what-ifs. The ego, as Ram Dass saw it, is the part of us constantly seeking validation, clinging to old stories, and trying to control the uncontrollable. It convinces us that we need to be someone—successful, desirable, healed—before we can truly relax into ourselves. And so, we chase. We analyze. We overthink. We try to “fix” what was never broken in the first place.
Be Here Now reminds us that presence isn’t a performance; it’s a practice. It’s not just something you do when you meditate—it’s how you listen, how you breathe, and how you notice the way sunlight hits your coffee cup in the morning. It’s about catching yourself mid-spiral and gently returning to the moment again and again.
Ram Dass taught that mindfulness isn’t about transcending life’s messiness—it’s about showing up for it, fully. And as a therapist, I see this truth every day. The people who find the most peace aren’t the ones who have “figured it all out.” They’re the ones who have learned to sit with life as it is, to soften around discomfort, to trust that they don’t have to chase the moment in order to belong to it.
That’s the legacy of Be Here Now. Not a rulebook. Not a doctrine. Just an open door, inviting us all to come home to ourselves.
