Sometimes illumination occurs spontaneously or, as Ram Dass experienced, in a heart-wrenching moment of opening. More commonly, it happens when we polish the mirror of the heart with daily practice—and see beyond the illusion of our transient thoughts and emotions to the vast and luminous landscape of our true nature.

For five decades, Ram Dass has explored the depths of consciousness and love and brought them to life as service to others. With Polishing the Mirror, he gathers together his essential teachings for living in the eternal present, here and now.

Readers will find within these pages a rich combination of perennial wisdom, humor, teaching stories, and detailed guidance on Ram Dass' own spiritual practices, including:

• Bhakti Yoga—opening our hearts to unconditional love
• Practices for living, aging, dying, and embracing the natural flow of life
• Karma Yoga—how selfless service can profoundly transform us
• Working with fear and suffering as a path to grace and freedom
• Step-by-step guidance in devotional chant, meditation and mantra practice, and much more

For those new to Ram Dass' teachings, and for those to whom they are old friends, here is this vanguard spiritual explorer's complete guide to discovering who we are and why we are here, and how to become beacons of unconditional love.

An intimate dialogue between two friends and luminaries on love, death, and the spiritual path, with guidance for the end-of-life journey
 
We all sit on the edge of a mystery. We have only known this life, so dying scares us—and we are all dying. But what if dying is perfectly safe? What would it look like if you could approach dying with curiosity and love, in service of other beings? What if dying is the ultimate spiritual practice?
 
Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush began their friendship more than four decades ago at the foot of their guru, Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharaj-ji. He transmitted to them a simple philosophy: love everyone, tell the truth, and give up attachment to material things. A year before Ram Dass passed, he reunited with Bush for an intimate dialogue—which became Walking Each Other Home.
 
In this extraordinary book, you’ll hear from two beloved teachers about the spiritual opportunities within the dying process. They generously share intimate personal experiences and timeless practices with courage, humor, and heart, gently exploring every aspect of this journey. Here you’ll learn about guidelines for being a “loving rock” for the dying, how to grieve fully and authentically, how to transform a fear of death, leaving a spiritual legacy, creating a sacred space for dying, and much more.
 
“Everybody you have ever loved is a part of the fabric of your being now,” says Ram Dass. The body may die, but the soul remains. Death is an invitation to a new kind of relationship, in the place where we are all One. Join these two lifelong friends and spiritual luminaries as they explore what it means to live and die consciously, remember who we really are, and illuminate the path we walk together.
 

From Ram Dass, one of America’s most beloved spiritual figures and bestselling author of Be Here Now and Be Love Now, comes this timeless classic about the experience of being and the risks and rewards of our spiritual path.  Originally published in 1976, Grist for the Mill offers a deep spiritual journey of self-discovery, and a universal understanding of what it means to "be" and to grow as human beings. The book is fully revised with a new introduction.

As Ram Dass puts it, "When the faith is strong enough it is sufficient just to be. It’s a journey towards simplicity, towards quietness, towards a kind of joy that is not in time. It’s a journey that has taken us from primary identification with our body and our psyche, on to an identification with God, and ultimately beyond identification."

Ram Dass’s long-awaited Be Love Now is the transformational teaching of a forty year journey to the heart. The author of the two-million-copy classic Remember, Be Here Now and its influential sequel Still Here, Dass is joined once more by Rameshwar Das—a collaborator from the Love Serve Remember audio recordings—to offer this intimate and inspiring exploration of the human soul. Like Deepak Chopra’s Book of Secrets, the Dalai Lama’s Art of Happiness, and Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Coming to Our Senses, Ram Dass’s Be Love Now will serve as a lodestar for anyone seeking to enhance their spiritual awareness and improve their capacity to serve—and love—the world around them.

“Sruti Ram is a fearless adventurer—a believer in miracles, mysticism and magic. His wondrous life proves that for the sincere seeker, the one who cultivates the highest intention, all roads lead to God, eventually but inevitably.” —Sharon Gannon, co-founder of Jivamukti yoga and author of the bestselling Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul (foreword by Sting)

“Sruti Ram reveals the road less travelled and the life of commitment to the journey within. One feels the unfolding of life’s magic that arises not from mental planning rather trusting the heart to show the way of true happiness in life. I admire Sruti Ram’s devotion to follow a spiritual path as an authentic way of life in a society focused too much on material concerns.” — Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, founder of Blue Spirit Costa Rica and the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY

For anyone drawn to spiritual love and devotion, and how to joyfully align one’s life to a soulful calling, All Roads Lead to Ram is a captivating and empowering true tale. Filled with Hindu deities, ancient temples, glittering festivals, and plenty of danger, it’s also entertaining and filled with humor and warmth. It’s part Indiana Jones adventure story and part spiritual memoir, with remarkable beating heart. Each chapter is a step in Sruti Ram’s profound and surprising personal journey. Chapters close with a sutra (lesson) by Sruti Ram himself—offering compassion and guidance founded in his own powerful teachings and the lessons of the ancient texts. The end of the book contains Sruti Ram’s teachings on the authentic Hindu texts and philosophy.

For the spiritual seeker, the avid reader, Hindu devotees or neophytes, yoga fans, for adventure-lovers and armchair travelers, for anyone interested in personal growth and mystical experience, All Roads Lead to Ram is bound to be a sure and rare delight.

Illustrated with rare and never before seen photos of Neem Karoli Baba, Ram Dass, Sruti Ram and many more.