Richard Alpert (1931-2019) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Richard "Ram Dass" Alpert

Born 6 Apr 1931 in Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Son of Hyman George Alpert and Gertrude R (Levin) Alpert

[sibling(s) unknown]

[spouse(s) unknown]

[children unknown]

Died 22 Dec 2019 at age 88 in Maui, Hawaii, United States

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Profile last modified 8 Jul 2023 | Created 23 Dec 2019

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Biography

Richard Alpert is Notable.

Preface

Richard Alpert (April 6, 1931 – December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass or Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, yoga guru, psychologist, and author. His best-selling 1971 book, "Be Here Now," helped popularize Eastern spirituality and yoga in the West. He authored or co-authored twelve more books on spirituality over the next four decades, including "Grist for the Mill" (1977), "How Can I Help?" (1985), and "Polishing the Mirror" (2013). The Wikipedia article^[1]provides a comprehensive coverage of his life, including lists of his books, recordings and films, as well as references.

Early days

On the 1940 United States Federal Census, Richard Alpert (9) was residing at 56 Prentice Road, Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, and had completed 3rd Grade of Elementary School. He had 2 elder brothers William (16) and Leonard (13), while his father George Alpert (41) was a Lawyer working on his own account, who had been born in Massachusetts and completed 3rd year at College, and mother Gertrude R Alpert [nee Levin] (37), Housewife and also born in Massachusetts, with both having Russian parents; her native language was Jewish and she had completed 2nd year College. They also had a 29 years old Servant who was from Canada^[2]. His brothers would both become lawyers and get married.

10 years on in the 1950 United States Federal Census, Richard Alpert (19) was still at home in Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, with his father George (52) and elder brother Leonard (23) both Lawyers in Private Practice; his mother Gertrude (48)^[3].

His educational experiences are covered in the Wikipedia article from schooling through to University, receiving his PhD from Stanford University in 1957, where he would go on to teach Psychology. He had been at Tufts College, in Medford, Massachusetts in 1952, in the U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016^[4], where the younger Richard Alpert's photo is taken from, and was living at home in 56 Prentice Road as a Student in 1953^[5].

On 27 August 1961, Richard Alpert returned on a Lufthansa flight from Orly, Paris, giving his home address as 5 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge 38, Massachusetts, having had a visa issued in April 1960^[6].

Drugs and the mystical experience

Richard was personally and professionally associated with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s. He conducted research with Leary on the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs, including LSD, with the help of theological students. While not illegal at the time, their research was controversial and led to the dismissal of Leary and Professor of Psychology, Alpert, from Harvard in 1963.

Originally trained as a psychologist, Alpert was dismissed from his teaching position at Harvard University in 1963, as a consequence of experiments with LSD, together with his collaborator Timothy Leary. Alpert moved with Leary to the Ananda Ashram, in Millbrook, York, where he helped to found the League for Spiritual Discovery, which advocated the use of drugs for religious purposes. Alpert was one of the co-founders of the Original NeoKleptonian American Church, led by Art Kleps, and he co-authored The Psychedelic Experience (1964) with Leary and Ralph Metzner.

Leary and Alpert parted in 1967 when the latter embarked on a visit to India, where he met Neem Karoli Baba (1900?-73). Neem Karoli Baba caused Alpert to reject the use of hallucinogens, and Alpert became a disciple, assuming the name of Ram Das (meaning ‘servant of God’). Ram Das studied various spiritual teachings, spanning Hinduism and Sufism, incorporating teachings of Jesus, as well as elements of Buddhism, particularly vipassana, and the Zen and Tibetan traditions.

Ram Das emphasized karma yoga (the spiritual path of deeds) and sewa (service to others). He established the Hanuman Foundation in 1973 (incorporated in 1974), which offered programmes principally for the dying and the bereaved. The foundation was so named after the Hindu deity Hanuman, who acted in service to the high god Ram. Ram Das also set up a Prison-Ashram Project, which sought to assist prisoners with their spiritual life. Ram Das made no claims to guruship or enlightenment, teaching that one’s answers are to be found within oneself. Ram Das also lent his support to Larry Brilliant’s Seva Foundation, set up to alleviate blindness.

Ram Das wrote several books, the best known of which is his partly-auto-biographical Be Here Now (1971). The Only Dance There Is (1976) and Grist for the Mill (1977) are both reconstructions of Neem Karoli Baba’s talks, and Miracle of Love (1979) is a memoir of Neem Karoli Baba. In 1997 Ram Das suffered a stroke: his recovery was gradual and not wholly complete, but it caused him to author his most recent work Still Here: Embracing Changing, Aging and Dying (2000).^[7]

BE HERE for Him NOW

"His experiences with LSD encouraged him to investigate meditation and yoga and to travel to India to study with spiritual teachers. He began a long journey of spiritual awakening that has led him to become one of the most revered spiritual authors and teachers of our time" (Steve Taylor, 2017, pp.152-3). Clearly his true purpose in life - awakening - was when he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba^[8], in India in 1967, aged about 36 yrs, and would be given the name 'Ram Dass' by Neem. Although born into a Jewish family he had always felt that he was an atheist and not confirmed by the Bar Mitzvah ritual when 13 years of age.

In 2003, Wayne Dyer wrote a beautiful article, titled with this heading - from Ram Dass' seminal work "Be Here Now", of 1971^[9], appealing for help for Ram Dass, who had retired from devoting his life of serving and devotion to others, imparted to him by his guru, even continuing after he suffered from a paralysing stroke in 1997, but had retired to Maui, Hawaii, where he would become the one in need^[10]. "Be Here Now" is one of the first guides for those not born Hindu to becoming a yogi. It is an account of his spiritual journey, as well as recommended spiritual techniques and quotes. When Neem Karoli Baba told him what he, Ram Dass, had been thinking about the night before, "this experience [w]as the moment that his mind was quieted, his breakthrough"^[11]. "Be Here Now" would also inspire George Harrison of 'Beatles' fame to write a song with the same title, having been inspired to write the lyrics based on the first of the four sections of the book: "The Transformation: Dr. Richard Alpert, PhD. into Baba Ram Dass"^[12].

He had a gay side to his life that antagonised his father but did not stop Ram from spending a lot of time taking care of his father when he was very ill near the end of the latter's life.

Official records show that he spent most of the period from 1989 to 2004 in California, followed by his last move, to Hawaii, to Haiku on Maui Island from about 2004 to 2020 (actually 22 December 2019) at 345 Manawai Pl^[13]. He had actually visited Hawaii, many years before, arriving at Honolulu on 26 December 1953 on the S.S Lurline, departing from San Francisco on 21 December^[14]. However, he had also resided in Santa Fe, New Mexico at least in 1993^[15].

Death

He died on December 22, 2019, at the age of 88, in Maui County, Hawaii, United States of America. "Author, spiritual teacher, psychologist. Son of Gertrude (Levin) Alpert and George Alpert. Born into the Jewish faith, named Richard Alpert." He was cremated. ^[16].

Living on

Today we can still listen to him in person, through the medium of online videos such as for example on YouTube, which has amongst others a dialogue with Eckhart Tolle another truly awakened being^[17], who came to prominence through his best selling book, "The Power of Now"! A few more examples of many are^[18]^[19]^[20]. The 'eternal now' appears in a poem in a book ascribed to 'Ali Nomad' (see Sources: p.1/231 pdf. version), thought to be a pen-name for [[Bucke-46|Richard Maurice Bucke, though the concept goes back to Zen Buddhism^[21]. It was Bucke who popularized the term 'Cosmic Consciousness', which Ram Dass equates with the 'Kingdom of Heaven' in his most popular book "Be Here Now" mentioned in the first paragraph of this profile, and is on p167/437 in a pdf version - 9780517543054.pdf.

Perhaps one of his most important statements is The thinking mind cannot comprehend that which is beyond itself in 'From separation to Source' held on 17 January 1976 at the Myriad Convention Center in Oklahoma City (From-separation-to-source.pdf, p.7/16).

Sources

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/12/24/spiritual-guru-psychedelic-drug-researcher-baba-ram-dass-dies-maui/
https://www.ramdass.org/obituary-ram-dass/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/205653726/richard-alpert
Taylor, Steve, 2017 The Leap: The psychology of spiritual awakening, An Eckhart Tolle Edition, New World Library, Novato, California.
Ali Nomad, 1913, 'Cosmic Consciousness, The Man-God whom we await', Advanced Thought Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., (CosmicConsciousness_1001.5306.pdf 321pp.

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Richard Alpert (1931 - 2019)

Biography

Preface

Sources