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Compassion in Action: Setting Out on the Path of Service
Featuring an eye-catching new cover, this classic guide is for those ready to commit time and energy to relieving suffering in the world. No two people are better qualified to help us along this path than Ram Dass, who has spent more than 25 years teaching and writing on the subject of living consciously, and Mirabi Bush, who succeeded him as chairperson of the Seva Foundation.
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1992
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453 people want to read
About the author
Ram Dass
225 books2,300 followersRam Dass (Richard Alpert), was one of America's most beloved spiritual figures, making his mark on the world giving teachings and promoting loving service, harmonious business practices, and conscious care for the dying. His spirit has been a guiding light for four generations, carrying millions along on the journey, helping free them from their bonds as he has worked his way through his own.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 1, 2012
Interesting but not groundbreaking. I enjoyed reading about Ram Dass's personal account of living a path of service. Learning about the challenges of working with the SEVA Foundation was particularly interesting. I also enjoyed thinking about the interrelationship of social action and spiritual practice. It's a difficult balance because at times, it may feel like you are forced to choose between the two. Spiritual awareness develops through the intuitive heart...an unconditional embracing of all that is...a cosmic affirmation: "YES!" to everything. Social action is much more rooted in physical realities, injustices, and the discriminating mind. It exists in the world of right and wrong. By standing up for what is right, you are condemning what is wrong---and so where does that unconditional embracing, that cosmic affirmation of the heart come in to play?
I think this is a fundamental issue that we all must confront in our lives. The way we come to peace and resolve this conflict develops through experience and trying to live as consciously as we can rather than a clear-cut "answer".
Basically I found the book to be thought-provoking, but it didn't give me any spectacular insights. My favorite exercise offered was this: Write out "If I could do anything to help, I would love to do..." Start brainstorming. Write everything that comes to mind. You will most likely identify your values, passions, and personal strengths. From this point, it may be easier to find ways to implement them in your daily life.
I think this is a fundamental issue that we all must confront in our lives. The way we come to peace and resolve this conflict develops through experience and trying to live as consciously as we can rather than a clear-cut "answer".
Basically I found the book to be thought-provoking, but it didn't give me any spectacular insights. My favorite exercise offered was this: Write out "If I could do anything to help, I would love to do..." Start brainstorming. Write everything that comes to mind. You will most likely identify your values, passions, and personal strengths. From this point, it may be easier to find ways to implement them in your daily life.
August 7, 2017
So powerful the practice of compassion. So many talking about it, even posting about it, but it takes a truly courageous heart to put it into practice. This book touches the heart and inspires the deepest expression of compassion, even when it seems that fear is too strong. Reaching deep into the heart to truly connect with love and then transforming that into inspired true action.
October 11, 2018
gives you practical ideas on how to be a servant in your own community
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September 29, 2019A more mature Ram Dass has thoughts I'm grateful to be influenced by, a deep wisdom.
March 21, 2020
Ram Dass shares some stories of how to be the most of compassionate service at the start of the book, and Mirabai shares some practical stories of her own in the latter half of the book.
July 3, 2020
"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart."
- Saint Francis of Assisi
“The idea is not to regard the spiritual path as something very luxurious and pleasurable but to see it as just facing the facts of life.”
― Chögyam Trungpa
Shortly before his death the New York Times intereviewed Ram Dass (Richard Alpert) in which he gave a succinct appraisal of his life mantra 'be here here'. The interviewer, taken by his videos and journey of the Ram Dass, asked him to better explain what he means, to which Dass replied "It is the perspective from which we could live a life without being caught so much in fear. To re-identify there is to change your whole life."
One can hardly imagine another person who better personifies the counter-culture trip of the late 1960s. From Harvard psychology professor with expertise in Freud and personality disorders to a blooming spiritual seeker set off by his experiences with psilocybin with fellow teacher Timothy Leary, Alpert transformed from the square career academic to socially conscious and active spiritual teacher.
Compassion in Action centers around his experience with Maharaji , a noted Indian guru..And he incorporating the teachings that broke down his ego. "When my teacher wanted to chastise me, he said 'he's clever', and when my teacher wanted to compliment me he said 'he's simple'. Hearing some of these stories on Youtube, the dynamic power of Dass's brilliant analytical mind paired with disarming humanistic lens, it is some of the most moving personal testimony i've come across with regards to someone's spiritual transformation.
And most importantly, the seeds of awareness, generosity, and servitude launch the second and more profound story - the vehicle for social good. Social activism stems from the self. The causes he took on: nuclear proliferation, hospice care for AIDS patients, the SEVA foundation activism to cure blindness in Nepal and fighting to help end poverty in Guatemala, all tie to a desire to understand or be with. That need to produce positive change always depends on the "how". Inspired by religious tradition and mystical poets, Dass would channel his non-violent resistance with deep reverence to his predecessors. Citing the poet Kabir "Do what you do with another human being, but never put them out of your heart" or Gandhi's singular statement "my life is my message". It is a testament to social activism rooted in compassion.
Revisiting this book 10 years later, and occasionally putting on a video of his teachings now, I have a continued respect for Alpert's work. Dass often describes the peril of getting caught in a method. Getting caught in a psychodelic trip, or meditation technique or belief that you have to move to Tibet and study dzogchen meditation for a purifying experience. All of his experiences led him to simple truths of service. Feed people. Serve people. Love people. Although it's hard to imagine someone living a life with more flair or outward transformation. You can see how he dropped his ego but not his soul. Never losing himself, but finding a more expansive version of himself. We all have the capacity to serve, to grow, and to find deep meaning through our activism. And as far out as it is...it really begins with us.
- Saint Francis of Assisi
“The idea is not to regard the spiritual path as something very luxurious and pleasurable but to see it as just facing the facts of life.”
― Chögyam Trungpa
Shortly before his death the New York Times intereviewed Ram Dass (Richard Alpert) in which he gave a succinct appraisal of his life mantra 'be here here'. The interviewer, taken by his videos and journey of the Ram Dass, asked him to better explain what he means, to which Dass replied "It is the perspective from which we could live a life without being caught so much in fear. To re-identify there is to change your whole life."
One can hardly imagine another person who better personifies the counter-culture trip of the late 1960s. From Harvard psychology professor with expertise in Freud and personality disorders to a blooming spiritual seeker set off by his experiences with psilocybin with fellow teacher Timothy Leary, Alpert transformed from the square career academic to socially conscious and active spiritual teacher.
Compassion in Action centers around his experience with Maharaji , a noted Indian guru..And he incorporating the teachings that broke down his ego. "When my teacher wanted to chastise me, he said 'he's clever', and when my teacher wanted to compliment me he said 'he's simple'. Hearing some of these stories on Youtube, the dynamic power of Dass's brilliant analytical mind paired with disarming humanistic lens, it is some of the most moving personal testimony i've come across with regards to someone's spiritual transformation.
And most importantly, the seeds of awareness, generosity, and servitude launch the second and more profound story - the vehicle for social good. Social activism stems from the self. The causes he took on: nuclear proliferation, hospice care for AIDS patients, the SEVA foundation activism to cure blindness in Nepal and fighting to help end poverty in Guatemala, all tie to a desire to understand or be with. That need to produce positive change always depends on the "how". Inspired by religious tradition and mystical poets, Dass would channel his non-violent resistance with deep reverence to his predecessors. Citing the poet Kabir "Do what you do with another human being, but never put them out of your heart" or Gandhi's singular statement "my life is my message". It is a testament to social activism rooted in compassion.
Revisiting this book 10 years later, and occasionally putting on a video of his teachings now, I have a continued respect for Alpert's work. Dass often describes the peril of getting caught in a method. Getting caught in a psychodelic trip, or meditation technique or belief that you have to move to Tibet and study dzogchen meditation for a purifying experience. All of his experiences led him to simple truths of service. Feed people. Serve people. Love people. Although it's hard to imagine someone living a life with more flair or outward transformation. You can see how he dropped his ego but not his soul. Never losing himself, but finding a more expansive version of himself. We all have the capacity to serve, to grow, and to find deep meaning through our activism. And as far out as it is...it really begins with us.
November 17, 2015
This book was definitely different from what I've been reading lately. I picked it out of the library because I wanted to see what I could do to help others, and I liked the spiritual aspect because I've been getting really into my religion. I'm in a place in my life where I want to give back. I knit hats for charity and blankets for the poor, and I always put a dollar or two in the collection plate at church, but I find myself wanting to do more. Unfortunately, I did not find much in what I was looking for here.
I found Ram Dass's section of the book to be ... well, frankly, weird. He wrote about how he was kicked out of Harvard because he started "researching" all these weird plants and getting hallucinogenic effects. I read this and thought this dude was a drug addict!
Okay, moving on from the trippy parts of the book, I didn't quite understand what he does with the Seva foundation, just that he does SOMETHING, and it's important.
Honestly, if Mirabi Bush's section in the second part of the book sucked as much as Ram Dass's part, I would have given up and given this one star. I'm glad this didn't happen. Bush's section was enlightening and actually gave me how-to steps for helping others in soup kitchens. She wrote out what she did and true stories of people she helped.
I kind of wish Bush wrote this whole book herself, but she didn't. Dass's first part was just too ... out there (?) ... for me to rate this higher.
This review is posted on amazon.com.
I found Ram Dass's section of the book to be ... well, frankly, weird. He wrote about how he was kicked out of Harvard because he started "researching" all these weird plants and getting hallucinogenic effects. I read this and thought this dude was a drug addict!
Okay, moving on from the trippy parts of the book, I didn't quite understand what he does with the Seva foundation, just that he does SOMETHING, and it's important.
Honestly, if Mirabi Bush's section in the second part of the book sucked as much as Ram Dass's part, I would have given up and given this one star. I'm glad this didn't happen. Bush's section was enlightening and actually gave me how-to steps for helping others in soup kitchens. She wrote out what she did and true stories of people she helped.
I kind of wish Bush wrote this whole book herself, but she didn't. Dass's first part was just too ... out there (?) ... for me to rate this higher.
This review is posted on amazon.com.
September 9, 2010
I wish I could rate the sections of this book individually, as the authors respective contributions are, as near as I can tell, completely separate. I became bogged down in Bush's section (thankfully - or maybe fortunately - the second) just as quickly as I devoured Dass' and was disappointed by how much I was... well, disappointed.
That said, Ram Dass remains one of my favorite humans, and if I had my copy of the book with me, I could point (thanks to Book Darts!) to any number of striking and inspirational quotes contained herein. Five stars to you, Mr. Dass!
That said, Ram Dass remains one of my favorite humans, and if I had my copy of the book with me, I could point (thanks to Book Darts!) to any number of striking and inspirational quotes contained herein. Five stars to you, Mr. Dass!
July 29, 2008
I read the whole first part of this book, by Ram Dass, which gives some background into his own background and path of service. I love reading about how others journey to consciousness, and Ram Dass is very clear and accessible. Very inspiring for those seeking direction and focus as they wake up and want to serve.
February 24, 2011
Enlightening read with Hindu interest - Has been a good companion and aid to a recent nursing essay.
Adding that touch of spirituality without mentioning the 'life is suffering' aspect.
GraduAgent.com
The Nursing and Medical Research Agent.
Adding that touch of spirituality without mentioning the 'life is suffering' aspect.
GraduAgent.com
The Nursing and Medical Research Agent.
July 29, 2016
Follow up to How Can I Help? Much along the same lines. Compassion and it's roots in our own lives followed with how to alleviate the suffering of others.
Getting high verse getting free.
Getting high verse getting free.
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December 27, 2007another thought provoking book from Ram Dass
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews