Speaking at Berkeley Community Theater in 1973 he said, "My Jewish trip was primarily political Judaism, I mean I was never Bar Mitzvahed, confirmed, and so on." In a 2006 article in Tufts Magazine he was quoted by Sara Davidson, describing himself as "inured to religion. He considered himself an atheist during his early life. His parents were Gertrude (Levin) and George Alpert, a lawyer in Boston. Ram Dass was born Richard Alpert in 1931. After becoming seriously ill during a trip to India in 2004, he gave up traveling and moved to Maui, Hawaii, where he hosted annual retreats with other spiritual teachers until his death in 2019. He eventually grew to interpret this event as an act of grace, learning to speak again and continuing to teach and write books. In 1997, he had a stroke, which left him with paralysis and expressive aphasia. From the 1970s to the 1990s, he traveled extensively, giving talks and retreats and holding fundraisers for charitable causes. In the following years, he co-founded the charitable organizations Seva Foundation and Hanuman Foundation. In 1967, Alpert traveled to India and became a disciple of Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba, who gave him the name Ram Dass, meaning "Servant of Ram," but usually rendered simply as "Servant of God" for Western audiences. While not illegal at the time, their research was controversial and led to Leary's and Alpert's dismissal from Harvard in 1963. In addition, Alpert assisted Harvard Divinity School graduate student Walter Pahnke in his 1962 " Good Friday Experiment" with theology students, the first controlled, double-blind study of drugs and the mystical experience.
Then known as Richard Alpert, he conducted research with Leary on the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs. Ram Dass was personally and professionally associated with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s.
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). His best-selling 1971 book Be Here Now, which has been described by multiple reviewers as "seminal", helped popularize Eastern spirituality and yoga in the West. Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert Ap– December 22, 2019), also known as Baba Ram Dass, was an American spiritual teacher, guru of modern yoga, psychologist, and writer. Spiritual teacher in the lineage of Neem Karoli Baba, writerĪnxiety in academic achievement situations: its measurement and relation to aptitude (1957)
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