The Game Is To Be Where You Are
El juego es estar donde estás- por Ram Dass
Cuando nací me puse un traje espacial para vivir en este plano, era este cuerpo, mi traje espacial, y tenía un mecanismo de dirección que es mi lóbulo prefrontal y todo el cerebro que ayuda con la coordinación y esas cosas. Al igual que esos otros que van a la luna y aprenden a usar su traje espacial ... cómo agarrar cosas y levantar cosas, así aprendí a hacerlo yo también. Y luego te recompensan con estrellitas, besos y todo tipo de cosas cuando aprendes a usar tu traje espacial. Te vuelves tan bueno que no puedes diferenciarte de tu traje espacial.
Caminas por la calle y eres alguien; te vistes como alguien; tu cara se parece a alguien. Todo el mundo está reforzando su estructura del universo una y otra vez y se encuentran (el uno al otro) como dos cosas enormes que se encuentran. Entramos en estas conspiraciones. Dices, te haré creer que eres quien crees que eres, si tú haces creer que soy quien creo que soy.
Toda tu vida es un plan de estudios. Todo lo que tienes en tu plato es dónde están las cosas para tu iluminación. Es impresionante ver la belleza de este diseño. Cuando te quitas la máscara, es más fácil para los demás hacerlo.
En nuestra cultura, hemos sido entrenados para hacer diferencias individuales para destacar. Miras a cada persona y piensas: "Más brillante, más tonto, mayor, más joven, más rico, más pobre" y hacemos todas estas distinciones dimensionales, las clasificamos en categorías y tratamos a las personas de esa manera. Y solo vemos a los demás como separados de nosotros. Una de las características dramáticas de la experiencia espiritual es estar con otra persona y, de repente, ver las formas en las que es como tú, no diferente a ti.
¿Cómo sabemos quiénes somos? Podríamos estar a una exhalación de la iluminación o de la muerte o ¿quién sabe? La incertidumbre es grande.
Cuando sales al bosque y miras los árboles, ves todos estos árboles diferentes. Y algunos están doblados, y algunos son rectos, y algunos son de hoja perenne, y algunos otros son lo que sea. Y miras el árbol y lo permites. Ves por que es así. Entiendes que no recibió suficiente luz, por lo que giró de esa manera. Y no te emocionas por eso. Solo lo permites. Aprecias el árbol. En el momento en que te acercas a los humanos, pierdes todo eso. Y constantemente dices "Tú eres demasiado esto, o yo soy demasiado esto". Entra esa mente de juicio. Y por eso practico convertir a las personas en árboles. Lo que significa apreciarlas tal como son.
El juego consiste en estar donde estás. Ser honestamente y tan conscientemente como tú sabes. Toda tu vida es un plan de estudios. Todo lo que tienes en tu plato es dónde están las cosas para tu iluminación. Es impresionante ver la belleza de este diseño.
Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Qué opinas de la noción de que el juego es estar donde estás? ¿Puedes compartir una experiencia personal de un momento en el que pudiste apreciar a alguien exactamente como era? ¿Qué te ayuda a apreciar a las personas como apreciarías los árboles?
Ram Dass fue originalmente un destacado psicólogo de Harvard, cuya vida cambió cuando se encontró con un místico en el Himalaya, Neem Karoli Baba. Fue autor de muchos libros y falleció recientemente. Extractos de la película "Convertirse en nadie".
Ram Dass was originally a prominent Harvard psychologist, whose life change when he encountered a mystic in the Himalayas, Neem Karoli Baba. He was the author of many books, and recently passed away. Excerpts above from the movie "Becoming Nobody".
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What do you make of the notion that the game is to be where you are? Can you share a personal experience of a time you were able to appreciate someone exactly the way they were? What helps you appreciate people like you would appreciate trees?
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20 Past Reflections
On Jun 17, 2024 Susan Clark wrote :
This captures so much of how I have come to understand the world and my unique curriculum. Thank you!
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On Jan 19, 2024 Michael S. Bell wrote :
Mercury, my youngest son, sends this to this me for the Bardo years, in the living ears.
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On Jul 18, 2023 Drue BeDo wrote :
Live like trees ... being ... rooted ... expansive ... interconnected ... towering ... simply complex .... without judgment ... reaching for the sun ... exchanging compost for oxygen ... giving and receiving.... truth/tree
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On Jul 18, 2023 Belinda wrote :
My husband and I are about as different as night and day... seriously. We have carried the burden of many mountains never understanding. Each time we decided to put a boulder down...we could climb together. Although I find when I take down my stuff and lay it at my feet, it encourages others to do the same. We played the back and forth game 'till we realized that that behavior had no value was predicated on living a life with no value.... for either one of us. We are still different...very different. It has created a good balance for us.
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On Feb 10, 2022 Rajan wrote :
There is no past and future and life happens in the here and now. i met my guru/mentor in 2010 and till date i only see myself expanding from within. i have no judgement and opinion of this person and just accept him the way he is. when i truly appreciate all aspects and versions of me thats when i can appreciate other people like i appreciate nature. Am still work in progress...
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On Oct 28, 2020 Katy wrote :
OH! Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU!!! Just brilliant!!! 🤗â¤ï¸ðŸ™ðŸ¼
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On Oct 27, 2020 Claudia wrote :
What a powerful message.. making people like trees so we can rid ourselves of the judgment mind. I respect how the "judgement mind" is a thing, it gives us control over when we choose to use it or not use it.. gives us a choice. It is up to us to make the choice.
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On Oct 27, 2020 Deven Pravin Shah wrote :
The ripple touches me from this reflection.
I can get so wrapped up in my pre-conceived notions and impressions from experience with a person. I forget we all are connected as part of one universal consciousness. Going out in nature naturally guides me to be in the moment, soaking in the ambiance around me. This reflection nudged me to be that way here, and now, in the middle of work and routine, I might have to go on.
A couple of other thoughts came up to me while thinking about it.
One, let the present moment be, as it is. Allow it, accept it without expectation of framing it to be something else from my past or future.
Two, this moment, right now, is new. It is fresh. See it with a beginner’s mindset to embrace possibilities it can bring. Let the magic unfold without judging it.
I learned about this from mindfulness related readings and teachings. I see synergies with those to be where I am.
Smiles and gratitude for this insightful reflection and reading,
Deven... [View Full Comment]
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On Oct 27, 2020 Usha Amin wrote :
I resonate with the words - "we might bejust one breath away from enlightenment ordeath or who knows."
Truly it's the mystery of being in the NOW as Ram Dassbeautifully mentions in this context " the game is where you are ".
Realize it is the most difficult thing to do especially during this pandemic, as the mind gets pulled in different directions of the happenings around. That said, it is also the best time to practice being in the "NOW" and accepting " All that IS". The authenticity is to play the game being fully present to oneself.
Truly it's the mystery of being in the NOW as Ram Dassbeautifully mentions in this context " the game is where you are ".
Realize it is the most difficult thing to do especially during this pandemic, as the mind gets pulled in different directions of the happenings around. That said, it is also the best time to practice being in the "NOW" and accepting " All that IS". The authenticity is to play the game being fully present to oneself.
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On Oct 27, 2020 Louise wrote :
I really really enjoyed reading the article and your comments very thought-provoking and I really do aspire to acceptance of where a person ( and self) Is at
My mind however turns to the question how do we appreciate someone where they are at if that place is hurtful or dangerous to somebody else ?
Yes we don't have to accept their behaviour and can state that however how in our hearts can we accept the person that has caused so much damage ?
Your thoughts and reflections are welcome
My mind however turns to the question how do we appreciate someone where they are at if that place is hurtful or dangerous to somebody else ?
Yes we don't have to accept their behaviour and can state that however how in our hearts can we accept the person that has caused so much damage ?
Your thoughts and reflections are welcome
1 reply: David | Post Your Reply
On Oct 27, 2020 Marc wrote :
Ram dass always makes me smile. Make people like trees. So simple life can be : )
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On Oct 27, 2020 heide toner wrote :
what causes me even more sadness is the behemoth corporations that have convinced all of us that the" prescribed being" that they dictate to us is the real way to live. So now we are all sheep or chickens following or flocking to protect ourselves hoping that we're not chosen to be the next meal for these predators there is no better way to control the nation then Create the illusion of separateness and then when the sickness comes swoop in and medicate us for every normal human reaction to this mass manipulation of our "space suits and perceptions " They don't have to "kill the trees".. we are doing it for them in the misguided belief That it will save us individually from the masses Who aren't even the enemyanyway😥
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On Oct 26, 2020 rahul wrote :
The metaphor of the body as the space suit we don for this human experience is soothing one, especially if you follow the data around how we are undermining the capacity the planet to support human society as we've known it. Learning to see our fellow humans like trees-- basically all the same with more in common than not-- is the first small step for man even as its a giant leap for humanity. The next small step is to see all of life as having more in common with us than the rest of the vast universe, which appears mostly inert and lifeless from our present definition of life. Until we can see nature as ourselves and ourselves in nature, the natural world is condemned to be both a source of raw material for our egoic machinations and the dumping ground for the waste of our collective shadow. Anyone without the vigor to seriously get right with Nature and bow their head in reverance had best be prepared to make themselves at ease with losing the privilege to don a human space suit ... [View Full Comment]
2 replies: Gayatri, Galia | Post Your Reply
On Oct 23, 2020 David Doane wrote :
It makes total sense to me to be where you are, which is an important issue, not a game as Ram Dass calls it. The alternative, to be where you are not, makes no sense to me. I've never known anyone totally, including myself, and I believe we never know anyone totally, but I have had times of appreciating the person I see and know. What helps me appreciate people like I would appreciate trees is awareness that we are all part of one whole, the other is me, and when seeing the other I am seeing me, knowing that we are different but not separate and separation is only an appearance, and that I and the other are just alike. I live all that awareness only sometimes and to a small or large degree. It helps me to remind myself to be compassionate, not judgmental. It helps me to remind myself that I am not better or worse than the other. It helps me that I experience a joy when I appreciate the other as he or she is.
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On Oct 23, 2020 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
Reading Ram Dass'spassage The Game Is To Be Where You Are reminds me a beautiful poemCome As You Are written by Rabindranath Tagore. When we love someone, we don't love the outer form of the beloved. We love the inner being of the person which is just like us. Ram Dass uses the metaphorof taking the mask off to see the beauty of the original face without any makeups. I love the Zen Koan: Find your original face before you were born. The Indian poet Mira sings: Remove the veil and you will meet your beloved. This is the way I relate to the notion thatthe game is to be where we are.
I have had several experiences of being loved as I am. My mother did not have any conditions for loving me as I was. She planted and nurtured the seeds of unconditional love as I was growing up. She was a role model for me. I was blessed to have her in my life. I learned from her how to love and relate to people in my life as they are. As years passed I have been able to cultivate spiritual maturity i... [View Full Comment]