In this epic conclusion to the story of the Ramayana, Ram Dass recounts the heroic actions of Hanuman as he helps Ram rescue Sita and defeat the demon king, Ravana.
In this episode of Here and Now:
- We continue the story of the Ramayana with Hanuman landing in Sri Lanka, where he lets Sita know that Ram is coming for her and gives Ravana more than he bargained for
- We learn how Hanuman returns to Ram, and then a great bridge to Sri Lanka is built for Ram’s army of monkeys and bears to confront Ravana and his demons in a final battle
- We hear the epic conclusion of the story, and Ram Dass offers us Ravana’s perspective on why he needed to be killed by Ram in order to complete his yoga
- Ram Dass shares the story of how he had a Hanuman statue built and shipped to the Hanuman Temple in Taos, New Mexico
“Now think of Sita as the devotee. Hanuman is the messenger from God that comes to the devotee to reassure the devotee that God has not forgotten. In other words, Hanuman is the grace. Can you hear that? So now she’s tasted the grace, like many of you have tasted grace, and then Hanuman says, ‘I’ve got to leave you.’ Imagine how that must feel. It’s like coming down. I just want you to feel it.” – Ram Dass
That really puts things into perspective in my everyday life. Again I am reminded of a couple of things Ram Dass has said in the past regarding the Divine leela of it all. First, how Maharaji with tears in his eyes says “can’t you see it is all perfect?”. Then when Ram Dass talks about how challenging certain incarnations must be, rather than viewing that person as good or bad, reframing to view it all as part of the dance. We are working out our karmic predicament, and it is all unfolding just as it is supposed to, even if we cannot in our humanness understand it.