Ep. 298 – The Web of Human Caring
Ram Dass Here And Now
Ram Dass / Love Serve Remember
4.8 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ram Dass explores living in times of great change, the cost of individuality to our compassionate hearts, and the importance of building and being part of the web of human caring.
Ram Dass Here & Now is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ramdass and get on your way to being your best self.
This episode of Here and Now is the conclusion of Ram Dass’ lecture in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 27th, 1992. Listen to Here and Now Ep. 297 for the first part of this talk.
- Ram Dass begins by laying out the societal changes taking place from his vantage point in the 90s, and how people get reactive and frightened by change. In order to hear our predicament, we must quiet down enough to be able to listen clearly.
- Ram Dass talks about the cost of individuality to our compassionate, human hearts. He explores how we can set boundaries and learn to say no without closing our hearts, and how we can take any situation and turn it into karma yoga.
- Ram Dass speaks to how we can honor individual differences without being trapped by them. Being caught in our separateness cuts us off from the community of fellow beings, but it is possible to build the web of human caring and be part of it. We can be at peace in the midst of great change.
The Ram Dass community gathers regularly to engage in meaningful discussions about the podcast. We invite you to join us and share your curiosities, insights, and wisdom. Sign up for the General Fellowship to receive event invitations directly in your inbox.
“To recognize fully that we have cut ourselves off from our spiritual lifeblood by cutting ourselves off from the community of fellow being, because our mind has caught us in our separateness, and therefore, reaching out to create community. Through helping, through loving, through sharing, through acknowledging family, through whatever. Build the network or the web of human caring and be part of it.” – Ram Dass
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | We've done a bizarre thing. |
| 0:06.6 | We got so carried away with being free individuals. |
| 0:11.3 | We just cut off everything so we don't have babysitters like uncles and aunts. |
| 0:17.0 | You know, we don't have extended families. |
| 0:19.5 | We keep cutting ourselves off to be free. |
| 0:22.3 | So you're free but miserable. |
| 0:23.8 | You're totally alienated, but you're free. |
| 0:30.9 | Welcome to another here and now episode with Ram Dass. |
| 0:34.6 | I'm your host, Jackie DeBrinska, and each one of you, you are the Ram Dass community. |
| 0:40.2 | And this is episode 298, The Web of Human Caring. And honestly, this one feels like an instruction |
| 0:49.8 | manual for these times. So it is a continuation from the last episode, which was a lecture given in |
| 0:56.4 | 1992 in St. Louis, Missouri. So picture it, 1992. The Soviet Union has just collapsed. The |
| 1:03.9 | Gulf War, the first Gulf War, has just ended. And environmental scientists are sounding alarms |
| 1:10.2 | that nobody wants to hear. |
| 1:12.4 | There is a zeitgeist that is going to take a miracle to save us. |
| 1:17.0 | And doesn't that sound familiar? |
| 1:18.7 | Here we are, 26. |
| 1:20.4 | And we're having that same conversation, except it feels heightened today. |
| 1:24.9 | It's the polycrisis, climate chaos, dominator culture, disparities of wealth, |
| 1:32.1 | artificial intelligence, algorithms, the constant othering, the scrolling, the outrage, |
| 1:36.7 | and this feeling like everything is spinning out of control. And so some days it really does feel |
| 1:41.4 | like it's going to take a miracle. But here's the thing. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ram Dass / Love Serve Remember, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Ram Dass / Love Serve Remember and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.