Ep. 609 – The Bhakti-Buddhist Lineage: Stories of Ram Dass and Maharaj-ji with Robert Thurman & Nina Rao
Mindrolling with Raghu Markus
Be Here Now Network
4.7 • 543 Ratings
🗓️ 29 August 2025
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Recorded live at the 2025 Summer Mountain Retreat, this homestyle chat with Raghu Markus, Nina Rao, and Robert Thurman explores the Bhakti-Buddhist lineage of Ram Dass and Maharaj-ji.
Join us this December for the 2025 Ram Dass Legacy Open Your Heart in Paradise retreat in Maui!
This time on Mindrolling, Raghu, Nina, and Robert discuss:
- The story of finding Neem Karoli Baba and filling up on poori and potatoes
- How Maharaj-ji miraculously healed Krishna Das’s injured knee
- The wonderful interplay between Ram Dass and Buddhist teachers
- Nina’s relationship with Sri Siddhi Ma, an intimate devotee of Maharaj-ji (considered by many to be a saint in her own right)
- Seeing everyone as the guru and living the best way that we can
- Nina’s journey to the foothills of the Himalayas and meeting Siddhi Ma for the first time
- The Buddhist perspective on the soul (ātman) and whether we truly have one
- Why ‘Be Here Now’ is actually a mantra of care and femininity
- The Bhagavad Gita and the meaning of karma yoga
- Letting go of fear around birth and death by focusing on liberation from suffering
- Being here now in the best way we can by loving those around us rather than running away from the pain in the world
“My own take on it in terms of what we represent and what goes on here is really, truly, a combination of Bhakti and discriminating wisdom represented by Buddhist perspective.” – Raghu Markus
About Nina Rao:
Nina Rao is a devotional singer. She tours with Krishna Das, playing cymbals, singing, and acting as his business manager. Nina has two of her own albums, “Antarayaami – Knower of All Hearts” and “Anubhav”. Nina regularly leads kirtan, workshops, and retreats in her hometown of Brooklyn, New York and beyond. Together with Chandra and Genevieve Walker, Nina operates the 21 Taras Collective. You can keep up with Nina on her website or find her on Instagram @nina_rao and on Facebook @NinaRaoChant.
“I didn’t realize that I was looking for a guru until Krishna Das started talking about Neem Karoli Baba. When I heard about him and I felt that presence that came alive when Krishna Das was talking about Maharaj-ji, I wanted to meet him.” – Nina Rao
About Robert Thurman:
Robert Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University and President of the Tibet House U.S., and is the President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. His new book, Wisdom Is Bliss: Four Friendly Fun Facts That Can Change Your Life, is now available.
“What is the best way to 'be here now'? It’s to love Raghu, to love Nina, to love Maharaj-ji, it’s to love everything here and now and make it beautiful and the best. Be as beautiful and as best as you can be because that’s absolute. That’s the way to 'be Nirvana now'.” – Robert Thurman
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, everyone, it's Rago, and I'm back with Mind Rolling, a new episode. |
| 0:26.3 | And this is an intro to this episode as it emanates from this wonderful retreat we just finished in Boone North Carolina right in the midst of the |
| 0:32.3 | Blue Ridge Mountains and we're still got a glow on because it was from that retreat. |
| 0:41.3 | It was phenomenal, of course, Krishna Das chanting at night. |
| 0:44.3 | And we had East Forest who was doing his wonderful music renditions of this music he created with Ram Dass years ago before Ram Dass passed. |
| 0:59.0 | And I want to introduce, of course, I think many of you know, Bob Thurman, and Bob was there. |
| 1:09.0 | And Bob is, for those of you don't know, his biggest claim to fame is being a good friend of his holiness, the Dalai Lama. |
| 1:20.9 | And of course, Bob taught at Columbia University for years around Tibetan Buddhist studies and so on, |
| 1:30.3 | retired a number of years ago. |
| 1:32.3 | And he teaches around the country and has spent time with us. |
| 1:36.3 | We are fortunate. He's just a brilliant, brilliant man. |
| 1:41.3 | And funny and warm and engaging. We love Bob Bob and Nina Rao who is there as well and |
| 1:49.7 | Nina does wonderful renditions of the Hunnamancholisa and really tells a story of Ramayana. |
| 2:04.1 | She is very, very closely connected with that tradition. |
| 2:09.2 | And I did a podcast because I always do a live podcast at these retreats, fortunately. |
| 2:15.9 | And I had Bob and Nina on, and it was about the intersection as you'll hear see depending if you're watching on YouTube of Buddhism and Bhakti and |
| 2:29.3 | it's a wonderful, wonderful source of what I feel has been the reality for us. |
| 2:44.4 | Since we were in India with Maharaji all those years ago, and what got brought back into, most especially, of course, by Ram Dass, |
| 2:56.7 | and then later on by Christian Das, into this community. |
| 3:01.6 | And it really is, as I say in the discussion on stage, it's about Bhakti, the devotional aspect of who we are as human beings, |
| 3:19.0 | love, compassion, kindness, Bhakti being how we merge with that which is the beloved, |
| 3:28.4 | and that comes in many different forms. |
... |
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