Fierce Grace

My interest in Ram Dass has been piqued enough that he has been the focus of my internet travels a lot of this weekend.  Yesterday morning I watched Fierce Grace, a documentary of his life. It was a little over an hour and a half long.  I usually do not watch things that long...but this one captured...and held...my attention.  It was filmed after he had his stroke...which occurred sometime back in the late 90's. 

About his stroke he says:

"..... I didn’t have a spiritual thought in my head . . . all I noticed were the pipes on the ceiling."

"Here I am, Mr. Spiritual, and in my own death, I didn't orient toward the spirit.  It shows me I have some work to do. Because that's the test.  That's the test.  So I flunked the test."

The video shows him working with all kinds of therapists...physical, in water, on an exam table, learning to walk. One scene involves a conversation with his speech therapist at what appears to be his home.  He still has difficulty with communication.  He discussed some of his struggles, including what to do about people who insist on finishing his sentences for him.  About finding the right words he says:

"The concepts exist and then they are clothed with words...and the clothing closet isn't, isn't, isn't open." 

About his lot in life:

This isn't who I expected to be.  This is all new. Because my expectations of me old didn't have this stroke in it. 

I picked up his latest book, Still Here, when I stopped at the library earlier. He sees himself as a sort of guide into old age, illness and death. 

I feel like an advance guard. An advance parley that calls back to the baby boomers. And now, I call back about aging because aging and things like stroke are going to be in their present much sooner than they think.

There will probably be more to follow... but you know how I am :)

In the meantime, three interesting links to check out are 

Interesting facts about Fierce Grace 

Audio files of Ram Dass

An Interview With Ram Dass