Sacred Community Podcast

Ram Dass Stories: What did you have to let go of? (Sitaram Dass and Pavan Das)

Sitaram Dass and Pavan Das tell stories about their time with Ram Dass and answer the question, "What did you have to let go of to be with him?" Recorded from the 2024 Sacred Community Retreat.
Sitaram Dass and Pavan Das were both caregivers for Ram Dass, and now they continue their spiritual path through service to others. They are both founding board members of the Sacred Community Project and retreat facilitators for the upcoming Sacred Community Retreat. Listen to Pav and Sitaram's live kirtan album, Sacred Community Project Live (V. 1) 
And learn more about this year’s Sacred Community Retreat in British Columbia.
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Sacred Community Project works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
Related Credits and Links
Podcast Host and A/V: zander cole
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Podcast Intro Music: Carl Golembeski
 
 

Integration and Grief: Sacred Community Retreat 2024 (Q&A #3)

In this third Q&A from the 2024 Sacred Community Retreat, Sitaram Dass leads a discussion on transitioning from a spiritual retreat into our everyday lives and ends by answering an audience question on the nature of grief. He is also joined in the conversation by Pavan Das, Swapnil Abrol, and zander cole. 
Learn more about this year’s Sacred Community Retreat in British Columbia.
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Sacred Community Project works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
Related Credits and Links
Podcast Host and A/V: zander cole
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Podcast Intro Music: Carl Golembeski
Referenced is the poem, Eternity, by William Blake (1757 –1827):
 
He who binds to himself a joyDoes the winged life destroyHe who kisses the joy as it fliesLives in eternity's sunrise
 

Everyday is Sacred: Sacred Community Retreat 2024 (Q&A #2)

In this second Q&A from the 2024 Sacred Community Retreat, the facilitation team continues in the topic of practice and grace, discussing how to "bring the sacred into everyday," Guru Kripa, the steps of aarti, and the role and pitfalls of psychedelics. Lakshmi and Connor share some Ram Dass stories, and Swapnil tells his story of his training in the jungles of Peru. This episode features Lakshmi Abrol, Swapnil Abrol, Connor Burns, zander cole, Pavan Das, Sitaram Dass, and Beverly Hsu. 
Learn more about this year’s Sacred Community Retreat in British Columbia.
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Sacred Community Project works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
Related Credits and Links
Podcast Host and A/V: zander cole
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Podcast Intro Music: Carl Golembeski
 
Lakshmi's Art Prints: https://sacredcommunityproject.org/shop/emily-lakshmi-merrill
 

Practice and Grace: Sacred Community Retreat 2024 (Q&A #1)

The Sacred Community Retreat facilitation team discusses the role of practice and grace on the spiritual path. Recorded from the second day of the 2024 Sacred Community Retreat, this episode features Lakshmi Abrol, Swapnil Abrol, Connor Burns, zander cole, Pavan Das, Sitaram Dass, Beverly Hsu, and a special guest appearance by Vasu Jon Seskevich. 
Learn more about this year’s Sacred Community Retreat in British Columbia.
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Sacred Community Project works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
Related Credits and Links
Podcast Host and A/V: zander cole
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Podcast Intro Music: Carl Golembeski
 

30-minute Loving-Awareness Meditation: Sitaram Dass at Just Love Forest (P3)

This three part series is taken from a lecture and guided meditation that Sitaram Dass gave at the Sacred Community Retreat at Just Love Forest in Poetry, Georgia. In Part 3, he applies the principles from his lecture on mantra and releasing struggle into a guided Loving-Awareness meditation.
Learn more about this year’s Sacred Community Retreat in British Columbia.
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Sitaram Dass (K. Sandin, LCSW) (he/him) spent several years serving his beloved teacher Ram Dass on Maui, where he was shown the path of Bhakti, the yoga of service and devotion to God. He is a kirtan singer, social worker, author, and spiritual counselor. As the director of the Sacred Community Project, he works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices. His book, From and for God, is an intimate and contemplative collection of writings on the spiritual path.
Connect with Sitaram Dass at http://sitaramdass.com
And follow his music on your favorite streaming service: https://hyperfollow.com/sitaramdass
 
Sacred Community Project works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
Related Credits and Links
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Podcast Intro Music: Carl Golembeski
 
Just Love Forest: https://justloveforest.com
 

The Holy Names of God: Sitaram Dass at Just Love Forest (P2)

This three part series is taken from a lecture and guided meditation that Sitaram Dass gave at the Sacred Community Retreat at Just Love Forest in Poetry, Georgia. In Part 2, he gives a lecture on the Holy Names as a doorway to relating to life with a loving stance.
Learn more about this year’s Sacred Community Retreat in British Columbia.
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Sitaram Dass (K. Sandin, LCSW) (he/him) spent several years serving his beloved teacher Ram Dass on Maui, where he was shown the path of Bhakti, the yoga of service and devotion to God. He is a kirtan singer, social worker, author, and spiritual counselor. As the director of the Sacred Community Project, he works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices. His book, From and for God, is an intimate and contemplative collection of writings on the spiritual path.
Connect with Sitaram Dass at http://sitaramdass.com
And follow his music on your favorite streaming service: https://hyperfollow.com/sitaramdass
 
Sacred Community Project works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
Related Credits and Links
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Podcast Intro Music: Carl Golembeski
 
Just Love Forest: https://justloveforest.com
 

Softness, Ease, and Releasing Struggle: Sitaram Dass at Just Love Forest (P1)

This three part series is taken from a lecture and guided meditation that Sitaram Dass gave at the Sacred Community Retreat at Just Love Forest in Poetry, Georgia. In Part 1, he opens with a short meditation and lecture on cultivating a mind of ease that can release inner struggle.
Learn more about this year’s Sacred Community Retreat in British Columbia.
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Sitaram Dass (K. Sandin, LCSW) (he/him) spent several years serving his beloved teacher Ram Dass on Maui, where he was shown the path of Bhakti, the yoga of service and devotion to God. He is a kirtan singer, social worker, author, and spiritual counselor. As the director of the Sacred Community Project, he works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices. His book, From and for God, is an intimate and contemplative collection of writings on the spiritual path.
Connect with Sitaram Dass at http://sitaramdass.com
And follow his music on your favorite streaming service: https://hyperfollow.com/sitaramdass
 
Sacred Community Project works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
Related Credits and Links
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Podcast Intro Music: Carl Golembeski
 
Just Love Forest: https://justloveforest.com

Anna Le: Skills for Loving and Tending to Suffering

This is a recorded lecture from the 2024 Loving Rock Karma Yoga Training Program. In this lecture, Anna Le (she/they) shares the "microskills" needed to love and tend to suffering. She discusses how to be a steady and loving companion for others on their spiritual and life journeys, and she teaches practical skills such as attending, attunement, and reflective listening. You can learn more about SCP's Loving Rock training program here: https://sacredcommunityproject.org/loving-rock-training 
Anna Le (she/they) is a Vietnamese-American, Bay Area native, and licensed psychotherapist. She is a Bhakta, student of Ram Dass, devotee of Neem Karoli Baba “Maharajji," and the spiritual support coordinator for SCP. She utilizes compassion-based practices, mindfulness, and various spiritual modalities through a trauma-informed lens to heal others. She is interested in alleviating collective suffering and aiding in collective liberation. She holds a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Sonoma State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from University California, Davis.
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Sacred Community Project works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
Mentioned Links:
Reach out for spiritual support: https://sacredcommunityproject.org/spiritual-support
Join SCP's thriving online community: https://sacredcommunityproject.org/discord

The Bhagavad Gita: A Meditation on Grief, Love, and Action for Perilous Times

In this audio recording of an event held shortly after the recent election, Sitaram Dass invokes the central scene of the Bhagavad Gita as a meditation on collective grief to inspire deep feeling, compassion, and right action for this time. 
He breaks up the discourse with 6-minutes of original music and chanting that features: Jeanette Kangas (tabla) Clark Stacer (bass) and Hiromi Sieradski (vocals). Relevant links below. 
Sitaram Dass writes about this lecture:
"In the Bhagavd Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna to drive him into the middle of the two opposing armies. Surrounded by millions of warriors on the eve of battle, Arjuna bears witness to the enormity of the ensuing devastation. He is overcome with grief, his legs tremble, his body quakes, and he cries out to Krishna for help.
The suffering is so unbearable that Arjuna desperately wants to leave the battlefield and live a life as a monk. However, Krishna emphatically instructs that this is a mistake. Arjuna's wisdom was in allowing himself to see and feel the reality of the world's suffering. His mistake was in trying to pull away. Krishna then instructs Arjuna on how we can all lean into the world's collective grief by acting out our dharma — our relational duty to the world.
Some of these practices involve widening our heart: Can we remember that the Atman, our True Loving Nature, is larger, deeper, and more stable than our grief?
Other strategies involve how to act in a world rife with grief: How does one engage with an open heart in the midst of crises and conflict?"
Sitaram Dass (K. Sandin, LCSW) (he/him) spent several years serving his beloved teacher Ram Dass on Maui, where he was shown the path of Bhakti, the yoga of service and devotion to God. He is a kirtan singer, social worker, author, and spiritual counselor. As the director of the Sacred Community Project, he works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices. His book, From and for God, is an intimate and contemplative collection of writings on the spiritual path.
Connect with Sitaram Dass at http://sitaramdass.com
And follow his music on your favorite streaming service: https://hyperfollow.com/sitaramdass
 
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Sacred Community Project works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
Related Credits and Links
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Podcast Intro Music: Carl Golembeski
 
Jeanette Kangas: https://jkangasmusic.com and https://umpquavalleydrumlessons.com/
Clark Stacer: https://www.supraphonica.com
Hiromi Sieradski: https://heavenearthcircle.org and http://wondrousmoon.com
 
Geeta Updesh Photo used under Creative Commons License found here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Geeta_Updesh.jpg
 
Related Article by Sitaram Dass published on the Be Here Now Network: https://beherenownetwork.com/the-dharma-of-our-times/
 
 

Sarah Anderson and Kenneth Robinson: The Constructed Self

Sarah Anderson, LCSW, interviews her previous therapist, Kenneth Robinson, MS, MTS, for a conversation about psychological healing. This is a follow up conversation from their previous conversation: A Healing Relationship, and in this conversation they convey a synthesis between the psychological and the spiritual through topics such as ego loss, the constructed self, the inner child, vulnerability, and interdependence.
Sarah writes about this interview series: "My intention behind asking Kenneth to create this conversation with me was to demonstrate healing relationship. For me, the Western medical model too often objectifies "patients/ clients" rather than humanizing both healer and receiver. Sitting with Kenneth for eight years (with some breaks!) was transformative because I felt seen and heard in a new way, and my desire to help others was strengthened in this context of learning what it feels like to be truly safe in the world. Not that we can prevent death, pain, and injury to mind, body, and spirit, but it is our connection with others that contains these traumas and allows us to return home to love unconditionally."
Kenneth Robinson has worked for more than thirty years in the healing arts. He began as an addictions counselor, then as director of a family counseling center, and for the past twenty-five years as a body-oriented therapist and teacher.  Throughout that time he has been a student of meditation and yoga, and for four years he studied Alaya Process, a transpersonal approach to healing. He has a masters in counseling from University of Tennessee and a Master’s in Theological Studies from Vanderbilt University. Beyond his practice, Kenneth is a poet, musician, and founding member of the kirtan group Chant Ram.
https://www.kennethrobinsontherapy.com/
 
Sarah Anderson combines her love of energy healing with psychotherapeutic skills in her clinical social work practice. A certified Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner since 2001, she went back to graduate school in 2009 to receive her masters in social work with the goal of supporting others in remembering their wholeness. Sarah uses multiple approaches in her practice, including mindfulness, transpersonal therapy, trauma-informed cognitive behavioral work, and narrative therapy. She enjoys reflecting back to clients the aspects of their being that were never touched by trauma, while holding space for the grief process involved in remembering the ways they have lost contact with those aspects.
 
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/sarah-w-anderson-keaau-hi/450152
 
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
SCP works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices through free, donation-based, and affordable offerings, spiritual support, and prison outreach. Learn more and make a tax-deductible donation at: https://sacredcommunityproject.org
 
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Music: Carl Golembeski