#81 Raghu Markus - Ram Das, Karma, and Soul

 Chatting with Candice
 Raghu Markus
 Episode Run Time: 55:46

Raghu Markus is a film producer and music producer from Ojai, California. He is the Executive Director of the Love Serve Remember Foundation, co-founder of the Be Here Now Network, where he hosts the Ram Dass Here & Now podcast, as well as his own Mindrolling podcast. He is the producer of Becoming Nobody, a Ram Dass documentary feature film that was released in 2019. In this episode, we talk about awareness, consciousness, the roles we play, and finding the best guru to guide you in life.

00:00 00:14 “Who Am I?”
 05:07 The Roles We Play
 08:51 The Phineas Gage Incident and Physical and Biological Trauma
 14:09 Definition of Karma
 18:34 Relationship to People in Power and Losing Your Soul
 22:16 Treating Everyone Like God in Drag
 29:51 The Role of Shame, Sin, and Punishment in Religion
 34:06 The Best Way to Find a Teacher or Guru
 43:42 The Element of Giving and Contributing
 47:02 Being Disconnected
 51:52 Reincarnations and Past Lives
 53:22 Where to Find Raghu

Ram Dass and Who We Are

Raghu’s documentary feature of Ram Dass in “Becoming Nobody” shows the the arc of what Ram Dass represented as a teacher over many decades. His ideologies center around how we identify with our roles, the community, the family we came from, and the teachers that taught us everything we know; these influences forming us as a “somebody”. When Raghu went to India with Ram Dass, he got the nickname “Raghu”, a re-identification of the soul and the essence behind the personality, identities, and roles he played.

When it comes to answering the question of who we are, Raghu traces his answer to Ramana Maharshi, a great saint in India who when he was 16 couldn’t take the suffering and laid down in his bed refusing to get up until he found out who he was. He had the benefit of six billion incarnations going through to get to that moment where he realized the true essence of himself. The central part of his teaching had always been “Who Am I?”. For Raghu’s own experience, it’s how do we use all of these wonderful teachings to enhance our day-to-day lives and get ourselves more in balance. It’s not a matter of “I’ll find out who I am and I’ll be enlightened”. It’s about how do we become a little bit more kind, generous, and loving in an unconditional way.

Links and Resources

Join the course at: https://www.ramdass.org/

Listen to Raghu’s Podcast “Mindrolling” at https://beherenownetwork.com/category/raghu-markus/

Meta-Description

Film producer and co-founder of the Be Here Network Raghu Markus shares his experience with Ram Dass and how this changed his life and his perspective on culture, consciousness, and realization.

Support the Show.