Commitments and unresolved karma

Jeroen

Yesterday I came across @how saying “maybe it’s just another aspect of be here now” and I realised it was the title of Ram Dass’s book, which can these days be downloaded for free in pdf format. So I found it and started reading it in the deep of the night.

“Now, though I am a beginner on the path, I have returned to the West for a time to work out karma or unfulfilled commitment. Part of this commitment is to share what I have learned with those of you who are on a similar journey. One can share a message through telling ‘our-story’ as I have just done, or through teaching methods of yoga, or singing, or making love. Each of us finds his unique vehicle for sharing with others his bit of wisdom.”
— Ram Dass, Be Here Now

I found the passage above near the end of the first part of the book, where Ram Dass talks about his experience going from being a Harvard professor to being a Baba in India. It speaks to why he wrote the book, that in a way each of us on this path have by nature of walking the spiritual roads taken on some karma to serve as a guide for generations who come after us.

Each generation copes with different circumstances, for example I think games are a problem for this generation, and so is the trend for remote contact with gurus through Zoom or Skype, and so are smartphones. There are different things you can write about. So I wonder if Ram Dass may be right to write about ‘commitment or unresolved karma’.