Ram Dass Fellowship

• An affinity group is a group formed around a shared interest or common goal, to which individuals formally or informally belong.

• Affinity groups often give people a stronger sense of belonging within a larger community.

• Affinity groups are an integral part of creating an inclusive environment. These spaces offer individuals with similar backgrounds and experiences an opportunity to socialize and share ideas and interests outside their daily practice groups or general fellowships.

How Can I Help?, pages 163-167, By Ram Dass and Paul Gorman

“A coffeehouse. An encampment. A free zone for whoever shows up. We’re an environment, not an argument for social change. Our aim is to awaken together and see what follows, not to manipulate one another into this action or that. We do so by recognizing the integrity of one another’s experience, “What have you been through? What did it look like to you?” The most effective political action often grows out of telling one another our stories. We’re out to share not to convince; action follows. So, two policemen, talking off-duty, discover they both feel uncomfortable with racist jokes at the station; they agree to call people on them from now on. A group of women employees, chatting at lunch, find out they’ve all been sexually harassed by men with power over their jobs; they’ll raise the issue at the next union meeting. Parallels of private experiences become the group for common initiative. What’s been dealt with in solitude becomes the basis for solidarity.”

“It’s a politics of affinity. We don’t try to deny or manipulate individual differences. We honor them, in fact we seek them out—because we understand that before we undertake any serious social action, we need a strong sense of who we are. We have to move toward an initial state of unity, openly arrived at. …“

Page 178: “The recognition of our unity which prevents us from getting lost in our divisions is something we have to have a strong grasp on from the outset. Any of us who choose to enter the arena of social action must go deep to the place where we are One. And that vision must be profound and all-inclusive, an affirmation of heart and soul. It must be strong enough to stay alive, often under the worst of conditions.“

• We’ve prioritized groups for BIPOC and women, non-binary and gender non-conforming people, because these two particular groups have historically endured and continue to endure the biggest impacts of oppression, trauma and marginalization.

• Holding space for these groups allows them more of an opportunity to explore the teaching of Ram Dass and Neem Karoli Baba with less pressure to stay quite, perform, be tokenized, excluded or offended—which is what these groups have been forced to do for countless generations.

• By supporting these two fellowships/satsangs, we hope to ensure their success and demonstrate that Love Serve Remember Foundation honors our entire satsang, including those who have not historically been honored.

Click here to learn more about why People of Color need their own spaces.

“Let’s trade in all our judging for appreciating. Let’s lay down our righteousness and just be together.”—Ram Dass; “Treat everyone you meet like G-d in drag.” –Ram Dass

• The Women’s Satsang is a space specifically for those who do not identify as male and is in alignment with Ram Dass’ thoughts and teachings.

• Ram Dass spoke countless times about accepting people as they are. His legacy of advocating for Women’s Rights, gender equity and equality and the LGBT community is inspiring. Ram Dass was so accepting that he even had a friend named Emmanuel who he described as a dis-embodied being!

• We invite those who do not identify as male to join a Women’s Satsang gathering. For those who do not identify as male but don’t feel comfortable at the Women’s Satsang, we hope you’ll join the general Ram Dass Fellowship events and other programming.

We welcome naming ideas to best describes this group, since it’s not currently categorized as a recognized group and doesn’t have a popular acronym.

• To promote learning, spiritual growth, equity and belonging, Love Serve Remember Foundation is committed to hosting spaces for gathering together as well as separately in affinity groups.

• We acknowledge the sacred beauty that can emerge when people with different lived experiences and backgrounds come together to share and learn from one another. We have also learned that when people from different racial identities come together, especially without the benefit of also creating and engaging in deliberate caucus space, it is possible that multi-racial space often results in the people of color – who have been most harmed by structural racism – carrying an additional burden of educating others (at best) or being retraumatized through the reliving of painful experiences. The same can be said for women and gender non-conforming people – who have been oppressed by patriarchal structures and dynamics – in spaces dominated by men.

See all women as mothers, serve them as your mother. When you see the entire world as the mother, the ego falls away. - Neem Karoli Baba

 
• Sub Ek (“All One”) can also be a teaching on equity. Even in 2020, patriarchy—which is the conceptualization of how men, especially cis-gendered men, and masculinity are seen as better than, are more respected than, and hold more privileges than women and nonbinary people or femininity—permeates nearly every aspect of our lives, including the spiritual community.

• Love Serve Remember Foundation is proactively working to foster a sense of inclusion and belonging by elevating voices of BIPOC, women and gender non-confirming people to celebrate the diversity among our satsang.

• We also love, value and honor those in our stasang who identify as male. We are also grateful for their participation and contributions.

• Men’s leadership, teachings and voices still dominate in spiritual communities. Our intention is to achieve sacred balance in our programming, while centering on the teaching of Ram Dass and Neem Karoli Baba.

• Should there be significant interest expressed, we are open to considering a Men’s Fellowship in the future. Men in the satsang are welcome to self-organize as an affinity group in fellowship within their local or online communities, if there is a desire to do so.