“Fierce Grace is an extraordinary film by our good friend Mickey Lemle. It is a really inspiring movie about Ram Dass, how he dealt with the catastrophic stroke he had and how he came to use it as spiritual practice. When Ram Dass was first recovering from the stroke he used to say that Maharajji had Graced him, given him the stroke as fierce Grace, very hard spiritual work to do, and he believed that at the time.
Some years later, still in a wheelchair, on his final trip to India, Siddhi Ma told Ram Dass that what he was saying was not correct – Maharajji would never give him a stroke. The stroke was his karma but Maharajji’s grace was the strength and blessings to be able to work with that karma and extract real goodness from it. As difficult and painful as it was for him, and Ram Dass really did suffer intensely, he was able to conquer that suffering and overcome tremendous obstacles hidden inside him, like pride and fear and shame. He had to work with these obstacles to get free, be able to live fully and consciously in Maharajji’s deep and abiding, loving Presence. So Ram Dass came to understand that …the stroke was a great blessing which is a very powerful thing to say especially if you really mean it. And he did.” -Krishna Das
Thursday July 29 at starting at 7pm New York time
Movie run time: 1 hr 33 mins
Q&A duration: approximately 30 mins
We are happy to bring you this free one time film screening of FIERCE GRACE by director and KD’s longtime friend Mickey Lemle. There will be a live Q&A with the director after the film moderated by Nina Rao. This screening will be offered on KD’s Facebook and Youtube channels in the same way that our Thursday night Satsangs are offered, so there is nothing for you to do to watch except show up wherever you usually join us! If you are new to us, you can find all the details HERE
*Please note the film screening portion of this event will NOT be recorded. We will be sharing a recording of the Q&A portion soon after the event. We hope you can join us from 7pm to 9pm EST for this online event. Please convert to your local time HERE.
*If you are unable to join us at the live screening time, please scroll down for a link to watch a pay-per-view option and then come back (to Facebook ,Youtube or KrishnaDas.com) to view the free Q&A recording!
ABOUT THE MOVIE:
RAM DASS FIERCE GRACE is a feature-length documentary that shows the wisdom of Ram Dass (aka Richard Alpert), the man who’s been at the forefront of studies in consciousness for over 55 years, as he uses his own practices to deal with the effects of a massive stroke he suffered in 1997.
While at Harvard, Alpert’s explorations of human consciousness led him, in collaboration with Timothy Leary, Ralph, Metzner, Aldous Huxley, Allen Ginsberg, and others, to pursue intensive research with LSD and other psychedelics. Out of this research he co-authored two well-known books: The Psychedelic Experiences and LSD, but because of the controversial nature of the research, Alpert was dismissed from Harvard in 1963 and forced to continue his research under the auspices of a private foundation. He did this until 1967 when he traveled to India and met his Guru Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately called Maharaj ji, who gave him the name Ram Dass, which means “Servant of God”. From that point on, his exploration of consciousness transformed and grew with a spiritual practice of yoga and meditation.
RAM DASS FIERCE GRACE focuses on how Ram Dass deals with the effects of his own stroke, suffering, and alleviation of suffering. Named by Newsweek as one of the five best non-fiction films of 2002. It received the Audience Choice Award at The Hamptons International Film Festival and a Special Jury Prize at The Nashville Independent Film Festival. It showed theatrically in over 60 cities nationwide and was broadcast nationally on PBS. Theatrical distribution by Zeitgeist Films.
Watch the trailer and find out more about the film here: http://www.lemlepictures.com/film_RD.html
More about the director Mickey Lemle here: http://www.lemlepictures.com/about.html
SPECIAL REMARKS:
Please note this event will NOT be recorded. We hope you can join us from 7pm to 9pm EST for this online event. Please convert to your local time HERE
If you are unable to join the live screening you can watch a pay per view, on demand option HERE
Then come back to Facebook ,Youtube or KrishnaDas.com to view the free Q&A recording!
