Polishing the Mirror: How to Live from Your Spiritual Heart - Hardcover

''Ram Dass is a superb writer. His example of gentleness and loving compassion is infused with profound wisdom of the heart and mind, a welcome sense of humor and a savvy effectiveness in the real world."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"This collection of teachings by Ram Dass (author of Be Here Now), one of the United States' most famous spiritual seekers, is surprisingly fresh and accessible more than 40 years after the psychedelic psychologist first wrote about consciousness expansion through LSD. His willingness to admit his own mistakes and turn them into lessons for personal growth is refreshing, and allows readers to see themselves in his story."
--Publishers Weekly

"Ram Dass has been polishing the mirror of his heart for decades. Now 82 years old, he has the process down pat. For those negotiating this process, Polishing the Mirror offers an eclectic tool kit.. His message, as clear as it has always been and delivered with his inimitable humor, does not deviate much from the original words of wisdom he received from his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, many years ago: 'Love everyone and tell the truth.'"

--Tricycle Magazine

"Considering his long-standing advice to 'be here now, ' the spiritual author and teacher Ram Dass has always been ahead of his time . . . . Polishing the Mirror brings a light tone to recapping the lessons learned, wisdom gained, love realized, and new challenges awaiting as the end of this life nears."
--Spirituality & Health Magazine

"Ram Dass has been the most influential person in my own spiritual development. I treasure his wisdom as well as his spirit. Let his words in theis book enter your soul -- for my friend Ram Dass is divine love personified."
--Wayne Dyer, Author of The Power of Intention

Sometimes illumination occurs spontaneously or, as Ram Dass experienced, in a heart-wrenching moment of opening. More commonly, it happens when we polish the mirror of the heart with daily practice—and see beyond the illusion of our transient thoughts and emotions to the vast and luminous landscape of our true nature.

For five decades, Ram Dass has explored the depths of consciousness and love and brought them to life as service to others. With Polishing the Mirror, he gathers together his essential teachings for living in the eternal present, here and now.

Readers will find within these pages a rich combination of perennial wisdom, humor, teaching stories, and detailed guidance on Ram Dass' own spiritual practices, including:

Bhakti Yoga—opening our hearts to unconditional love
· Practices for living, aging, dying, and embracing the natural flow of life
· Karma Yoga—how selfless service can profoundly transform us
· Working with fear and suffering as a path to grace and freedom
· Step-by-step guidance in devotional chant, meditation and mantra practice, and much more
For those new to Ram Dass' teachings, and for those to whom they are old friends, here is this vanguard spiritual explorer's complete guide to discovering who we are and why we are here, and how to become beacons of unconditional love.