Polishing the Mirror: How to Live from Your Spiritual Heart

This is a Bible for me. I read it slowly. A sement at a time. Slowly digesting. At the end. I begin again. Every time parts seem brand new. I consider. It steadies my path. Gives me hope. This is a favorite book.

I loved this book. The most inspiring part for me was the idea of how to deal with suffering. I'd often read that one reason we have pain is to develop compassion. Another is to give other people the chance to evolve by helping us. I have a lot of pain that keeps me up at night and keeps me from being able to do a lot things. I would wake with pain and think, Why? What's the point of this? There's no one here with me so I can't be giving anyone else a chance of evolving by being with me. And I have plenty of compassion, so it can't be for that. I'm wasted, unable to help anyone. Ram Dass said that suffering can push you into your soul. The ego is caught up in the storyline of this incarnation, lost in the details of the melodrama, the blame and injustice. It identifies with the pain whereas when you are pushed into your soul, the eternal part of you, you can be a witness to the pain. You're in the body and with the pain, but you aren't the pain. That works for me. I had a flashback to a previous incarnation years ago when I was doing Focusing. I can't think of the author's name now, but that's the name of the book. It's a great sort of mindful focus on what's going on in your body. Anyhoo, I was blown away by a flashback resulting from that practice, because I didn't believe in reincarnation up until then. It helps to remember this is just one of many lives we're going through. Find a way to evolve from the pain, to benefit. It is making me quiet inside after a lifetime of noise. Ram Dass tells so many fascinating stories in this book, so much about his life. He says he lost faith for a few years after he had his stroke. It's easier to suggest - witness the pain - then to do it. But it works and he did come back to faith. I want to see his documentary - Fierce Grace - about his stroke.

As a retired old person, I now have the patience to fully grasp the profound wisdom of Ram Dass. May this book help you in your journey. Good joss, my family.

This is one of those reads that has you putting down the book after some particularly honest or true insight to pause, to reflect, to smile in joy. These moments are regularly occcuring as you read each chapter. Timing is everything of course and we are all receptive to wisdom and experience to varying degrees, depending on where we are in our own, personal journey of evolution and growth. It is safe to say that regardless of where you might be, this little volume has a few gemstones for everyone, wherever you are in the cycle of self-discovery . In fact, I was so inspired I gifted at least 3 copies of this in mid-read to family and friends...it is that juicy. No need to hold back on this purchase as there are laughs, joys, humbilings and personal explorations throughout. You will be torn between keeping it as a reminder and giving it away to friends and loved ones out of gratitude. A great problem but a worthy testament to the value and appreciation for this book, the man and his invitation to "polish the mirror."

I read a few of Ram Dass' books and this one is my favorite because it covers variety of topics in a down to earth manner but with depth and clarity, most of all you can feel his deep compassion and love of humanity in every page of this volume. By reading this volume readers not only learn about Ram Dass' amazing life journey from quitting teaching at Harvard, going to India, and back to states to share and apply his spiritual wisdom in his relationships with his family and friends, one also gets a glimpse of some profound and illuminating spiritual insights. Highly recommend this one if you have to choose one among several of his books. Thank you, Ram Dass!

A beautiful book, with inspiring insights in the journey of self discovery and transformation. Sometimes the author gets lost in an idea or feeling, wanders too much and the text loses a bit of structure. Yet, this is a wonderful, worthwhile reading. The chapter on Death is amazing and shines plenty of light into the subject.

This is a wonderful synthesis of all Ram Dass's works. I couldn't stop thinking about it the whole time I read it. In it Ram Dass speaks to us very conversationally about all these wonderful life-enhancing and comforting ideas. He's done a lot of work with the dying and been fascinated with that from middle-age. Also telling us we are not alone in our flaws. He loves his guru Mahara-ji and believes they are together always. He discusses meditation practice, guru work, the different ways we can meditate and how to look at ourselves from outside ourselves without sacrificing what we need to do as folks with egos. As John Holland says, "We are not just bodies, but souls having a human experience," Ram Dass says that in India the people, although they are suffering from poverty, are more soul-identified. We have ego, personal soul and soul that is one with God, or you may hear "the Atman". A lot of common sense life advice, much like John Holland in that, as he has been giving life advice since at least the 70's, to American audiences. He was a star psychologist at Harvard with Timothy Leary and as you may know they experimented with LSD. After that liberating experience, he says, Ram Dass went in search of a more permanent high but in the more natural way of Yoga and meditation. This was all way before we had popular science(such as the Daniel Goleman books) proving the benefits of meditation. Ram Dass also tells us how to bring our practice into the world. We know we all have roles and don't need to abandon them to be happy but we can see ourselves from the outside, that we're people playing various roles and to see the richness of the emotions when we get stuck. How beautiful it all is when we witness our mind states, alone or interacting with others. But I can't do Ram Dass full justice in writing!

I thought, "...well here we go again, another Ram Dass book. How wrong I was to harbor such a limiting supposition. Let me explain, please. I've probably read all of the Ram Dass books starting back in the 70's with Be Here Now. And I've enjoyed reading the Ram Dass books because, after attending several of his public appearances, I fell in love with the message he presents and I've always wanted to know more, more about the love he teaches and lives. Now here is my bottom line: Polishing The Mirror is not just 'more of the same'. It is a summary, yes, of what has been presented before; but, more than that, it offers, in one chapter, chapter 8, all you need to know to reshape your life into a balanced, aware, loving living experience. Maybe you have to be familiar with all of Ram Dass prior books before you can understand, before you can appreciate, before you can "practice" what he teaches in chapter 8, and maybe you don't. Maybe just reading and accepting and practicing what chapter 8 presents is all that's necessary to make you a new person. The person we all would like to be. I can't say. But I can attest that I'm so happy, so glad that I didn't pass this up as just another Ram Dass book. I'm happy that I bought and read Polishing The Mirror, especially chapter 8. If Ram Dass never authors another book, and I hope that will not be the case, this one book is enough. And if he does write another, I'll probably buy and read it but I will always come back to chapter 8 in Polishing The Mirror for the final answer to my question, "what must I do to be happy"?

Just love the way ram dass put things together from the perspective of life.

I have been reading spiritual books for years and this, in conjunction with ‘Living Presence’ by Kabir Helminski’ have finally given me a real clue. Both books are highly recommended, PARTICULARLY this one.

I recommend this book to everyone that wants to find meaning in their lives (cause who doesn't), as well as people who want to connect with themselves and the world around them on a more spiritual level. Ram Dass has an amazing story to tell, I’m so glad I stumbled on this book.

Not as advertised. Missing mirror effect.

I'm still in the process of reading this book. Another beautiful reading leading to more self-expansion. Lots of recognition in the words.