The Fire and the Quiet: Thoughts of Awareness
I started listening regularly to Ram Dass back in 2024. It has been the most influential artist for me in recent years. I came across Ramm Dass while in a minivan returning from Nong Khiaw, on that long bumpy road about 5 hours from Luang Prabang. I was searching for reflective, awareness-inspiring listening.
At first, it was a sound that brought peace to my mind, to reflect and meditate. It later also became a way to turn off a brain that sometimes refused to stop running at night. When you are the person many people depend on, the stress of the day doesn’t always just disappear when your head hits the pillow; it stays in your mind, constantly calculating the next move, anticipating problems. Arrghhh
In those moments, putting on Ram Dass’s teachings set against East Forest’s music (Spotify), became my sanctuary. His voice, warm and utterly unhurried, has an immediate grounding effect. Over time, those soundscapes stopped being just background music for rest and became a deep, ongoing mirror for how I am or am not living my life – one I wished had more awareness, one a little slower.
Navigating the Noise
My daily reality is a relentless cycle of responsibilities, managing endless demands, keeping projects moving, and caring for staff. I carry a heavy mantle of expectations. My mind convinces me sometimes that if I stop pushing for even a moment, everything may fall apart and not for me, but those depending on me.
The real cost of this constant momentum isn’t just physical fatigue—it’s the slow erosion of the things that actually matter to me. My physical health takes a backseat. Important self-care slips away. Mostly, the emotional energy I want to bring home to my partner gets completely consumed by work and others instead.
On the track Dark Thoughts, Ram Dass speaks directly to this mental trap:
He touches on something far deeper than just managing stress—he points to the idea that the underlying nature of everything is love. In my understanding of his words, the soul isn’t just meant to love the people or beings that are easy to love; it is meant to love everything. Every circumstance, every object, every passing moment, and even the dark, heavy thoughts themselves are part of the exact same existence. When you realise this, he says, the dark thoughts lose their power to intimidate you – and he chants, the oneness of the universe is love. This I relate to.
The Return to the Center (Luang Prabang)
“Sit around the fire… you don’t have to do anything. Just be here, now.”
I love this song. Sitting around the fire is an ancient human symbol of community, presence, and stillness. A fire doesn’t ask you for a status update, a proposal, or a strategic plan. It simply invites you to gather, stay warm, and observe. Listening to this reminds me of the time I spent with friends, important time spent, sometimes just sitting around and being with each other.
Stepping back into the slow, familiar rhythm of Luang Prabang this week was a joy this week—my “home moment.” The frantic momentum of the past few weeks on sales trips in SE Asia quickly evaporated. I was looking forward to arriving in LPQ well before I departed.
Ram Dass’s point is that our core nature doesn’t require constant effort or performance. We are allowed to exist peacefully. I have been constantly moving this month (much of the year in fact) — boarding flights, taxis and Grab rides, hotel rooms, and constant meetings. When I am on a flight, I use that time as a micro-sit-in around the fire. I put earbuds in and listen to music and zone out. It’s one of the few times I seem to make to listen to music. I wonder why in my spare time I no longer seem to listen to music like I used to. On the flight, it’s not Ramm Dass, it’s old favs like SInead O’Connor, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, INXS, U2, Annie and some Moody Chello at times.
“Right now, there is nothing to do. Just be here.”
Living in Loving Awareness
Loving Awareness: “I am loving awareness. I am loving awareness.”
Ramm Dass tells us that to inhabit loving awareness means shifting your identity away from the “doer”—the stressed manager, the traveller, the problem solver—and stepping back into the quiet witness who simply observes life with compassion. It is the realisation that behind all our roles, anxieties, and deadlines, there is an unchanging, peaceful awareness inside us.
I’ve understood this concept intellectually for years, but understanding it is very different from making space for it. The trap of modern work life is telling myself, “I’m too busy for awareness right now; I’ll practise it when things calm down.” I try to find time to be present, it’s not easy. It is often a desire for one of my days off. Like today as I write this. Like soon when I plan to walk Rosie, one of my dogs. I often remember my friend Trevan who is a great practiser of Aware Consciousness. He has successfully incorporated this into his daily life. This concept I hold onto and always hope to bring it into mine.
Bringing Awareness into My Day
Ramm Dass’ words are a reminder of a space that already exists within me, waiting to be accessed. So when I listen to him, that is me giving myself time and a reminder. I know I can choose to change how I inhabit my realities, and this is a personal goal of mine to be aware of and work on.
It’s time to take the stillness of sitting around that inner fire and carry it into daily life. It’s now time to walk the dog now!
“As we grow in our consciousness, there will be more compassion and more love, and then the barriers between people, between religions, between nations will begin to fall. Yes, we have to beat down the separateness.” – Ramm Dass
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