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“To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves…”

– M.K. Gandhi

About

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

Hanuman Foundation, a nonprofit, tax-exempt educational and service charitable organization, was created in 1974 in order to “promulgate spiritual well-being through training, community service and humanitarian assistance” through programs in:

Education and media: including publications, events, trainings and community service initiatives to advance practical applications of community service, compassionate action, and diverse forms of spiritual knowledge.

The study, practice, and deepening engagement of traditional spiritual, contemplative and service-based practices, including: mindfulness, traditional knowledge, wisdom, and healing practices as derived from diverse cultures and applied to the areas of health, education, cultural preservation, climate sustainability, land and water conservation, community development, healing arts, and earth sciences.

The organization was founded based on the life of Neem Karoli Baba, a renowned Elder-mystic from Northern India, whose central teachings remain rooted in “Love and serve everyone” and “Love and feed people” (see Miracle of Love: Stories about Neem Karoli Baba for further information). The Foundation’s name is derived from the archetypal monkey-hero figure Hanuman, found interwoven throughout Sanskrit, Hindu, and Tibetan texts and folklore traditions. As Hanuman represents the full array and embodiment of greater attributes associated with service and devotion throughout life, encompassing all actions, thoughts, deeds and character as a means for helping to alleviate suffering of all beings and life-forms on Earth (see the Hanuman Chaleesa CD liner notes for further descriptions).

Between 1974-97 Hanuman Foundation served as the principal organization for producing extensive educational workshops, trainings, programs, retreats, community gatherings and publications affiliated with Ram Dass (aka Richard Alpert, PhD), the renowned author, scholar, psychologist, spiritual teacher, and humanitarian. Throughout this period the Foundation also served as a primary partner, host, sponsor, and support vehicle for a diverse array of prominent teachers, scholars, activists and organizations including: spiritual elders, community leaders and dignitaries representing a diverse range of time-honored Eastern, Western, and Indigenous wisdom and contemplative philosophies and traditions practiced worldwide. These practices included: Vajrayana, Theravada and Zen-Mahayana Buddhism; Hinduism; Taoism; meditation; mindfulness; devotional practices; yoga (various traditions); consciousness studies; cognitive and behavioral science; Indigenous wisdom teachings; and Earth-based traditions. Throughout this period the Foundation produced more than 1200 public events across the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Nepal, and South and Central America. Hanuman Foundation has also served as principal publisher of the groundbreaking-epic, “western-spiritual” guide Be Here Now (Crown Publishing, 1971), authored by Ram Dass, which has sold more than 2 million copies and translated into 10 languages worldwide.

In 1974, Hanuman Foundation established the Prison-Ashram Project (later known as Human Kindness Foundation) which provided groundbreaking educational and training programs, including yoga, meditation practice study groups, and life-counseling services for individuals incarcerated at minimum through maximum level correctional facilities throughout North America and worldwide. Based on pioneering work of co-founders Bo and Sita Lozoff, the project conducted extensive training and educational events and produced the internationally acclaimed book, Inside-Out: A Spiritual Guide for Prison Living, which has provided a practical working blueprint for organizations, agencies, professionals and institutions worldwide assisting incarcerated individuals, family, and facilities staff in mindfulness and contemplative practices and trainings for over five decades.

In 1976 Hanuman Foundation created the Living-Dying Project under the auspices and leadership of Stephen and Ondrea Levine and Dale Borglum to provide compassionate care, support services, and trainings for individuals, families, health care providers, and teams working with and through various stages of life-threatening illness, death, healing and grieving. The Project included a 24-hour phone assistance hot-line facilitated by the Levines, acclaimed teachers and co-authors of the books, Who Dies? and A Year to Live (please see levinetalks.com for further info). In 1982 the foundation established a first of its kind residential hospice and training center located in New Mexico, for individuals in their final-life stages, and for the families, health professionals, and caregivers supporting them.

From 1974-2001, the Foundation managed the Hanuman Foundation Tape Library which produced and published an extensive body of spiritual, educational, and community service oriented trainings and multimedia programs on topics including: meditation, yoga, psychology, health, mindfulness, community engagement, professional training, interpersonal relationships, the healing arts, and social activism. A substantial amount of the material produced was recorded directly at live events facilitated by Ram Dass, with a host of acclaimed teachers, community elders, scholars, artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, social leaders, and field professionals.

In 1979, Ram Dass and other members of Hanuman Foundation helped establish the SEVA Foundation, an international public health organization with programs throughout India, Nepal, Tibet, Mexico, Guatemala, and North America, supporting Indigenous homelands and communities. Throughout the 1980s-90s Hanuman Foundation served as a primary fundraising, organizing, educational, media, and public relations partner in supporting Seva Foundation projects, and helping to establish SEVA’s international public health, community development, disaster-relief, sustainability, education, social justice, and service programs. Ongoing partnership, fundraising, and educational seminars produced by Hanuman Foundation in support of Seva Foundation programs, included trainings, workshops, retreats, performing arts concerts, educational symposia, lecture tours, community organizing, social media, and education campaigns worldwide.

In 1988 the Hanuman Foundation collaborated to produce a series of highly acclaimed community-organizing events focusing on bringing attention to the increasing numbers of homelessness, rise of hunger, and declining overall health for families living throughout US urban and rural population areas. The events culminated in establishing a national volunteer network of community service, action, education and training in over 40 US and Canadian cities. An all-day, star-studded benefit concert event, Home-Aid, highlighted a month-long series of grassroots community organizing events, commemorations and marches in partnership with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York, New York) and host of diverse community-based organizations, networks and agencies.

During 1993-94 Hanuman Foundation served as co-partner and producer for an in-depth workshop series designed to explore fields of compassionate caregiving, offering technical training, support and assistance for community mental health and social service providers, professionals, volunteers, and agencies. The event series culminated in a nationally broadcast PBS series, A Change of Heart, hosted by Ram Dass (PBS and Rising Rose Productions, 1994).

Between 1995-97, Hanuman Foundation created and produced a nationally syndicated talk-radio series titled Here and Now designed for helping to further explore, deepen, and inspire the practical roles, best practices, and virtues of compassionate values and contemplative practices as applied in the fields of professional service, public health, education, environment, the arts, politics, social justice, business, media, volunteerism, community education, and philanthropic engagement in society.

In 2005, the Foundation established the New Mexico Water Initiative (NMWI) to address conditions and issues related to rapidly increasing climate change, severe drought, stressed ecosystems, increasing wildfires, and land and water sustainability throughout New Mexico, the Colorado Basin, and US desert Southwest regions. In 2013 NMWI supported Island Press through providing major-underwriting for the publications of two highly acclaimed books: The World’s Water Volume 8 by Peter Gleick et al and Chasing Water: A Guide for Moving from Scarcity to Sustainability by Brian Richter.

From its beginnings in 1974 Hanuman Foundation has continued to manage an “in-house” publishing arm for purposes of creating, producing, and distributing distinct educational materials and content through dissemination of printed books, recordings, digital media, periodicals and other diverse media platforms. Key focus areas of impact have included spiritual training: exploring perspectives and practical applications for contemplative action; consciousness studies; mindfulness trainings; meditation; yoga; the environment: land, water, and climate sustainability; cultural preservation; social justice; and diverse ways for helping promote heath, generosity, and well-being for sustaining communities, families, individuals, the environment, and planet.

Hanuman Foundation continues to serve as publisher and distributor of: Be Here Now (by Ram Dass, Crown Publishing and Hanuman Foundation); Miracle of Love: Stories about Neem Karoli Baba (compiled by Ram Dass); By His Grace: A Devotee’s Story by Dada Mukherjee; The Near and the Dear by Dada Mukherjee; and Hanuman Chaleesa: Songs in Praise of Hanuman (various artists). Additionally, the Foundation has partnered in producing and underwriting various other publications including: Grist for the Mill (Dass & Levine, Unity Press, 1976); Journey of Awakening: A Meditator’s Guidebook (Dass, Bonner, Goleman, Borglum, Bantam Publishers, 1977); How Can I Help (Dass & Gorman, Knopf, 1985), Compassion In Action (R. Dass, M. Bush, Belltower, 1991), Inside-Out (Bo & Sita Lozoff, 1974); and Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing & Dying (Ram Dass, Riverhead, 2000).

With ongoing publishing and media services provided through Hanuman Foundation Book Project, the Foundation remains actively engaged in supporting, partnering, and sponsoring communities and organizations with programs impacting most critical issues of climate change, water sustainability, cultural preservation, social justice, Indigenous rights, emergency-disaster relief, health, education, and well-being.

IN MEMORIAM: RAM DASS (1931 -2019)

Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert, also known as Baba Ram Dass) passed away on December 22, 2019:

“May the light, wisdom and beauty you’ve shared with countless human beings continue to shine… And may you journey strong and in peace with blessings of Neem Karoli Baba, and the ancestors.”

For more information on the life and passing of Ram Dass, see: The New York Times, CNN, and NBC. For further info and publications by Ram Dass visit: ramdass.org

All rights reserved Hanuman Foundation.