The RAm dass institute of psychedelic studies with the dying
The Ram Dass Institute of Psychedelic Studies with the Dying (RIPS) is a sacred initiative of
Doorway Into Light (DIL), a Hawai‘i-based 501(c)(3) educational and charitable organization.
Founded in 2006 by Reverend Bodhi Be, his wife Leilah, and Ram Dass, and incorporated in
2014, DIL has served as a pioneering leader in conscious dying, death education, and holistic
funeral services. Doorway Into Light runs the only nonprofit funeral home in Hawaii, located on Maui. Additionally, since 2017, DIL has trained and certified more than 150 death doulas. DIL’s mission has always been to support individuals and families in approaching death with consciousness, care, and dignity and to transform attitudes towards dying and death.
In 2006, Reverend Bodhi Be, an ordained minister in the Sufi lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Sufi Sam Lewis, met with Ram Dass at his home on Maui. Bodhi shared the vision and plan that he and his wife Leilah had for starting Doorway Into Light, a nonprofit, educational and charitable organization in the fields of conscious living and dying. At that time, Ram Dass offered to join Bodhi and Leilah in founding this organization which began in the fall of 2006 and produced its first event in December of 2006. Ram Dass continued to serve on Doorway Into Light’s Board for the rest of his life. Until his death, Ram Dass served as advisor, collaborator and friend. In 2019 Ram Dass gave his written permission, authorization and blessing for Doorway Into Light to use his name for The Ram Dass Institute of Psychedelic Studies with the Dying (RIPS).
This deep commitment to sacred death work was profoundly shaped and blessed by Ram Dass, who was both a founding member, spiritual guide, collaborator and board member of DIL until his passing in 2019. In the final years of his life, Ram Dass entrusted DIL to continue his work in the field of spiritual and cultural transformation of dying as a sacred rite of passage. From this trust was born RIPS—a natural evolution of DIL’s work, integrating the healing potential of psychedelic medicine into the care of the dying and those who support them.
