Several years ago I met Ram Dass at a small gathering in the San Francisco area and told him this story. He said that he had never heard it told this way before and I promised to send it to him. This story is the fulfillment of that promise. 

I originally created an AUDIO VERSION of the story. The book will be the printed version of that effort. For illustrations I used Indian Miniature Paintings from the vast amount of art that surrounds the Ramayana, including Indian miniatures from the Mughals, Indian Devotional Art and old Poster Art from India.

A Hanuman Story for Ram Dass is a story from the Ramayana, the spiritual epic of India. It tells the tale of Lord Rama, the abduction of his wife Sita by the demon king Ravana and the great adventure of winning her back, where Rama is helped by a monkey army, foremost of whom is Hanuman.

Although the Ramayana is literally the 'Story of Lord Rama,' what many people remember most about it is the character of Hanuman. In the various versions of the Ramayana, from North to South India, from Valmiki to Tulsidas, stories and images of Hanuman abound. He presents the ideal of how to relate to God. Hanuman is the greatest of all the devotees of Rama. Yet, he is also a Monkey. We find in him the extremes of a wild, simple, exceptionally strong, jungle animal and a great Bhakti, or lover of God. These disparate qualities have made Hanuman attractive to children and adults for thousands of years, and these qualities are wonderfully dramatized in this story. 

Taken from the oral tradition of India, this particular story has not been written down before. It is a very small part of Hanuman's adventures in the Ramayana and presents a consideration of the nature of life and reincarnation. It is a wonderful story for children as well as adults, and has a glossary at the back of the book for names and terms the reader may not understand.

I hope to publish a much more elegant edition of the book  in 2020

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The MOVIE version lacks the picture galleries, informational  links, pop-up materials and rich Glossary that will come with the Apple iBook version.

 

The YOUTUBE VIDEO version is offered below.

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The YOUTUBE VIDEO below contains pages of text and pictures,

two VIDEO/AUDIO Stories, (self-playing videos with pictures),

and the singing of the Hanuman Chalisa by Ram Charan with words and translation.

You can read the book and/or proceed directly to the videos:

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What Happens When You Really Listen to the Ramayana:  1:43

A Hanuman Story for Ram Dass: 12:05

Hanuman Chalisa: 23:45

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