Title: Fierce Grace
Director: Mickey Lemle
Actors: Ram Dass (Richard Alpert)
Producer: Bobby Squires, Buddy Squires, Mickey Lemle, Jessica Brackman, Linda K. Moroney
Copyright: 2003
Review Score: 4.00 
Summary:
Fierce Grace is an autobiographical documentary about Ram Dass (a/k/a Richard Alpert), an American spiritual pioneer and leader. His first book, "Remember, Be Here Now" was a catalyst in the great awakening that has been unfolding in our world since the 1970's, and is still selling strong at amazon.com.
Alpert was born in 1931, and we get to know him him through all phases of his life. We see a charmed, playful, priveleged Jewish youngster who grew up on a 300-acre estate in Franklin, NH. We meet him as an impressive, clean-cut young man with lots of initials after his name(bachelors degree from Tufts; masters degree from Wesleyan; PhD from Stanford). And we get a glimpse of his life as an elite Harvard professor, where he worked until he was fired in 1963 for experimenting with LSD with c-worker, Timothy Leary. After that, Alpert continues with independent research into LSD and communal living, but then in 1967 his world tilts and he real life work begins. This is when Alpert goes to India and becomes the devoted disciple of an Indian Hindu guru affectionately known as Maharaji (Neem Karoli Baba). Maharaji named Alpert "Ram Dass," which means servant of God, and he's been Ram Dass ever since.
Now an aging baby boomer, Ram Dass tells his story from the perspective of someone who's in long-term recovery from a serious, life-altering stroke. His willingness to be "stroked" and to use the event as inspiration to continue to work on self and to expand his spiritual awareness is compelling. I highly recommend Fierce Grace to all stroke victims, to anyone on a spiritual path and to young people who are curious about an authentic, non-Hollywood version of the hippie movement and the love that created it.
Message of Love:
There is no end to expansion and growth
Score: 4.00
Ram Dass experienced the profound awareness of love from his guru, Maharaji. Now Ram Dass extends that profound awareness of love to others. Love is the only thing that really matters.
Inspiration:
Score: 4.00
Even when we think we've finally gotten "somewhere" or that we're exempt from having to do any more work on ourselves, we are inevitably asked to continue expanding even further. Ram Dass tells a personal anecdote about how when he was being wheeled around the hospital on a gurney during his stroke event, he was thinking about the pipes in the cieling, not God. This was a big wake up call to him that he still had more work to do on himself.
Practicality/Relevance:
Score: 4.00
Most of us will grow old and experience health problems related to aging. Fierce Grace is a real-life example of how spiritual principles can be used to achieve acceptance and inner peace with "what is" rather than suffering over "what isn't."
Acting/Direction:
Score: 4.00
Director Mickey Lemle introduces us to Ram Dass through a series of interviews and video clips from different periods in his life. Ram Dass does quite a bit of speaking for himself. But we also hear from his brother and father, Timothy Leary, other spiritual leaders as well as quite a few individuals who've been touched by Ram Dass.
