WHO WE ARE
We are a diverse interspiritual collective of artists, social workers, chaplains, activists, therapists, seekers, and spiritual teachers working to awaken Sacred Community in the world. Due to our grassroots and volunteer nature, the best way to get to know us is to get involved by joining our SCP Discord, reaching out for spiritual support, or engaging in any of our artistic offerings or events. The Board of directors is listed below, but their role is to work behind the scenes so the member-volunteers can continue actualizing Sacred Community in the world.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President / CEO
Sitaram Dass (K. Sandin, LCSW) (he/him) spent several years serving his beloved teacher Ram Dass on Maui, where he was shown the path of Bhakti, the yoga of service and devotion to God. He is a kirtan singer, social worker, author, and spiritual counselor. His book, From and for God, is an intimate and contemplative collection of writings on the spiritual path. As the director of the Sacred Community Project, he works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices. Learn more about Sitaram Dass at: sitaramdass.com
Secretary / Art Director
Beverly Hsu (she/they) is here to make art and delight in God—in all their forms. Inspired and guided by Ram Dass’s teaching that “social action happens heart to heart to heart,” she is exploring how we connect hearts through art, conscious design, and service. Beverly is currently in a M.A. program for expressive arts therapy and mental health counseling. Some of her ideas and creations are shared at beverlyhsu.com ✨
Treasurer
Pavan Das (M. Ceurvorst) (he/him) is a community organizer, multi-media artist, and nonprofit leader. He resides on Maui, where he serves on the board of Hanuman Maui: Ram Dass Loving Awareness Sanctuary. His time with spiritual luminaries like Ram Dass and Thich Nhat Hanh informs his commitment to cultivating a lived spirituality through which to effect social change. His service projects aim to foster resilience and prosociality in individuals, groups and communities through the skillful application of contemplative and devotional practices. pavandas.com
Swapnil Abrol (he/him) discovered the Bhakti tradition through a formal Amazonian shamanic apprenticeship. Through connecting with Maharajji, he found himself returning to his once neglected Hindu roots. Now following the path of Bhakti yoga, he deepens his practice through devotional musical expression. Also an active participant in the world of business, Swapnil enjoys learning new ways of bringing love and compassion into worldly situations.
Steven “Stever” Dallmann, PhD is a spiritual practitioner, writer, teacher, and licensed psychotherapist. In 2008, he founded the non-profit Liberation Institute in San Francisco, a community organization with an innovative model of offering mental health services to the entire community regardless of income. Stever currently resides and practices on the island of Maui in Hawaii, from where he continues to guide the ever expanding Liberation Institute and is deeply involved in Hanuman Maui (The Ram Dass Loving Awareness Sanctuary), Aloha in Action, and various community and writing projects. steverdallmann.com
OUR STORY
Several of Ram Dass’s caregivers met for the first time while staying up late through the night around a fire at a Ram Dass Legacy retreat in Ojai, CA. There, they formed a deep bond that birthed a simple idea: We should start a kirtan band focused on service and devotion.
In the Spring of 2019, Kripa embarked on a 3-week West Coast kirtan tour ranging from Portland, Oregon to San Diego, California. The entire tour was done on a donation-basis, in alignment with their deep belief that kirtan and Bhakti should be accessible to all. In honor of this commitment, Kripa also made stops to offer kirtan at a mental health center and two maximum-security prisons—Oregon State Correctional Institution and San Quentin State Prison.
Since this first tour, this project has continued to grow into what is now a separate, grassroots service and art collective: Sacred Community Project. On our journey to becoming a 501(c)3 nonprofit, we have had two different fiscal sponsors— the Call and Response Foundation and Hanuman Maui. We are beyond grateful for their support in helping us to develop and grow into the nonprofit organization we are today.
We continue to travel to prisons and now provide pen-pal support and educational resources. We have expanded our spiritual counsel and support to people outside of the carceral system and facilitate a thriving online spiritual community. We lead retreats, produce books, podcasts, and other media, and we helped raise over $40,000 for Hanuman Maui’s Loving Awareness Sanctuary through the album A Bhaktimala for Ram Dass. Our next big project is the 2024 Loving Rock Karma Yoga Training.
We see this work as our own spiritual practice, and we engage with all of this in the spirit of Bhakti and Karma Yoga.
As Ram Dass once said, “I would say that the thrust of my life has been initially about getting free, and then realizing that my freedom is not independent of everybody else. Then I am arriving at that circle where one works on oneself as a gift to other people so that one doesn't create more suffering. I help people as a work on myself and I work on myself to help people.”
