"Maui is a refuge." — Ram Dass

Ram Dass spent the last fifteen years of his life on Maui, most of that time in this house. He didn't own it.

He had given away most of the proceeds from his books and speaking tours. He had given away his father's inheritance at Maharaj-ji's instruction. He kept only what he needed for the next stop on the road. In 1997 Ram Dass experienced a stroke, and he was in need of support. As he said many times, “I once wrote a book called, How Can I Help? If I wrote it now, I would call it, How Can you help me?” , The satsang carried him the same way he had spent his life carrying so many of us.

In 2004 he came to Maui, fell ill again, and was given Kōkua (help) by this island. Welcomed and blessed by a Native Hawaiian elder, he decided to stay. A member of the satsang bought this home so that he could heal in it. He lived here until he took his last breath at home in on December 22nd, 2019.

For those of us close to him in those years, the transmission of loving awareness wasn't a metaphor. It was the air in the house.

Now Hanuman Maui has the opportunity to purchase that home, and the nonprofit will hold the title on behalf of our satsang. This is a collective endeavor, for and by our entire community, held for future generations, and for a global satsang growing beyond what any of us can picture from here.

Home is the whole of it.

It is physical — Ram Dass's home on Maui, carrying the history, the stories, and the intimacy of his final years.

It is spiritual — the home he spent a lifetime pointing us toward. The place within where we remember who we are, where separation softens, and where we return to loving awareness

And it is an invitation — to arrive, to belong, to spend time in this living sanctuary, and to help keep its doors open for generations to come.

What the house already holds:

Hundreds of people visit Hanuman Maui every year, many who never met Ram Dass in the body. Some come for retreat. Some come to serve. Some come grieving, or searching, or weary. They sit in his study. They chant in the garden. They cook for one another. They take refuge in sacred community and in the ʻāina of Maui. Most leave changed.

Something in this house keeps doing what it did when he was in it — the quiet is not ordinary quiet, and people feel it before anyone explains it to them. Ram Dass said Maharaj-ji hangs out at this place. Nineteen years in, we've stopped treating that as a figure of speech.

Today the house holds:

Weekly community meditation, twice-monthly Kirtan, and dharma gatherings
Twice-daily aarti and morning Sadhana
Personal retreats — space to rest, grieve, practice, or simply be here
A Sevak program — service immersion where daily life is spiritual practice
Compassion in Action — meals, supplies, and direct support for 100+ unhoused neighbors in Central Maui, twice weekly

A living spiritual community rooted in Bhakti and aloha

Our Impact in 2025:

67 retreatants · 35 sevaks · 10,000+ service hours · 1,800 kirtan visitors · 3,500 meals delivered

This is not a museum. It's a house still doing the work.

Who's stewarding this

Hanuman Maui was founded after Ram Dass's passing by Dassi Ma, his longtime head of household, who has lived here on Maui for nineteen years, together with a small circle of his closest caregivers and satsang.

The seven-member volunteer board includes Native Hawaiian teachers Leiʻohu Ryder and Maydeen ʻĪao, who first met Ram Dass in 2004 and stayed close until his passing. Each board member, including several caregivers, knew him directly. No board member receives compensation. The organization is grassroots, volunteer-led, community-driven, and funded entirely by donations.

The goal

Our campaign goal is $3.25 million — enough to purchase the property outright and to fund the repairs and long-term stewardship that a home of daily practice and service requires. A professional reserve study commissioned this year shaped that number.

And here’s what makes right now matter: a group of anonymous donors has committed $500,000 in matching funds. From now through the end of the year, every dollar given is matched dollar for dollar, so your gift does double the work. A $100 gift becomes $200. A $5,000 gift becomes $10,000. The match runs for all funds raised from September through December 31.

(Detailed financial and programmatic information available upon request.)

Securing the house isn't the end of the story; it's the beginning of one we write together. Most campaigns disappear when the goal is reached. We'd like this one to become something that lasts. Securing the house isn’t the end of the story — it’s the beginning of one we write together. Hanuman Maui is of the satsang and for service, and what it becomes should grow from what’s alive in this community. So we’re asking everyone who loves this place: What do you long to see live here? Help us dream the next chapter.

Here's what we need:

Pledges and gifts toward the purchase
Hosts for gatherings, benefits, or small events in your own community
Introductions to others who might feel called to this
People willing to share the campaign in their own words, in person or online
Volunteers on the campaign team — marketing, fundraising, content creation

Write to us at info@hanumanmaui.org. We'd love to hear from you.

Hanuman Maui stewards Ram Dass's home on Maui, as a spiritual refuge and center of service. His teachings and archive are cared for by a separate nonprofit — our friends at Love Serve Remember.