Remember Be Here Now
December 22, 2019 9:54 PM Subscribe
Richard Alpert , Ram Dass , is dead
"I help people as a way to work on myself, and I work on myself to help people ... to me, that's what the emerging game is all about."
Harvard Psychologist early member of psilocybin research group,
Ram Dass was an American spiritual teacher, academic and clinical psychologist,
author of many books, including the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now, and recent film
Becoming Nobody. trailer
"I help people as a way to work on myself, and I work on myself to help people ... to me, that's what the emerging game is all about."
Harvard Psychologist early member of psilocybin research group,
Ram Dass was an American spiritual teacher, academic and clinical psychologist,
author of many books, including the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now, and recent film
Becoming Nobody. trailer
.
kinda puts a period on the whole decade and a longer era
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:24 PM on December 22, 2019
kinda puts a period on the whole decade and a longer era
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:24 PM on December 22, 2019
He and Tim are going to trip in the beyond...
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posted by Windopaene at 10:28 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by Windopaene at 10:28 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
. I met him few times over the years and he's been my aunt's best friend forever.
posted by octothorpe at 10:36 PM on December 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 10:36 PM on December 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
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posted by PhineasGage at 10:40 PM on December 22, 2019
posted by PhineasGage at 10:40 PM on December 22, 2019
...
posted by fairmettle at 11:13 PM on December 22, 2019
posted by fairmettle at 11:13 PM on December 22, 2019
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posted by motty at 11:22 PM on December 22, 2019 [34 favorites] I recall reading a moving piece by him about caring for his father during his father's terminal illness. The old man, who had not been pleased with his son's career change, and who had referred to him as "Rammed Ass", asked for and received forgiveness.
posted by thelonius at 11:58 PM on December 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 11:58 PM on December 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
Wow... hortense, you're the one who broke the news to me. I remember this story of yore...
Once Dick Alpert got a severe cold, dosed himself with aspirins and sleeping pills and retired to the bowling alley where he curled up in a sleeping bag before the big log fire. Arnie asked me about Dick and I confirmed that Dick was miserable and had just gone off to try to sweat out the cold in front of the fire in the bowling alley.
'He doesn't need to do that,' said Arnie.
'Oh ? Why not ?'
'I know of a way to cure colds.'
I had considerable faith in Arnie's powers and agreed to accompany him at midnight to see Dick. When we got into the bowling alley Dick was sleeping like a twisted log in front of the burning fire. Arnie started to prepare the room. He arranged coloured pieces of glass on the floor and built a shrine with a statue of the Buddha quite near to Dick and his sleeping bag. Then Arnie lit about twenty candles. I was watching him, at a loss to see what he was doing other than to create a setting that would normally appeal to Dick. Arnie rushed out again and came back with a primus stove and a huge metal crucible in which he melted lead.
'This,' smiled Arnie, 'is an old recipe for curing colds.'
I nodded.
Every now and then Arnie would throw an apple or a banana into the molten lead and they rapidly disintegrated into sparks which filled the room with a pungent smell. Arnie felt he should now wake Dick but it proved impossible. So Arnie filled a hypodermic with DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine—a very fast-acting but temporary psychedelic drug which throws the subject into fantastic realms and renders him incapable of physical action) and injected Dick in the buttocks. Just as he was pulling the needle out, Dick sat bolt upright and we watched him maintain this position rigidly for half an hour while he swirled through neurological space. When he came round, Arnie fed him 800 gamma of LSD from a spoon. After about fifteen minutes Dick turned round and saw the flowing colours of the glass, the Buddha, and the crucible. He looked at Arnie, who was wearing a hat with a tassel of bells, like a troll from Ibsen's Peer Gynt, and who still periodically threw fruit into the molten lead. As a final measure Arnie put on three separate record-players simultaneously—a Beethoven symphony, a Coltrane record, and a Stockhausen record, all at full volume. Dick seemed to swim in this incredible sonic tidal wave for an hour. Arnie asked Dick if his cold was any better.
Dick smiled: 'It's gone completely.'
The wonder was that he was still there after such drastic treatment, but in fact the cold never returned. We might, therefore, claim that Arnie had found a cure for the common cold, but somehow I cannot see his methods being universally adopted by the medical profession.
The Man Who Turned on the World | 5. The Millbrook Happenings | Michael Hollingshead
posted by rmmcclay at 1:11 AM on December 23, 2019 [35 favorites]
Once Dick Alpert got a severe cold, dosed himself with aspirins and sleeping pills and retired to the bowling alley where he curled up in a sleeping bag before the big log fire. Arnie asked me about Dick and I confirmed that Dick was miserable and had just gone off to try to sweat out the cold in front of the fire in the bowling alley.
'He doesn't need to do that,' said Arnie.
'Oh ? Why not ?'
'I know of a way to cure colds.'
I had considerable faith in Arnie's powers and agreed to accompany him at midnight to see Dick. When we got into the bowling alley Dick was sleeping like a twisted log in front of the burning fire. Arnie started to prepare the room. He arranged coloured pieces of glass on the floor and built a shrine with a statue of the Buddha quite near to Dick and his sleeping bag. Then Arnie lit about twenty candles. I was watching him, at a loss to see what he was doing other than to create a setting that would normally appeal to Dick. Arnie rushed out again and came back with a primus stove and a huge metal crucible in which he melted lead.
'This,' smiled Arnie, 'is an old recipe for curing colds.'
I nodded.
Every now and then Arnie would throw an apple or a banana into the molten lead and they rapidly disintegrated into sparks which filled the room with a pungent smell. Arnie felt he should now wake Dick but it proved impossible. So Arnie filled a hypodermic with DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine—a very fast-acting but temporary psychedelic drug which throws the subject into fantastic realms and renders him incapable of physical action) and injected Dick in the buttocks. Just as he was pulling the needle out, Dick sat bolt upright and we watched him maintain this position rigidly for half an hour while he swirled through neurological space. When he came round, Arnie fed him 800 gamma of LSD from a spoon. After about fifteen minutes Dick turned round and saw the flowing colours of the glass, the Buddha, and the crucible. He looked at Arnie, who was wearing a hat with a tassel of bells, like a troll from Ibsen's Peer Gynt, and who still periodically threw fruit into the molten lead. As a final measure Arnie put on three separate record-players simultaneously—a Beethoven symphony, a Coltrane record, and a Stockhausen record, all at full volume. Dick seemed to swim in this incredible sonic tidal wave for an hour. Arnie asked Dick if his cold was any better.
Dick smiled: 'It's gone completely.'
The wonder was that he was still there after such drastic treatment, but in fact the cold never returned. We might, therefore, claim that Arnie had found a cure for the common cold, but somehow I cannot see his methods being universally adopted by the medical profession.
The Man Who Turned on the World | 5. The Millbrook Happenings | Michael Hollingshead
posted by rmmcclay at 1:11 AM on December 23, 2019 [35 favorites]
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posted by From Bklyn at 1:21 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by From Bklyn at 1:21 AM on December 23, 2019
Was Here Then
posted by ardgedee at 1:24 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 1:24 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
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posted by my-username at 1:47 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by my-username at 1:47 AM on December 23, 2019
I was under the impression his brother referred to him as "rammed ass", thelonius, and that his father had called him "rum dum".
It's nice to hear his father repented; I'd thought the elder Alpert and the brother sounded vicious beyond any hope of redemption, and that with a family of origin like that, reinventing and renaming himself were about Dick Alpert's only hope.
posted by jamjam at 2:19 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's nice to hear his father repented; I'd thought the elder Alpert and the brother sounded vicious beyond any hope of redemption, and that with a family of origin like that, reinventing and renaming himself were about Dick Alpert's only hope.
posted by jamjam at 2:19 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by Mister Bijou at 2:42 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by Mister Bijou at 2:42 AM on December 23, 2019
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posted by inexorably_forward at 3:11 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by inexorably_forward at 3:11 AM on December 23, 2019
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posted by doctor_negative at 3:22 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by doctor_negative at 3:22 AM on December 23, 2019
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posted by sallybrown at 3:31 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by sallybrown at 3:31 AM on December 23, 2019
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posted by austinetsu at 3:54 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by austinetsu at 3:54 AM on December 23, 2019
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posted by oceanjesse at 4:27 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by oceanjesse at 4:27 AM on December 23, 2019
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posted by lalochezia at 5:11 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by lalochezia at 5:11 AM on December 23, 2019
Oh goodness. A window into the universe has closed. I'm glad he was with us for a while.
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posted by hippybear at 5:13 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by hippybear at 5:13 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
Every now and then Arnie would throw an apple or a banana into the molten lead and they rapidly disintegrated into sparks which filled the room with a pungent smell.
good news: cold is gone
bad news: lead poisoning is here
posted by thelonius at 5:32 AM on December 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
good news: cold is gone
bad news: lead poisoning is here
posted by thelonius at 5:32 AM on December 23, 2019 [11 favorites]
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posted by Cash4Lead at 5:44 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Cash4Lead at 5:44 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
I just read his bio on CBC and this bit made me... laugh?
Ram Dass and Leary began including the hallucinogenic drug LSD — which, like psilocybin, was legal at the time — in their experiments, but Harvard was upset that they were using students as subjects and fired them in 1963.posted by heatherlogan at 6:17 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
But here's the best bit:
In search for a more permanent enlightenment, later that year [1967] Ram Dass went to India, as members of The Beatles would in 1968. He found what he was looking for in the form of Hindu mystic Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharaj-ji. Alpert said that through Maharaj-ji he found a spiritual love deeper than anything he had experienced.posted by heatherlogan at 6:21 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
Ram Dass had taken a batch of LSD with him to India to share with holy men in order to get their opinion of it. At Maharaj-ji's request, Ram Dass gave him a supersized dose of LSD but said there was no discernable effect on him, nor was there three years later when they repeated the experiment.
The guru gave him the name Ram Dass, which means servant of God, and he returned to the United States with long hair, a beard and instructions from Maharaj-ji to "love everyone and tell the truth." Drugs would no longer be a major factor in Ram Dass's life.
He wrote about his conversion in Be Here Now, which became popular in the 1960s and provided a road map for the burgeoning New Age movement of spirituality.
In an effort to avoid the disappointment of "coming down" from a drug experience, Ram Dass said he and five others locked themselves in a building at the estate for three weeks and took LSD every four hours.
Holy shit.
"What happened in those three weeks in that house no one would ever believe, including us," he wrote in Be Here Now. But they were not able to avoid the inevitable return to reality.
Reality bats last! Every time.
posted by thelonius at 6:37 AM on December 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
Holy shit.
"What happened in those three weeks in that house no one would ever believe, including us," he wrote in Be Here Now. But they were not able to avoid the inevitable return to reality.
Reality bats last! Every time.
posted by thelonius at 6:37 AM on December 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
Be Here Now was big for me as a kid. A true classic in Western spiritual experimentation. RIP.
posted by Liquidwolf at 6:46 AM on December 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by Liquidwolf at 6:46 AM on December 23, 2019 [7 favorites]
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posted by Bob Regular at 6:48 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by Bob Regular at 6:48 AM on December 23, 2019
First heard him coming out of the "Whirlitzer of Wisdom" in the Radio Drama "Fourth Tower of Inverness". Turns out, they used his voice and teachings wo permission but he was (eventually) cool with it.
Whirlitzer of Wisdom – This is the first jukebox discovered, and the only one outside of the Fourth Tower. For the price of a dime, it plays various wisdoms by people such as Ram Dass and Don Van Vliet (billed as the Venerable Van Vliet). Its name is based on the classic Wurlitzer jukebox.
posted by aleph at 6:49 AM on December 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Whirlitzer of Wisdom – This is the first jukebox discovered, and the only one outside of the Fourth Tower. For the price of a dime, it plays various wisdoms by people such as Ram Dass and Don Van Vliet (billed as the Venerable Van Vliet). Its name is based on the classic Wurlitzer jukebox.
posted by aleph at 6:49 AM on December 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Well kicking myself for not being fully present, I'd had some nice chats with an elderly neighbor that would've been in that department around that time and did not think to bend the conversation that direction.
Recall not quite making sense of his book except for a chapter where he describes driving across the country alone and positing that driving was americans form of meditation.
posted by sammyo at 7:00 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
Recall not quite making sense of his book except for a chapter where he describes driving across the country alone and positing that driving was americans form of meditation.
posted by sammyo at 7:00 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
Growing up in the wake of his generation of all-too-frequently self-indulgent seekers, I often pitied and derided them, but for some odd reason I always took Ram Dass at face value. I would welcome more like him.
posted by Glomar response at 7:06 AM on December 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Glomar response at 7:06 AM on December 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Be Here Now made a big impact on us 15 year olds who were just discovering all kinds of things. The influence never went away. He/it is here now.
posted by stonepharisee at 8:29 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by stonepharisee at 8:29 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
In an effort to avoid the disappointment of "coming down" from a drug experience, Ram Dass said he and five others locked themselves in a building at the estate for three weeks and took LSD every four hours.
Holy shit.
I did this for about forty hours once. The final act included driving home for about an hour on fairly busy Saturday evening streets and freeway, occasionally having to remind myself that I was actually doing this, it wasn't a dream or a movie. But I pulled it off and when I finally did arrive home, the roommates were watching Woodstock (the movie) which PBS just happened to be showing at the time. I think Santana were tearing it up.
One of those day into night, back into day, back into night again sort of days.
posted by philip-random at 9:05 AM on December 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
Holy shit.
I did this for about forty hours once. The final act included driving home for about an hour on fairly busy Saturday evening streets and freeway, occasionally having to remind myself that I was actually doing this, it wasn't a dream or a movie. But I pulled it off and when I finally did arrive home, the roommates were watching Woodstock (the movie) which PBS just happened to be showing at the time. I think Santana were tearing it up.
One of those day into night, back into day, back into night again sort of days.
posted by philip-random at 9:05 AM on December 23, 2019 [4 favorites]
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posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 9:15 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 9:15 AM on December 23, 2019
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posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:15 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:15 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
Continuing to take LSD does have diminishing rewards, as you use up the chemicals your body makes that lets the LSD do its thing. But it can be drawn out for quite a long time. I think, like philip-random, I've managed about 2 days before having to give up the effort.
At some point you run out of willpower, body chemistry, or hits.
posted by hippybear at 9:17 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
At some point you run out of willpower, body chemistry, or hits.
posted by hippybear at 9:17 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
There is enough to make the whole go round, continue to go round. Pausing it a moment...
posted by Oyéah at 9:35 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by Oyéah at 9:35 AM on December 23, 2019
Continuing to take LSD does have diminishing rewards, as you use up the chemicals your body makes that lets the LSD do its thing.
That's why you alternate between LSD, mushrooms, and DMT. Just sayin'.
posted by crazy_yeti at 9:59 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
That's why you alternate between LSD, mushrooms, and DMT. Just sayin'.
posted by crazy_yeti at 9:59 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by mygothlaundry at 10:35 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:35 AM on December 23, 2019
Dick smiled: 'It's gone completely.'
Yeah after a god-sized heroic dose like that you could probably stand and walk on a broken leg by being able to ignore pain completely.
People seriously underestimate the many possible effects of a dose of psychedelics or even mistakenly attribute it to magic that's something more than the simple biological response of a human body completely flooded and saturated in neurotransmitters and endorphins and essentially experiencing an induced schizophrenic-like mind state where your brain and body can do some utterly astounding and remarkable things.
One of those things might even be kicking your natural immune system into overdrive just by thinking about it positively in the same way mental attitude does have a factor on healing and recovery for many conditions or injuries.
Even though it's really just the same every day practical "magic" that allows you to will yourself to go hiking a difficult trail or digging deep inside yourself to find reserves of strength on such a hike - or even waking up and going to work even though you really don't want to.
They're the same thing, really. In the former case, there's just a whole lot more of that "magic" of being alive on tap.
posted by loquacious at 12:19 PM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah after a god-sized heroic dose like that you could probably stand and walk on a broken leg by being able to ignore pain completely.
People seriously underestimate the many possible effects of a dose of psychedelics or even mistakenly attribute it to magic that's something more than the simple biological response of a human body completely flooded and saturated in neurotransmitters and endorphins and essentially experiencing an induced schizophrenic-like mind state where your brain and body can do some utterly astounding and remarkable things.
One of those things might even be kicking your natural immune system into overdrive just by thinking about it positively in the same way mental attitude does have a factor on healing and recovery for many conditions or injuries.
Even though it's really just the same every day practical "magic" that allows you to will yourself to go hiking a difficult trail or digging deep inside yourself to find reserves of strength on such a hike - or even waking up and going to work even though you really don't want to.
They're the same thing, really. In the former case, there's just a whole lot more of that "magic" of being alive on tap.
posted by loquacious at 12:19 PM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
And I still use "be here now" as an easy mantra to stay mindful and in the present, to manage anxiety about the future and trauma from the past. It doesn't always work but it's been fairly reliable.
No dot, here. If there's something there for consciousness after death, he's home.
posted by loquacious at 12:24 PM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
No dot, here. If there's something there for consciousness after death, he's home.
posted by loquacious at 12:24 PM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
he is a big part of my fundament.
posted by wmo at 1:01 PM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by wmo at 1:01 PM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
I did quite a bit of psychedelics in my day, and had/have several friends who were/are acid heads (and shroom heads, etc.). The idea that you can just keep dosing and tripping is not true. You also can't switch between acid and shrooms (unsure about DMT) and keep on tripping. I wonder if that claim is just BS or whether people have talked themseves into the idea that they are tripping because they want to believe it.
Here's one blurb, from https://www.drugsand.me/en/drugs/lsd/:
Acid tolerance rapidly builds within the first few hours of consumption. After just two hours, re-dosing will have little to no effect on the experience. This tolerance will last for up to two weeks before it wears off completely. It is therefore advised to avoid re-dosing entirely.
Furthermore, there is a cross tolerance between LSD and Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms). Taking LSD on Day 1 will mean taking Psilocybin on Day 2 will have little to no effect. The same also applies vice versa. Two weeks must be given for the cross-tolerance to completely fade.
posted by nirblegee at 6:28 PM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
Here's one blurb, from https://www.drugsand.me/en/drugs/lsd/:
Acid tolerance rapidly builds within the first few hours of consumption. After just two hours, re-dosing will have little to no effect on the experience. This tolerance will last for up to two weeks before it wears off completely. It is therefore advised to avoid re-dosing entirely.
Furthermore, there is a cross tolerance between LSD and Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms). Taking LSD on Day 1 will mean taking Psilocybin on Day 2 will have little to no effect. The same also applies vice versa. Two weeks must be given for the cross-tolerance to completely fade.
posted by nirblegee at 6:28 PM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
While white, Orientalist fantasies of a spiritual East certainly stained the movement Ram Das represented, all accounts paint him as extremely menchy and kind. I wonder what he made of the utter commodification of 'wellness' we have now?
posted by latkes at 7:13 PM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by latkes at 7:13 PM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
There's an online version of Be Here Now that eludes most search results. Has both the available text and the scanned images of the butcherblock paper text/illusrations. It's changed hosting sites a few times, but it's so, so, so valuable.
EDIT: it looks like the domain name might have been suspended just since I posted this. Good luck hunting it down, folks, it's worth it.
posted by Perko at 7:29 PM on December 23, 2019
EDIT: it looks like the domain name might have been suspended just since I posted this. Good luck hunting it down, folks, it's worth it.
posted by Perko at 7:29 PM on December 23, 2019
Or, you know, one could buy the book...
posted by PhineasGage at 7:45 PM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by PhineasGage at 7:45 PM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
I remember finding _Be Here Now_ in the Ann Arbor bookstore where I worked in 1986, and being fascinated by its layout and attitude. Not so much the messages.
Then connected this with my roommate, who was into Ram Dass.
Every year afterwards, until 2000 or so, one friend after another would mention a connection to _Be Here Now_.
Feels like the late 20th century.
And .
posted by doctornemo at 8:00 PM on December 23, 2019
Then connected this with my roommate, who was into Ram Dass.
Every year afterwards, until 2000 or so, one friend after another would mention a connection to _Be Here Now_.
Feels like the late 20th century.
And .
posted by doctornemo at 8:00 PM on December 23, 2019
I preferred people like Gary Snyder, but I still liked a lot of his stuff.
posted by aleph at 9:05 PM on December 23, 2019
posted by aleph at 9:05 PM on December 23, 2019
I also discovered him via ZBS back in the seventies, and while he's often on a different spiritual angle from me by way of coming from a religious tradition that offers me as many roadblocks as inspirations, his inherent kindness of spirit and compassion for the human condition made him a voice I nevertheless revisited often, both via ZBS and the Love Serve Remember box set, which I had in MP3 form before being delighted to find a pristine never-opened vinyl set at my favorite local record store. Like all the other big religious traditions, I have to translate and excise a fair amount to unpack the wisdom that speaks to me, but he was warm and genuine in a way that brought a lot of calm introspection.
Plus, he belonged to my tribe.
.
posted by sonascope at 6:26 AM on December 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
Plus, he belonged to my tribe.
.
posted by sonascope at 6:26 AM on December 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
.
posted by homunculus at 8:31 AM on December 26, 2019
posted by homunculus at 8:31 AM on December 26, 2019
I wonder if that claim is just BS
It's based on personal experience. I've heard about cross-tolerance, but empirically, I've found the effect is only partial.
posted by crazy_yeti at 7:33 PM on December 28, 2019
It's based on personal experience. I've heard about cross-tolerance, but empirically, I've found the effect is only partial.
posted by crazy_yeti at 7:33 PM on December 28, 2019
.
posted by crazy_yeti at 7:42 AM on December 29, 2019
posted by crazy_yeti at 7:42 AM on December 29, 2019
My cousin Owen, his godson, directed this short documentary about Ram Dass.
posted by octothorpe at 9:41 AM on January 1, 2020
posted by octothorpe at 9:41 AM on January 1, 2020
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posted by hypnogogue at 10:06 PM on December 22, 2019