Coined
the 'Counter-Culture Bible' for generations of free-thinkers, yogis,
hippies, meditators, spiritualists, bhaktas, psychonauts, somebodies,
and nobodies, Be Here Now continues to inspire individuals to
awaken their minds and open their hearts now 50 years since its first
publication. We welcome you to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Ram
Dass' culture-transforming book by taking a historical dive into how Be Here Now came to be...
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To 'be here now,' first we have to go back there a little.
It was a snowy Boston night in 1961 when Tim Leary invited Dr. Richard
Alpert (Ram Dass) and Allen Ginsberg over to try psychedelic mushrooms.
Dr. Alpert, a successful Harvard Professor, walked off into a dark room
to quiet his mind, only to find himself in an escalating hypnagogic
vision where he was asked to give up his roles as a professor, a son, an
ego personality, and a body – leaving only pure awareness 'minding the
store.'
This timeless peak would spark cascading trips, experiments, research
papers, news articles, lectures, light shows, contemplations, and
difficult politics birthing from the Harvard psychedelic scene – with
Leary & Alpert at the proverbial root.
Diving full bore into consciousness expansion, these trips unearthed
otherworldly experiences and transcendental wisdom. But Alpert noted: No
matter how many psychedelics he took, what the dosage was, who guided
him, and with what holy book—he still came down. Hitting wall after
wall, Alpert began a quest to find "somebody who knew..."
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Listen to Ram Dass tell his story in a new audio download: Journey, the Transformation
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Celebrating 50 years of Be Here Now,
Ram Dass’ spiritual opus, we are ecstatic to share the Original
1968-1969 audio which created the ‘Our-Story’ section of his
culture-defining classic.
Unearthed by happenstance when our LSRF curator, Nathan, recognized and connected the fresh-from-India talks from which Be Here Now
was extracted, this audio talk outlines Ram Dass’ courageous shift from
Harvard professor to psychedelic explorer, and his transformational
journey East to the feet of his Guru, Maharaj-ji, the inspiration behind
Be Here Now...
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