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thisguyreads's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
sunsun886's review against another edition
3.0
"The next type of experience that people would frequently report was an interpersonal shift of figure and ground, where they would look at another person and see the way in which the other person was similar, rather than different from themselves. And it was as if the whole western mind-training of individual differences had been made background instead of figure, so that you'd look at another human being and say, "Here we are,". You'd see differences more as clothing, rather than as core stuff. This was a profound perceptual experience for many people."
"You finally understand the message you communicate with an other human being has nothing to do with what you say it has nothing to do with the look on the musculature of your face it's much deeper than that. Much deeper! It's the vibrations that emanate from you!"
"You can't come on because they're listening to the vibrations that hand is reaching out and sending.
And you realize that every moment you are a full statement of your being.
And you're sending out vibrations that are affecting everything around you, which in tun is affecting everything that comes back. and when you meet somebody who is caught in the world of WE and THEM and you are HIM to that person and you get caught in his mind net you are moth just intensifying one another's paranoia."
Laura Huxley has members of her seminars experience their own death psychologically,
For example:
"Have the room comfortably dark or dimly lighted.
Lie down on your bed or sofa or on the floor.
Let your body go. Imagine that the life is out of it. Do not speak or move.
Imagine that you have died: Your body is passive, lifeless, useless. Your body is discarded. Your funeral is about to take place.
Let go of your body. Let it be there as something which is no longer yours. Follow to the limit this feeling of being completely alone, abandoned, not loved- not in life, not in death. Cry scream, curse, if this is what you feel. Go to the limit of your feeling. And after you have cried and screamed and cursed, when you are empty and exhausted, stop and listen.
This is your last party. Speak to everyone there, tell them all about yourself, about your mistakes and your suffering, about your love and your longings. No longer do you need to protect yourself, no longer do you need to hide behind a wall or a suit of armor. It is your last party: you can explode, you can be miserable or pitiful, insignificant or despicable. At your funeral you can be yourself.
This is your chance: do what others have failed to do. Look at the unloved one, the miserable one. This is your chance to do an act of love toward one who has had no love. This is your chance to do justice where intentional or unintentional injustice has been committed.
This is your chance to give warmth and courage to one who feels only coldness, loneliness and death.
Let your tears flow from the very depth of you. Let your bitterness flow out with them. And when the bitterness is out, your tears will be gentle and sweet. Then take the hand of this lifeless body of yours, take it in your hands and with respect and love bring it to your lips and kiss it.
Now gently come back to your living body.
With this feeling of respect and love, come back to your living body, and let this feeling remain with you, inside of you. Let it spread to each nerve, to each muscle, along every vein and artery. Let this feeling of respect and love spread inside you, throughout your entire organism, and then let it spread out around you in everything, object or animal or human, that is part of your life. Feel this feeling of love and respect circulating inside you with the force of life itself; let it be in your blood, in the air you breathe. Feel it- accept it - give it."
"You finally understand the message you communicate with an other human being has nothing to do with what you say it has nothing to do with the look on the musculature of your face it's much deeper than that. Much deeper! It's the vibrations that emanate from you!"
"You can't come on because they're listening to the vibrations that hand is reaching out and sending.
And you realize that every moment you are a full statement of your being.
And you're sending out vibrations that are affecting everything around you, which in tun is affecting everything that comes back. and when you meet somebody who is caught in the world of WE and THEM and you are HIM to that person and you get caught in his mind net you are moth just intensifying one another's paranoia."
Laura Huxley has members of her seminars experience their own death psychologically,
For example:
"Have the room comfortably dark or dimly lighted.
Lie down on your bed or sofa or on the floor.
Let your body go. Imagine that the life is out of it. Do not speak or move.
Imagine that you have died: Your body is passive, lifeless, useless. Your body is discarded. Your funeral is about to take place.
Let go of your body. Let it be there as something which is no longer yours. Follow to the limit this feeling of being completely alone, abandoned, not loved- not in life, not in death. Cry scream, curse, if this is what you feel. Go to the limit of your feeling. And after you have cried and screamed and cursed, when you are empty and exhausted, stop and listen.
This is your last party. Speak to everyone there, tell them all about yourself, about your mistakes and your suffering, about your love and your longings. No longer do you need to protect yourself, no longer do you need to hide behind a wall or a suit of armor. It is your last party: you can explode, you can be miserable or pitiful, insignificant or despicable. At your funeral you can be yourself.
This is your chance: do what others have failed to do. Look at the unloved one, the miserable one. This is your chance to do an act of love toward one who has had no love. This is your chance to do justice where intentional or unintentional injustice has been committed.
This is your chance to give warmth and courage to one who feels only coldness, loneliness and death.
Let your tears flow from the very depth of you. Let your bitterness flow out with them. And when the bitterness is out, your tears will be gentle and sweet. Then take the hand of this lifeless body of yours, take it in your hands and with respect and love bring it to your lips and kiss it.
Now gently come back to your living body.
With this feeling of respect and love, come back to your living body, and let this feeling remain with you, inside of you. Let it spread to each nerve, to each muscle, along every vein and artery. Let this feeling of respect and love spread inside you, throughout your entire organism, and then let it spread out around you in everything, object or animal or human, that is part of your life. Feel this feeling of love and respect circulating inside you with the force of life itself; let it be in your blood, in the air you breathe. Feel it- accept it - give it."
barnesstorming's review against another edition
3.0
I read this during a 6-day silent meditation retreat during which I was not supposed to write or read anything. But I was going insane and decided that reading this was more-or-less related so shouldn't count against me, karmically. It kept me sane, which is ironic, considering how batshit Ram Dass's journey is. ... From a modern perspective, the first of its three sections is a fascinating study of his beat generation roots, from tripping on LSD with Timothy Leary -- for the sake of science! -- to his pursuit of a guru in the foothills of the Himalayas. The second section is a collection of Buddhist tracks, akin to the poorly created Christian pamphlets you find stuck in your door sometimes, with a kitchy folk aesthetic that plays as a sort of "what if Howard Finster drew inspiration from the Dalai Lama?" I loved those pages, even though the non-secular bits of Buddhism don't find purchase with me. The third section, the "cookbook," is more or less a wiki of Buddhist terms and practices as translated by a 20th century American. It has aged most poorly but still had passages of insight.
My advice? Look to this book as an artifact of the time rather than a true source of learning, and enjoy the trippy ride.
My advice? Look to this book as an artifact of the time rather than a true source of learning, and enjoy the trippy ride.
bhurlbut's review against another edition
2.0
In the 1970s this book, particularly its admonition to “Be Here Now,” had a profound affect on me. Fifty years on, I decided to see if it still held anything for me. No, it does not. Though I long ago internalized the central mantra and still live it as much as possible, the re-reading only raised memories of a younger, more naive self. It made me smile.
artemiscat's review against another edition
Marking this book read even if- to borrow the phrasing of one section of recommendations in the back- we just met two or three times and had a conversation
rscuderi's review against another edition
2.0
I think the intent was good and I do think Ram Dass has some great wisdom, but this book was disjointed and very weird. It seemed to jump around and I was just horrified by the reliance on and promotion of drugs as a path to enlightenment. If we're on a spiritual path we should not be harming our bodies or our minds. Sadly, this book made me less of a fan of the author.
anotherpath's review against another edition
4.0
I've listened to the Be Here Now talks in some variation around three times this year. I had yet to check this book off as read though, because I thought I might be missing something that was in the book that did not make it through in Ram Dass' talks.
There was not. And that's ok. This book is brilliant, and I know I'm on GoodReads, but Ram Dass, like Alan Watts, is such a prolific entertainer and orator that it is really difficult for me to recommend you READ them.
Ram Dass might be my favorite of the counter-cultural figures that emerged in the sixties, and his journey from Harvard to India and back is great fun. His love for God and his humanity are rare dazzling gems in the modern age.
This illustrated edition adds some value to the book as a coffee table piece or for intrigue purposes, but I'd direct people interested to his talks.
There was not. And that's ok. This book is brilliant, and I know I'm on GoodReads, but Ram Dass, like Alan Watts, is such a prolific entertainer and orator that it is really difficult for me to recommend you READ them.
Ram Dass might be my favorite of the counter-cultural figures that emerged in the sixties, and his journey from Harvard to India and back is great fun. His love for God and his humanity are rare dazzling gems in the modern age.
This illustrated edition adds some value to the book as a coffee table piece or for intrigue purposes, but I'd direct people interested to his talks.