A review by barnesstorming
Be Here Now by Ram Dass

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.