Be Here Now, or Remember, Be Here Now, is a 1971 book on spirituality, yoga, and meditation by the American yogi and spiritual master Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert). The main book was first printed in 1970 as From Bindu to Ojas, while the title of the 1971 publication comes from a statement that his guide, Bhagavan Das, made during Ram Dass’s travels in India. The cover features a mandala that incorporates the title, a chair, radial lines, and the word “Remember” repeated four times.
Table of Contents
Be Here Now Summary
In March 1961, Professor Richard Alpert later renamed Ram Dass, held appointments in four departments of Harvard University. He published books, drove a Mercedes, and regularly vacationed in the Caribbean. According to most social standards, he had achieved great success … And yet he could not escape the feeling that something was missing.
Psilocybin and LSD changed that. During a period of experimentation, Alpert took off each layer of his identity, dissociated himself as a teacher, social cosmopolitan, and, finally, as a physical being. Fear became exalted when he realized that, in reality, he was just his inner being: a luminous being whom he could trust indefinitely and love infinitely.
And so, a spiritual journey began. Alpert went to India, where his guru renamed him Baba Ram Dass, “servant of God.” He was presented with conscious breathing exercises, hatha yoga, and oriental philosophy. If he was remembering or planning, he was reminded to “Be Here Now.” He started on the path of enlightenment and has been traveling with him since then.
Be Here Now is a vehicle to share the true message and a guide for self-determination.
With over 150 pages of metaphysical illustrations, practical advice on how to implement a yogic regiment, and a chapter dedicated to quotes and book recommendations, Be Here Now will surely enrich your emotional, physical, and spiritual life.
Be Here Now Review
It’s easy to dismiss Be Here Now as the relic of an acid rapper from the 60s. As you pass through the central section of the book, with its one-inch high print and psychedelic drawings, you find lines such as:
Magic Theater, is only for crazy people, admission price, your mind. that
Then you go to the first page of the book, and suddenly you are absorbed by the story of a Harvard psychiatrist who has reached the pinnacle of success, discovered the powers of acid that expand the mind, and ends up stumbling in India with a 23-man One-year saint from Laguna Beach, California. In the story, you see all the pitfalls of your own life and start wondering if India could have the answers after all. Before booking your ticket, go to the last section of Be Here Now, “Cookbook for a Sacred Life”. Ram Dass saves you the problem by offering a sober introduction to the basics of the Hindu religion. Although he still cannot resist the CAPITAL LETTERS, he has done his homework, presenting a wide range of concepts and practices that have to do with postures of yoga, meditation, renunciation, death, and sexual energy. So, for the most part, Be Here Now resists the test of time, and if you can entertain the central section with a retro spirit, it could be just what you’re looking for: “The opposite of desire is to say, honey, that’s the way it is things, yes, that’s fine, here and now, that’s all. I ACCEPT HERE AND NOW COMPLETELY. “
Cultural influence
Be Here Now is one of the first guides for those who were not born Hindu to become a yogi. Because of its influence on the hippie movement and later spiritual movements, it has been described as a “countercultural” and “seminal” bible of the time. In addition to bringing its main phrase into common usage, Be Here Now has influenced many other yoga writers and practitioners, including industrialist Steve Jobs, self-help author Wayne Dyer, and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
The first section of the book inspired the lyrics to George Harrison’s song “Be Here Now”, written in 1971 and published on his 1973 album Living in the Material World.
About The Author
Ram Dass left his mark on the world by teaching the way of the heart and promoting service in the areas of social awareness and care of the dying. When Ram Dass went to India for the first time in 1967, he was still Dr. Richard Alpert, an eminent Harvard psychologist and psychedelic pioneer of Dr. Timothy Leary. In India, he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately known as Maharajji, who gave his name to Ram Dass, which means “servant of God.”
Upon his return from India, Ram Dass became a fundamental influence in our culture with the publication of “Be Here Now”. In fact, those words have become a slogan in people’s lives for the past 40 years. With the 2011 publication of “Be Love Now,” Ram Dass completed his trilogy that began with “Be Here Now” in 1970 and continued with “Still Here” in 2004. He released “Polishing The Mirror: How to Live From Your Spiritual Heart” “In 2013 and launched his most recent book, “Walking Each Other Home: Conversations on Love and Dying” with co-author Mirabai Bush in 2018.
Ram Dass now has his home in Maui and teaches worldwide through his RamDass.org website and continues the work of Neem Karoli Baba through the Love Serve Remember Foundation.
Be Here Now PDF
Be Here Now Quotes
I can do nothing for you but work on myself…you can do nothing for me but work on yourself!
If you think you’re free, there’s no escape possible.
It’s only when caterpillarness is done that one becomes a butterfly. That again is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process of which we have no control.
Just because you are seeing divine light, experiencing waves of bliss, or conversing with Gods and Goddesses is no reason to not know your zip code.
