Be Here Now

Symbol from the Book: Be Here Now (1971) by Baba Ram Dass
(Ram Dass means “servant of god”)

Fans of the show Lost may be interested in knowing that Ram Dass’ real name before he went to India and changed it, was Richard Alpert, which is also this guy’s name in the show:

Book review:

It’s easy to dismiss Be Here Now as the relic of a whacked-out ’60s acid tripper. Paging through the center section of the book, with its inch-high print and psychedelic drawings, you come across lines like: “Magic Theatre–For madmen only. Price of admission, your mind.” Then you turn to the first page of the book, and you are suddenly sucked into the story of a Harvard psychiatrist who has reached the pinnacle of success, discovers the mind-expanding powers of acid, and ends up trooping through India with a 23-year-old holy man from Laguna Beach, California. In the story, you see all the trappings of your own life and begin to wonder if India might hold the answers after all. Before booking your ticket, turn to the last section of the Be Here Now, “Cookbook for a Sacred Life.” Ram Dass saves you the trouble by proffering a sober introduction to the basics of Hindu religion. Although he still can’t resist CAPITAL LETTERS, he has done his homework, presenting a whole range of concepts and practices having to do with yoga postures, meditation, renunciation, dying and sexual energy. So, for the most part, Be Here Now stands the test of time, and if you can entertain the center section in a retro kind of a spirit, it might be just what you’re looking for:
“The opposite of craving is saying, baby, this is the way it is, yeah, OK, here and now, this is it. I ACCEPT THE HERE & NOW FULLY.”
–Brian Bruya

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Stress is resistance to what is.

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And now, the Mason Jennings song Be Here Now

Sony BMG’s vultures won’t allow me to embed the video
So you’ll have to click something.
(Remember how I taught you?)
You can do it.

Here you go:
RealVideo
Quicktime
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YouTube

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instead of limiting your thoughts to a single person
when you hear the lyric ‘you are the love of my life’
witness yourself reading and then isolate and be that witness
that witness is the love of and in your life

that is where love comes from
that is where unbound forgiveness sits

that love is already there – a constant – all the time
but your brain is a regulator, your ‘reuptake inhibitor‘
shut it up sometimes.
it is your job to pilot the human. don’t let it convince you otherwise.
it only knows constructs. it only knows the unchangeable past and the unknowable future.
humility is the expression of love and forgiveness for all that is.

when you make yourself as small as you can possibly be
you embrace infinity

be here now.
have a nice weekend.

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Be here now
no other place to be
or just sit there dreaming
of how life would be
if we were somewhere better
somewhere far
away from all our worries
well here we are

you are the love of my life

be here now
no other place to be
all the doubts that linger
just set them free
and let good things happen
let the future come
into each moment
like a rising sun

you are the love of my life
you are the love of my life
yeah you know you are

sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again

it’s all new today
all we have to say is
be here now
it’s all new today
all we have to say is
be here now

be here now
no other place to be
this whole world keeps changing
come change with me
everything that’s happened
all that’s yet to come
is here inside this moment
it’s the only one

you are the love of my life
you are the love of my life
yeah you know you are

sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again
sun comes up and we start again

it’s all new today
all we have to say is
be here now

–

hawaii – kilauea volcano