alert said:
Hey Rising Spirit, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't I recall a story about when you gave Ram Dass some LSD and he said something along the lines of people giving him psychs was a common occurrence?
I love reading your posts as usual
No, no, no...
Alert, I didn't give Baba Ram Dass any LSD or any other entheogen, although I may have referenced an experience in which I was physically present, when he received something psychoactive, a loving gift from a fellow explorer and compatriot. The story was about when I first met him in 1980, at Colorado University, following one of his lovely talks. After the
rap session, which is 60's/70's vernacular for a heady discussion, about 20 or 30 people all lined up to give Dr. Richard Alpert/Baba Ram Dass a big hug. It was a beautiful scene full of unabashed love and high emotions. I still tear-up when I think about it now, decades later.
I patiently waited in the nearby shadows of the side-stage, off to the distance of the saccharin love-fest, with my older brother David, preferring to be last place in this moving hugging collective. Nice folks! There was a very high cat with long dreads and top-to-bottom, clothed in faded Guatemalan cotton, beaded and bedecked with Rainbow Gathering Magik, all over him. He was just ahead of me in line and he embraced Ram Dass heartily and afterwards, brought out a folded-over piece of tin foil from his pocket. He carefully opened it up and it held about a dozen bright blue microdot hits of acid. Typically about 250 mics. Back in the 1970s, LSD was often dropped on small disc-like tiny pills, called "microdots"... (potent little devils).
Baba Richard smiled and brought a plastic Bayer Aspirin container out of his pocket and said,
"I think I can find a good use for these". I got a good look into the aspirin container... and it was almost 1/2 full of various magikal pills of different size and color. I am almost ashamed to say today, honestly to all of you good folks... that I was then myself, full of righteous indignation and held onto a puritanical sense of right and wrong. Whether Yogic or Shamanic... I wanted reality to fit into my fragile mold of this and that. But hey, we all grow up eventually, right?
Nowadays, I have got one foot firmly on the Yogic/Taoist/Buddhist spiritual realms and simultaneously and most naturally, I am keeping one foot on the Sacred Medicine Path. As cliche as it sounds,
"All is One"... and surely, each road with any depth of heart, leads directly to this living, present moment... right here & now, a miracle in the making, an eternity unraveling in all of it's multidimensional, holographic unfolding. Life is a trip!
But I was still in my "purification" phase and had done no drugs or Sacred Medicines for several months. My mind was practically aghast, that one of my spiritual mentors still imbibed in psychedelics after embracing a life of Yogic Sadhana... or at least, passed it along to others to imbibe. Talk about Bullshit! My bad...
So, there I stood as he looked me point-blank, strait on and so openly, directly in the eyes. He obviously saw the shocked look on my face and you know what? He was completely empty! There was no ego present to be accused or condemned by my judgmental attitude.... just a vibration of love and joy. I instantly melted and felt embarrassed by my reaction. After all, it was LSD that had brought me to the spiritual path and I owed this great man a huge
"Thank you, dear Sir" for his efforts to promote expansion of consciousness and the art & science of meditation. You know what? He just stood there serenely, beaming warmth and kindness at me.
Suddenly freed of my uppity head-trip, I spontaneously reflected the loving vibration and said with as much sincerity as I could muster,
"Your books and lectures have been very inspiring for me, spiritually. I love you. Thank you for turning me onto God."
He smiled broadly like the Cheshire Cat and replied,
"I love you too. Thank you, for turning ME onto God." We embraced and both began to laugh. He was then and still is now, a very cool and totally spiritual guy. I only met him one other time, then in a less public setting, but I still deeply honor, love, respect and admire him very, very much.
His early work with Dr.s Timothy Leary and Ralph Metzner, explosively impacted a whole generation of psychonauts and spiritual seekers. They co-authored the classic Hippie Bible,
The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
Dr. Alpert/Baba Ram Dass went on to teach and lecture for decades and was devotedly involved with Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross's compassionate and highly significant work on death and dying. A giant of man with a profound degree of humility and humanity. My eyes water, just thinking about how bright and joyful he is in this world of push n' shove, ego conflict and indulgent selfishness. I will always hold a special place in my heart for Baba Ram Dass. His devoted work an service continues to offer peace and universal understanding, to this very day. :thumb_up:
May he shine brightly, forevermore and be a beacon for the openhearted lovers and clear-minded Spirit dancers, shining brightly in this human paradigm! And I wish the same blessing for each and everyone of you good peoples. This forum rocks!!!8)