8.6 /10 1 Votes
4.2/5 Barnes & Noble ISBN 978-0-517-54305-4 OCLC 141386598 | 4.3/5 Goodreads Publication date 1971 Originally published 1971 Genre Psychology Subjects Spirituality, Yoga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publisher Lama Foundation,
San Cristobal, New Mexico Similar Ram Dass books, Psychology books, Spirituality books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Be Here Now, or Remember, Be Here Now, is a 1971 book on spirituality, yoga and meditation by the Western-born yogi and spiritual teacher Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert). The title comes from a statement his guide, Bhagavan Das, made during Ram Dass's journeys in India. The cover features a mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines, and the word "remember" repeated four times.
Contents
Summary of the book
The book is divided into four sections:
First section
The first section is a short autobiography, describing Alpert's successes as a psychologist, his research with Timothy Leary into psychedelics at Harvard, and his subsequent anxiety when this research does not resolve his spiritual questions. He then describes his first journey to India and his initiation into a Guru-chela relationship with Neem Karoli Baba, and spiritual renaming as "Baba Ram Dass", or "servant of god". Ram Dass closes the first section of the book with this passage:
Now, though I am a beginner on the path, I have returned to the West for a time to work out karma or unfulfilled commitment. Part of this commitment is to share what I have learned with those of you who are on a similar journey. One can share a message through telling "our-story" as I have just done, or through the teaching methods of yoga, or singing, or making love. Each of us finds his unique vehicle for sharing with others his bit of wisdom. For me, this story is but a vehicle for sharing with you the true message ... the living faith in what is possible. --OM--
Second section
The second section, the largest, is a free-form collection of metaphysical, spiritual, and religious aphorisms, accompanied by illustrations.
Third section
The third section is a manual for starting on a yogic or spiritual path, and includes various techniques for yoga, pranayama, and meditation, as well as quotations from respected teachers of many religions and spiritual traditions.
Fourth section
The last section, entitled "Painted Cakes Do Not Satisfy Hunger" (a Zen commentary on liturgy), contains a list of recommended books on religion, spirituality, and consciousness. The book lists are divided into "Books to hang out with", "Books to visit with now & then", and "Books it's useful to have met".
Publishing history
The book has remained in print since its initial publication, and has sold over two million copies. The work was originally distributed in pamphlet form by the Lama Foundation. In 1971, when Be Here Now was first published by the Lama Foundation in New Mexico, some preliminary copies were sent to India. That original edition underwent several revisions as noted later by Ram Dass in Be Love Now (2010): "When it was read to Maharaj-ji, he told me to change some of the parts about Baba Hari Dass, who had been my sadhana tutor..." Those changes, introduced after "Hari Dass was no longer involved in the intense physical work and management of the Nainital temples", were presented without a critical revision.
In 1977, the Lama Foundation gave the copyright and half the proceeds from the book to the Hanuman Foundation in support of its spiritual and humanitarian projects.
The book is currently published by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of Random House.
Cultural influence
Be Here Now is one of the first guides for those not born Hindu to becoming a yogi, by a person himself not born a Hindu. For its influence on the hippie movement and subsequent spiritual movements it has been described as a "countercultural bible" and "seminal" to the era. In addition to introducing its title phrase into common use, Be Here Now has influenced numerous other writers and yoga practitioners, including Steve Jobs, Wayne Dyer, and Michael Crichton.
The first section of the book inspired the lyrics to George Harrison's song "Be Here Now", written in 1971 and released on his 1973 album Living in the Material World. The book was referred to in a 2010 study on daydreaming by Matthew Killingsworth, a doctoral candidate in psychology at Harvard University. Killingsworth suggested that people "thinking about something other than what they’re doing [...] doesn’t take them to a happy place".
Sequels
Ram Dass has written two sequels to Be Here Now. The first is Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying (2000), and the second is Be Love Now: The Path of the Heart (2011).