The last section, 'Painted Cakes Do Not Satisfy Hunger' (a Zen commentary on liturgy), contains a list of recommended books on religion, spirituality, and consciousness. The third section is a manual for starting on a spiritual path, and includes various techniques for yoga, pranayama, and meditation, as well as quotations from respected teachers of many spiritual traditions. The narrative flow, in the form of a continuous free-verse poem, addresses the reader directly, with Dass's insights gained through different spiritual traditions. The second section, the largest, is a free-form collection of metaphysical, spiritual, and religious reflections accompanied by illustrations. For me, this story is but a vehicle for sharing with you the true message . Each of us finds his unique vehicle for sharing with others his bit of wisdom. 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. Part of this commitment is to share what I have learned with those of you who are on a similar journey. 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. Ram Dass closes the first section of the book with this passage: 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'. 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 did not resolve his spiritual questions.

Painted Cakes (Do Not Satisfy Hunger): Books.

Cookbook for a Sacred Life: A Manual for Conscious Being.

Richard Alpert, Ph.D., into Baba Ram Dass The cover features a mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines, and the word 'Remember' repeated four times.īe Here Now has been described by multiple reviewers as 'seminal', and helped popularize Eastern spirituality and yoga with the baby boomer generation in the West. The core book was first printed in 1970 as From Bindu to Ojas and its current title comes from a statement his guide, Bhagavan Das, made during Ram Dass's journeys in India.

Be Here Now, or Remember, Be Here Now, is a 1971 book on spirituality, yoga, and meditation by the American yogi and spiritual teacher Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert).

Be here now book cover