“This love is actually part of you; it is always flowing through you. It’s like the subatomic texture of the universe, the dark matter that connects everything. When you tune in to that flow, you will feel it in your own heart—not your physical heart or your emotional heart, but your spiritual heart, the place you point to in your chest when you say, “I am.””
―Ram Dass, Be Here Now (Harmony/Rodale, 1971)
[Over the past few weeks, I’ve been studying Ram Dass (formerly Dr. Richard Alpert) and his impact on American spirituality. He was one of the main players in the “hippie” movement in the 1960’s and beyond. What I admire the most about him was his ability to seamlessly bring psychology into the discussions of religions and faith. He was never pegged to one tradition or one path. He blazed his own trail and asked the questions that resonate within my own psychology and understanding of myself in the world. His seminal work, Be Here Now was considered the hippie bible, and popularized eastern thought within the western culture. Its maxims are timeless, and fit comfortably within any age. It’s free from the trappings of any one specific religion. I’m including some wonderful passages from that book, along with one from one of his later books, How Can I Help. I hope that they provide some nourishment for your journey this week. –Jim Marsh, Bread of Life Church]
Thank you Jim
Thank you for sharing the historical source of the 60’s. I look forward to this week’s posts. I was a teenager in the 60’s entrenched in fundamental Christianity. I did not know of the loving expansiveness of God then. Life makes so much more sense now, freedom in the love of God.