Remembering the Harvard Psychologist Who Taught Millions Where to Be

Baba Ram Dass (RD), born Richard Alpert in 1931, was an American psychologist who tried marijuana, Mexican mushrooms, psilocybin and LSD in trying to give meaning to his very comfortable but ultimately empty life. As the drug trips didn’t last more than a few days he decided to seek out holy men who might know more about these fleeting states of consciousness he had just discovered and which a 2,500-year book had described very accurately. His quest took him to an Iranian Sufi and eventually to Neem Karoli Baba (NKB), an Indian saint on whom big doses of LSD had no effect and who arranged for RD to get some solid spiritual training. 

The American returned to the US and a few years later published Be Here Now (pictured above) which has sold over 2 million copies since 1971. It is a book which influenced many people including the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs who travelled to India to try to duplicate RD’s experience.

What made Ram Dass special is not only that he combed through a massive amount of spiritual literature, tried a vast range of meditative practices and delivered loving-kindness in unusual locations but also that he explained so well what he had learned and experienced. His self-deprecating sense of humour makes listening to RD even more pleasant. 

He died in Maui, Hawaii exactly a year ago. His life journey has important policy implications.

2019: The Year in Review

Q1: Our parliament is too big. 5 reasons the LP/MMM alliance lost in 2014. Rekin dir non a simagri elektoral. Corporations should not fund political parties. TJC was set up against regressive backdrop. How Sweden became a safety champ. What makes Singapore wealthier than Japan. ICJ thinks UK should end occupation of Chagos. Piti depas papa.

Q2: Sithanen flat tax fuels more street protests. Voting on the roof of Europe begins. PJ against more women in parliament. Amritsar massacre turns 100. Fond du Sac learns compulsory acquisitions come in different flavours. For a vibrant democracy have these 5 ingredients. Perspective on flat tax damage. Tax policies should go in affidavits. Sithanen toohrooh could rise by Rs338bn by year-end. Norway bigger football powerhouse than Brazil.

Q3: Long wait over as Mauritius wins first IOIG. Pope to spend day with victim of trickle-down economics. Trees in Beau-Vallon have something in common with our saving culture. Toxic bean-counter self-praises himself. Why Bizlall should run in the general election? One Lord Mayor remembers another.

Q4: Did you enjoy Ramgoolam’s fourth term? Why dumping Gini coefficient is a good idea. Decomposing the 2014 defeat. Why Navin didn’t lose in 2010. Ramgoolam ena en nuvo palab. SSR has the best road-safety record. Intense cyclones didn’t destroy our resilience. Unproductive FDI doesn’t make up for collapse in savings. 10 narrowest general elections. Sugar has no future. Subron tries to fool us again. Who to vote for? Bérenger believes he’s the real miracle-man? God bless our FPTP system. Mauritius slides dangerously towards autocracy. Why SSR left a strong legacy. Fact-checking is oxygen of democracy. Let’s roll back drug use.