Richard Alpert (Ram Dass)

"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."—from Be Here Now

In 1970, Ram Dass' Be Here Now became the counter-culture bible for thousands of young people seeking enlightenment in the midst of the darkness of Vietnam. It was a pioneering bridge, written in colloquial language, from the psychedelic 60s to eastern spirituality, and over the years has sold and continues to sell more than two million copies.

Being Ram Dass shares his life’s odyssey in intimate detail: how he struggled with issues of self-identity and sexuality in his youth, pioneered psychedelic research, and opened the doorways to Eastern spiritual practices. In 1967 he trekked to India and met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba. He returned with a perspective on spirituality and psychology that changed millions.

"In 1967 I met Neem Karoli Baba, a meeting which changed the course of my life. In the depth of his compassion, wisdom, humor, power and love I found human possibility never before imagined...an extraordinary integration of spirit and form. I was with him only briefly for he left his body in 1973, still he entered my heart as living truth, and his presence continues to enrich and guide my life." -- Ram Dass "There can be no biography of him. Facts are few, stories many. He seems to have been known by different names in many parts of India, appearing and disappearing through the years. His western devotees of recent years knew him as 'Neem Karoli Baba,' but mostly as 'Maharajii'--a nickname so commonplace in India that one can often hear a tea vendor addressed thus. Just as he said, he was 'Nobody.' He gave no discourses; the briefest, simplest stories were his teachings. Usually he sat or lay on a wooden bench wrapped in a plaid blanket while a few devotees sat around him. Visitors came and went; they were given food, a few words, a nod, a slap on the head or back, and they were sent away. There was gossip and laughter for he loved to joke. Orders for running the ashram were given, usually in a piercing yell across the compound. Sometimes he sat in silence, absorbed in another world to which we could not follow, but bliss and peace poured down on us. Who he was was no more than the experience of him, the nectar of his presence, the totality of his absence--enveloping us now like his plaid blanket." 

Il arrive parfois que l'illumination jaillisse spontanément ou, comme l'a vécue Ram Dass, lors d'un moment d'ouverture déchirant. Elle se manifeste plus souvent lorsqu'on polit le miroir du cœur en pratiquant quotidiennement - et quand on voit au-delà de l'illusion créée par nos pensées et nos émotions transitoires du vaste et lumineux paysage qu'est notre vraie nature. Pendant cinq décennies, Ram Dass a exploré les profondeurs de la conscience et de l'amour et il leur a donné vie en les mettant au service des autres. Avec ''Polir le miroir'', il rassemble ses enseignements essentiels pour vivre le présent éternel, ici et maintenant. Les lecteurs découvriront à l'intérieur de ce livre une riche combinaison de sagesse éternelle, d'humour, d'anecdotes et de conseils judicieux basés sur les pratiques spirituelles de Ram Dass, incluant : Le yoga bhakti - ouvrir notre cœur à l'amour inconditionnel. Des pratiques pour vivre, vieillir, mourir et embrasser le flux naturel de la vie. Le yoga karma - comment le service désintéressé peut nous transformer profondément. Travailler avec la peur et la souffrance comme voie nous entraînant vers la grâce et la liberté. Une guidance étape par étape, de chant dévotionnel, de méditation et de pratique de mantra, et bien plus. À ceux qui découvrent les enseignements de Ram Dass, et à ceux pour qui Ram Dass est un vieil ami, voici un guide avant-gardiste complet de l'explorateur spirituel pour découvrir notre nature profonde, pour quelle raison nous sommes sur terre, et pour devenir un phare de l'amour inconditionnel.