Be Love Now

India is the perfect setting for a spiritual journey or an inner exploration, a glorious land of yogis, ashrams, flavorful foods, festivals, and temples. In 1967, when Ram Dass first ventured to India, he was still Dr. Richard Alpert, a distinguished Harvard psychologist and psychedelic pioneer with Dr. Timothy Leary. While in India, he met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharaj-ji, who gave Ram Dass his new name, which means “servant of God.”

To a large extent, this book is about gurus, or teachers, and Ram Dass himself is a spiritual guru to many of the Boomer generation. Published in 2010, his new book, Be Love Now: The Path of the Heart, written with Rameshwar Das, is the third in a trilogy that includes Be Here Now (1971) and Still Here (2000). Be Love Now is dedicated to Ram Dass' guru, Maharaj-ji. Interestingly, Ram Dass says that he abhorred the idea of gurus initially. He was nearly panic-stricken during his first meeting with his guru-to-be, worried about someone stealing the car he had driven through the mountains of India, a Land Rover, and felt even more uncomfortable when Maharaj-ji asked him if he could have the car. Soon, though, Ram Dass had a keen awakening. He felt more love and understanding from Maharaj-ji than he had ever felt before from anyone. What was even more astonishing was that he also experienced a love for others beyond anything that he had ever before experienced. This presence of love affected him in a profound way, and was the start of his belief in gurus, in Maharaj-ji, and in a new kind of love as a state of being that radiates outward from within.

Pardon the vernacular but this is a mind-blowing book. I read--and reread several parts of--this book, but I still feel as if I have just scratched the surface, and won't claim to have completely understood all of it. Although this book is about 300 pages, it is pithy, full of profundity and insight. There is so much in Be Love Now to comprehend and to contemplate. I'd selected several wonderful paragraphs to quote, but I'm not supposed to quote from my copy of the book, which is an uncorrected proof. However, I did find this relevant quote, on Goodreads:

"The heart surrenders everything to the moment. The mind judges and holds back."
~Ram Dass

The author's writing is personal, engaging, and sometimes humorous, but his quest and his ideas are universal. The best way to read this book is to wrap yourself in a plaid blanket (or Snuggie), brew some chai tea, and open up your heart-mind to the limitless possibilities of love.

Special thanks to Trish from TLC for sending me this book. For more reviews, please visit TLC's book tour for Be Love Now.

Mailbox Monday: A Pictorial Guide

Oh, happy day! Having read and reviewed The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman, I was very excited to receive And the Pursuit of Happiness by the same author, which arrived compliments of Penguin Group for an upcoming TLC book tour. This book will be released to the public on October 14, 2010; I feel so privileged to have a copy in advance!

I purchased Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham from Amazon because of Bermudaonion's review, and Be Love Now by Ram Dass arrived from HarperOne, also for a future TLC book tour. Last but not least, I won Mr. Darcy's Little Sister by C. Allyn Pierson on Laura's Reviews.

But wait! There are more packages to open! I thought I was done but two more packages arrived from UPS.




One of the perks of being a book blogger is being privy to giveaways and winning books. I won GoD and DoG by Wendy Francisco on Renee's blog, Black 'n Gold Girl's Book Spot, and Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons on Darlene's blog, Peeking Between the Pages.

I anticipate getting a great deal of enjoyment from these books.


Created by Marcia from The Printed Page, Mailbox Monday is currently on tour. During the month of October, Avis from She Reads and Reads will be hosting this fun meme. What new books have you gotten recently in the mail or from elsewhere?