Be Here Now: Book Review
I liked the book- the depiction of the importance of the present moment and the author’s devotion to knowledge.
The author’s emphasis is living in the present moment. The book was published long back. Still, today it is relevant because of the content it has. Even today, it is considered to be a philosophical treatise because of its penetrating depth.
In the times one lives is bound to experience psychological problems.
Because of psychological problems, the mind and its functions deteriorate if one faces a system breakdown. The book is no less than a panacea to train the human mind to devise a way to start the end of suffering.
This book is a partial autobiography of Richard Alpert, alias Ram Das. He is an author, a spiritual teacher, and a psychiatrist.
The book by ram das helps a human to wake up a soul towards awareness and self-knowledge.
The author took birth in a Jewish family and was in a state of perplexity. He was always wanted to understand the mystery of human existence. He remained moving in circles for a more extended period.
The author’s dilemma was that every intellectual who is discovering gets limited. His sincere efforts to understand and unlock the states of consciousness did not come to any conclusion. Inspired by his Self, he looked towards India to take the help of a spiritual teacher. Why he came to India, and what he aspired to? He created a spiritual guru to help him get rid of his self-control and self-centred personality.
Despite being a Harvard professor, the author had no interest in teaching his students superficial knowledge that denied access to actual values. Therefore, the author determined to move towards India to have genuine spiritual understanding.
The genuine mysteries of life are prevented from being undeciphered by the human attitude of shallowness. Fortunately, the author received an invitation to visit India. Having reached India, he visits a cafe and engages in discussion with a Western. The person is known to the locals as the locals respected Bhagwan Das as a spiritual man. The author finds another dilemma: India visits a village in northern India and meets an American guru. Having initial hesitation, the author joins Bhagwan Das to visit across India. The author learned through his new guru to remain in the presence of Self and forget about the past and future.
Neither one lives in the future nor the past. It is the traits of anxiety, depression, and unhappiness that move to live in the past and future.
The author learned from his new guru to surrender to life and flow naturally. It was like accept and be a part of the tide of life. With a desire to get liberated and be in the present moment, the author followed Bhagwan Das’s advice. Hence the author learned that to be aware, one must indulge in observation and become the non-judgemental witness of all actions. Meditation helps one to behave like a spectator and not an actor. Thus meditation enabled him to force his shackles of materialism.
