Book Review- Be Love Now

Be Love Now is the third book in a series that started with "Be Here Now" and was followed by "Still Here", Ram Dass's applauded work on aging, changing, and dying. In "Be Love Now", Ram Dass shares what he has learned in his forty year spiritual journey. Through teaching stories, humorous personal anecdotes and stirring insights, Ram Dass tracks the stages of his own awakening in a very down-to-earth style. 


In his book "Be Love Now" he shares powerful lessons on love, including:


~ Love is a state of being, not a trip from here to there... The truth of this path of the heart is that there is no path. 
~There is only the heart and the love.
~ Surrender to love...In the West surrender implies giving up power. But surrendering to a guru or the Beloved doesn’t mean giving up power to another human being—it’s letting go of the stuff that keeps you separate.
~ Value your beloved above yourself ...Your favorite food is on the table, and your main concern is that your lover should have enough of it. You are fulfilled when your lover eats.

The book is mostly a tribute to his own guru, Maharaj-ji, along with other amusing tales about his travels and experiences in India at ashrams with various teachers and other gurus. It reads like a well written journal of personal experiences all having to do with searching for enlightenment. 


Starting with his days as Harvard psychologist and psychedelic inventurer, continuing through his wonderful encounters with his guru, Neem Karoli Baba, and moving beyond the reawakening brought on by his near-fatal stroke, Ram Dass shares his life experiences in "Be Love Now," his teachings on love and the path of the heart.


This is a wonderful, eye opening book and although I was far too young to recall very much from the early seventies, it was an excellent adventure into the mind and heart of Ram Dass.