Recently I’ve been hearing rave reviews about Ram Dass’ new book Be Love Now, so it’s on my “to read” list, but before reading it, I thought I should read his first spiritual classic Be Here Now, which was initially published in 1971, the year after I was born! In this photo, I am reading Be Here Now up at the Panther Meadows campground on Mt. Shasta.

This morning I finished reading the book, and I’ll share a few highlights with you here ~

~ “The cateriller doesn’t say: “Well now. I’m going to climb into this cocoon and come out a butterfly.” It’s just an inevitable process….It’s only when caterpillerness is done that one starts to be a butterfly and that again is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillerness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process under which you have no control. Well: That’s a hard one!”

~ “At last I had to confront myself and see where I wasn’t. You’ve got to go at the rate you can go. You wake up at the rate you wake up. You’re finished with your desires at the rate you finish with your desires. The disequilibrium comes into harmony at the rate it comes into harmony. You can’t rip the skin off the snake. The snake must moult the skin. That’s the rate it happens.”

Well, obviously this yogini is needing to call in some Patience! My two favorite passages in Be Here Now (above) say that you cannot rip away caterpillerness (love that word!) and you cannot rip the skin off the snake!

So, what can we do about our present “predicament” – a word that Ram Dass uses throughout Be Here Now – while we are being patient? The answer, as usual, is daily sadhana, which means regular spiritual practice. Be Here Now is an excellent guide for spiritual practices, or if you’d like a more condensed version of similar information, then check out my pocket book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living, available in both print and e-book versions on this website store.

In the section about mantras, Ram Dass describes Lord Rama in such a beautiful way. Ram’s life story is told in the ancient epic, the Ramayana. Ram was an Avatar who lived in India thousands of years before Lord Krishna (who incarnated about 5,000 years ago). Ram Dass writes:

“He is a beautiful dark being of great light, love and compassion, wisdom and power – in perfect harmony. Ram is the essence of who you are when you realize your true Self… Like the sun, he emits light and warmth and life force…. Keep realizing that God is It All… and therefore everything you look at is part of Ram. Everyone you meet is Ram who has come to teach you something.”

As a devotee of Neem Karoli Baba-ji, I deeply appreciated reading this book by Ram Dass. I am filled with Gratitude for all of the wonderful teachers and books along the way.

May all beings everywhere experience the Inner Light shining through the external darkness.

Om Shanti (Peace), 

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Teja reading Be Here Now taken by Jill Rothman.