Baba Ram Dass, who promoted psychedelic drugs in the 1960s, dies aged 88 in US

Tribune Web Desk

Updated At : 07:35 PM Dec 24, 2019 IST

December 24

Ram Dass, psychedelic drug pioneer, dies at home aged 88 Ram Dass, who in the 1960s joined Timothy Leary in promoting psychedelic drugs as the path to inner enlightenment before undergoing a spiritual rebirth he spelled out in the influential book “Be Here Now,” died at home on Sunday. He was 88 years old.

“With tender hearts we share that Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert) died peacefully at home in Maui on December 22, 2019 surrounded by loved ones,” according to his official Instagram account. — Reuters

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We want to offer gratitude to the outpouring of love that has been shared over the last day. It’s a true testament to the volume of hearts Ram Dass was able to connect with. • For legacy sake please share your reflections at remember@ramdass.org #lovingramdass or DM your story to us 💓 • Ram Dass Obituary • Ram Dass (born Richard Alpert; April 6, 1931 at Boston, MA) died peacefully at his home on December 22, 2019, on Maui. Memorial services in Maui and Taos, NM, will be announced as soon as details have been finalized. • Ram Dass was a major influence on American spiritual life for more than fifty years. His groundbreaking BE HERE NOW (Crown, 1971)–part graphic novel, part introduction to yoga and inner transformation–is an enduring classic that has sold over two million copies. In the seventies it was the hippies’ bible; today it continues to inspire young people in their search for meaning. • Historian of religion Huston Smith said, “One of the virtues of Be Here Now is that it is not tied to any historical religious tradition. It just goes straight for the pay dirt and the essence and the heart that underlies them all.” Alpert was born in Newton, Massachusetts. • His father, George Alpert, was a prominent lawyer in Boston, who served as President of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, and was a founder of Brandeis University. Ram Dass earned degrees from Tufts, Wesleyan, and Stanford, and taught psychology at both Stanford and Harvard. • He met Timothy Leary through David McClelland, who headed the Center for Research in Personality at the Social Relations Department at Harvard, where Alpert and Leary both did research. Together they began the Harvard Psilocybin Project, which included the “Good Friday Experiment”, which assessed the effect of psilocybin on spiritual experience, and later founded the International Foundation for Internal Freedom (IFIF) to study the religious use of psychedelic drugs. • Continued in Story or link in bio ❤️
A post shared by Ram Dass (@babaramdass) on Dec 23, 2019 at 1:56pm PST

Baba Ram Dass, who promoted psychedelic drugs in the 1960s, dies aged 88 in US

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