The last of the most famous trio in psychedelic history is no more: in 2019, we did not only lose Ralph Metzner but now also Ram Dass. The latter died in his home on Maui, on Sunday 22 December. We met in the early Eighties, at Timothy Leary’s house on Wonderland Drive, in LA, when the famous guru happened to be considering if he would not rather be Richard Alpert again. On the way to a party at longevity specialist Roy Walford’s in Venice, Tim and Richard, who was driving us, had a heated argument. “Life is a vale of tears,” intoned the author of Be Here Now, the hippie Hindu bible of 1971, with two million copies sold worldwide. “We must do everything in our power to alleviate the suffering of the world!” “That’s the most awful thing I’ve ever heard you say, Dick!” Tim shot back from the co-driver’s seat, a half-full glass of Pimm’s in his right hand. “Life is a glorious adventure, a heady ride we should enjoy to the fullest!” And to Barbara (his wife), Dieter (Hagenbach, his publisher) and me (Susanne), sharing the back seat: “So why are you so quiet back there?” “We’re listening and learning,” I answered, somewhat ironically, when Barbara and Dieter didn’t speak up. At the party, it was plain to see why it was not so easy for Richard to stop being Ram Dass – so many people adored him, wanted to be near him and sought his advice, and though he knew I wasn’t necessarily one of them, he also enveloped me in one of his famous bear hugs upon leaving the next day. Thanks for the love, thanks for the light and thanks for your great compassion, Baba!
Dear friends and readers – here we would like to offer our best wishes for a positive and benevolent 2020.
From the heart,
Susanne G. Seiler
Salt
as if God spilt salt
on his midnight tablecloth
as if Gibran’s Ugly
had flung Beauty’s cloak
across the waters –
its soft light muted
in repentance
as if star by blue star
remembered the loss of each mother
and lit her face for a thousand years
as if matariki*
leapt off calendar pages
turning in my veins
down through my fingers
bending to pluck
a purple orchid.
Selina Tulsitala Marsh
*Maori Harvest Festival