Great Book: "Be Here Now" by Ram Dass AKA Dr. Richard Alpert... Autobiography and Illustrated Eastern Religion... with amazing art created using rubber stamps for letters and symbols...

At the Rainbow Gathering in California, I spent an afternoon at Ram Dass' Tent... Just relaxing with other people and enjoying some marijuana... There was a long line of people that wanted a personal meeting with Ram Dass and I declined to wait in that line... This tent was at an intersection of two main trails at the Gathering and so there was a lot of interesting looking people walking by... and the Rangers were providing free car rides for disabled people. Right next to us there were a group of Teenagers that were begging for Candy... Well, why not? They used the Slang word DZUZU... Once I found out what that word meant, I threw small bags of M&M Candy at them... and they cheered... Chocolate falling out of the sky! Later I met a DOG and had a long Conversation because I fed him some Summer Sausage... That got the dog's attention... free meat! and he refused to leave me alone until I Hid the Sausage in my Backpack... Then, since he could not see the meat, he believed it was all gone and walked away... 

The next day, there was Live Music at the Ram Dass Tent... and they played the most CONSONANT music I have ever heard... Very similar to Christian Music... where they play Major Chords and never stray into Minor Chords or 7ths... I wandered away because I wanted to be part of the July 4th OM at Main Circle... I took this Photo and then Put the Camera in my Pocket, Held Hands and Chanted... Sometimes it's best to ACTUALLY LIVE LIFE instead of DOCUMENTING LIFE... and then Years later someone on the Internet wrote the slogan... and Potatoshopped it into this Photo... THANKS! I was just surfing the web when Surprise! I saw My Photo with words written on it! 

https://www.amazon.com/Be-Here-Now-Ram-Dass/dp/0517543052

AND...

https://www.amazon.com/Still-Here-Embracing-Aging-Changing/dp/1573228710/

Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying

“We’re talking about metamorphosis
We’re talking about going from a caterpillar to a butterfly
We’re talking about how to become a butterfly.”

In March 1961, Professor Richard Alpert – later renamed Ram Dass – held appointments in four departments at Harvard University. He published books, drove a Mercedes and regularly vacationed in the Caribbean. By most societal standards, he had achieved great success... And yet he couldn’t escape the feeling that something was missing. 

Psilocybin and LSD changed that. During a period of experimentation, Alpert peeled away each layer of his identity, disassociating from himself as a professor, a social cosmopolite, and lastly, as a physical being. Fear turned into exaltation upon the realization that at his truest, he was just his inner-self: a luminous being that he could trust indefinitely and love infinitely.

And thus, a spiritual journey commenced. Alpert headed to India where his guru renamed him Baba Ram Dass – “servant of God.” He was introduced to mindful breathing exercises, hatha yoga, and Eastern philosophy. If he found himself reminiscing or planning, he was reminded to “Be Here Now.” He started upon the path of enlightenment, and has been journeying along it ever since. 

Be Here Now is a vehicle for sharing the true message, and a guide to self-determination. 

With over 150 pages of metaphysical illustrations, practical advice on how to implement a yogic regiment, and a chapter dedicated to quotes and book recommendations, Be Here Now is sure to enrich your emotional, physical, and spiritual life.

Great Book: "Facts and Fears" by James Clapper - "Of Course" The Russians "Swung The Election To A Trump Win"

James Clapper in New Book: "Of Course" The Russians "Swung The Election To A Trump Win"
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/05/23/james_clapper_in_new_book_of_course_the_russians_swung_the_election_to_a_trump_win.html

The former Director of National Intelligence's candid and compelling account of the intelligence community's successes--and failures--in facing some of the greatest threats to America

When he stepped down in January 2017 as the fourth United States director of national intelligence, James Clapper had been President Obama's senior intelligence adviser for six and a half years, longer than his three predecessors combined. He led the U.S. intelligence community through a period that included the raid on Osama bin Laden, the Benghazi attack, the leaks of Edward Snowden, and Russia's influence operation during the 2016 U.S. election campaign. In Facts and Fears, Clapper traces his career through the growing threat of cyberattacks, his relationships with presidents and Congress, and the truth about Russia's role in the presidential election. He describes, in the wake of Snowden and WikiLeaks, his efforts to make intelligence more transparent and to push back against the suspicion that Americans' private lives are subject to surveillance. Finally, it was living through Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and seeing how the foundations of American democracy were--and continue to be--undermined by a foreign power that led him to break with his instincts honed through more than five decades in the intelligence profession to share his inside experience.

Clapper considers such controversial questions as, Is intelligence ethical? Is it moral to intercept communications or to photograph closed societies from orbit? What are the limits of what we should be allowed to do? What protections should we give to the private citizens of the world, not to mention our fellow Americans? Are there times when intelligence officers can lose credibility as unbiased reporters of hard truths by inserting themselves into policy decisions?

Facts and Fears offers a privileged look inside the U.S. intelligence community and, with the frankness and professionalism for which James Clapper is known, addresses some of the most difficult challenges in our nation's history.

https://www.amazon.com/Facts-Fears-Hard-Truths-Intelligence/dp/0525558640