Rating: 
Summary: Let Bhagavan Das Take You on a Wonderful Journey of Love
Review: A wonderful spiritual memoir that ranks with Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, with a dash of sixties' psychedelia flavor. It details Bhagavan's journeys through India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, his meeting many Indian and Tibetan saints and teachers, and being embraced by the people who later popularised the Eastern spiritual movement in America; namely Allen Ginsberg, Alan Watts, and Ram Dass. Bhagavan Das was there first - he watched as India and Nepal became overrun with hippies looking for Eastern wisdom after LSD gave them their first hunger for another reality. After Ram Dass published Be Here Now, it set off another influx of Americans going over to India, and helped inspire Bhagavan's rise to fame in the states after coming home from seven years in the East. Now, twenty-six years later, Bhagavan Das puts pen to paper to tell his own story, one that is infinitely deeper and more compelling than the one that was originally told in Be Here Now. It al! ! so accurately portrays the hardships and internal divisions one goes through on the path to enlightenment. A worthwhile book, the kind of book I wait years for. Books of this quality, conveying this range and depth of experience, and also being so enjoyable to read, are simply too few and far between. Cherish this one while it's here now. It's one I plan to read over and over, as I have done with W. Somerset Maugham's book about the original Dharma Bum, The Razor's Edge.
Rating: 
Summary: Losing your mind in India and finding it feeling funny
Review: After getting to knowing Ram Dass in Be Here now it feels right getting to knowing Bhagavan Das too. It's Here Now (Are You?) brings you peace while reading thru his journey in India, and Nepal. Then...just as his life is becoming your meditation he goes to Sri Lanka and crashes your high. From there, he returns to the United States, and I pray that I can find peace again, as he again is searching for peace. Bhagavan Das is you, and you are him while you are reading this book. It is a good lesson in being a compassionate reader, and realizing this is more than a story of one mans quest for enlightment, it is yours too.
Rating:
Summary: JUST READING THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOU HIGH!!!
Review: BABA BHAGABVAN DAS'S BOOK IS INCREDIBLE. IT IS A TANGIBLE REAL STORY OF THE LIVING PRESENCE OF GOD EXPERIENCED BY BABA WHO HAS BLAZED THE PATH FOR SO MANY PEOPLE IN OUR CULTURE. READING THIS BOOK MAKES ME HIGH! GRIPPING, EXCITING, RICH, ALIVE!OM SHRI MA, JAI MA!
Rating:
Summary: A facinating life, but some pretty flaky ideas
Review: Bhagavan Das has led a fascinating life: going to India as a very young man & becoming a full-fledged Yogi, returning to America as an icon of the spiritual counter-culture & encountering others icons such as Ram Dass & Allen Ginsburg, & ceaseless bouncing between Hinduism, Buddhism, Native American peyote ritual, hedonism, capitalism, AA, born-again Christianity, & probably a few other isms I've forgotten. His tale is worth reading for those of us interested in spiritual seeking & how it relates to India, psychedelic drugs, & "the 60s." Seeing how the author continues this seeking with great energy through difficult circumstances can be inspiring to our own efforts. It's also interesting to see how the author, who was presented as a Great Holy Man in Ram Dass' "Be Here Now," was in fact a confused kid bumbling his way along like the rest of us. The downside of the book is that the author, in spite of the numerous zigs & zags of his life & path, in spite of the obvious suffering he's brought to others along the way (such as the woman he impregnated, married, & cheated on), still considers himself a teacher. That is, the tone of the book isn't just that of a fellow seeker sharing his experience, but of someone with Great Insight to impart to the rest of us. These Insights, sprinkled throughout his tale, come off as flaky. Bhagavan Das often doesn't clearly distinguish what's happening objectively from what's going on in his mind. Whereas Ram Dass was able to write about Indian spirituality without abandoning "Western" rationality, Bhagavan Das *doesn't* have a background in rationality, & comes off as a spaced-out hippie. He makes profound-sounding proclamations that seem too naive by 30 years. For instance, he visits a certain temple & suggests that everyone who goes there gets their prayers answered by God. Were such magic really available, I imagine India would be in much better shape than it is. Many of us begin our spiritual search feeling like we'll find Truths to make us holier & more special than ordinary people. After years of efforts, we hopefully gain the humility to see that, while our chosen path may be wonderfully helpful to us, it doesn't make us holier than others, or give us the standing to preach to anyone else. I was fascinated by Bhagavan Das' tales, & disappointed that he still doesn't seem to have found this humility.
Rating:
Summary: A facinating life, but some pretty flaky ideas
Review: Bhagavan Das has led a fascinating life: going to India as a very young man & becoming a full-fledged Yogi, returning to America as an icon of the spiritual counter-culture & encountering others icons such as Ram Dass & Allen Ginsburg, & ceaseless bouncing between Hinduism, Buddhism, Native American peyote ritual, hedonism, capitalism, AA, born-again Christianity, & probably a few other isms I've forgotten. His tale is worth reading for those of us interested in spiritual seeking & how it relates to India, psychedelic drugs, & "the 60s." Seeing how the author continues this seeking with great energy through difficult circumstances can be inspiring to our own efforts. It's also interesting to see how the author, who was presented as a Great Holy Man in Ram Dass' "Be Here Now," was in fact a confused kid bumbling his way along like the rest of us. The downside of the book is that the author, in spite of the numerous zigs & zags of his life & path, in spite of the obvious suffering he's brought to others along the way (such as the woman he impregnated, married, & cheated on), still considers himself a teacher. That is, the tone of the book isn't just that of a fellow seeker sharing his experience, but of someone with Great Insight to impart to the rest of us. These Insights, sprinkled throughout his tale, come off as flaky. Bhagavan Das often doesn't clearly distinguish what's happening objectively from what's going on in his mind. Whereas Ram Dass was able to write about Indian spirituality without abandoning "Western" rationality, Bhagavan Das *doesn't* have a background in rationality, & comes off as a spaced-out hippie. He makes profound-sounding proclamations that seem too naive by 30 years. For instance, he visits a certain temple & suggests that everyone who goes there gets their prayers answered by God. Were such magic really available, I imagine India would be in much better shape than it is. Many of us begin our spiritual search feeling like we'll find Truths to make us holier & more special than ordinary people. After years of efforts, we hopefully gain the humility to see that, while our chosen path may be wonderfully helpful to us, it doesn't make us holier than others, or give us the standing to preach to anyone else. I was fascinated by Bhagavan Das' tales, & disappointed that he still doesn't seem to have found this humility.
Rating: 
Summary: no religous insight here
Review: First off, let me say that I approached this book with no preconceptions. I was not alive during the sixties, and I have never taken any real interest in learning about the gurus and thinkers of the time. I was honestly interested in what his book might have to illuminate me on these subjects and began reading it with an open mind.
That being said, I wish I could have the timeI spent reading this book given back to me. Supposedly a true hippie seeking spiritual bliss, Michael Riggs (his true name) instead seems to trade off any hope of finding spiritual bliss and engorges himself in sex, drugs, and stroking his ego. He doesn't spin a very enlightened tale. Although it was entertaining in content sometimes, it was almost painful to hear someone build himself up so much.
From the beginning, Riggs couldn't stop promoting himself. After finishing a two-week retreat from people, he begins: "One day two weeks later, the door opened... There were at least fifty women with flower garlands standing outside. They touched my feet and starting worshipping me. Then they started waving camphor lamps in circles in front of me as if I were a deity or a guru. ...It was then that I thought I realized my position in life: I was in saint school and I was going to be a saint!" Pg. 16
I had not thought it was possible to achieve saintliness until you died. I would also generally think that a charitable, unselfish or patient person (one non-Catholic definition of saint) would not raise himself up so much. It goes on like this though: "Granny was everything to me. ...Her devotion to me was so intense it was profound, like I was God to her." P.20 "As I got out of the river, the Indians would touch my feet and bow to me." Pg.24 Talking about his first meeting, and subsequent LSD experience with Richard Albert:
"He was looking out me intensely, as if he wanted something from me. He looked like he wanted sex. ... He was licking me up and down. He was fawning all over me without touching. Richard was flipped out, like I was God, completely ecstatic in his adoration of me." Pg. 144 There are many more examples like these. I am not trying to say that everything in this book is horrible, he is just very mystic and probably embellishes greatly on almost every story. Nothing in his book can just be an experience or an interesting happening. Everything is a deep personification of his spiritual soul and the souls of India, Hindus, Buddhists, Nepalese and anyone else he comes in contact with. Every person he meets immediately connects with him and it is all a revelation.
Some of the more positives points of the book include the fact that he does not promote drug use, exactly. At one point he describes them as a poison and a definite diversion on the path to enlightenment. During other moments he talks about some of his deepest and greatest moments that occurred because of his drug use. He just doesn't seem to be the guru he is trying to project himself as.
Overall I think this book is a waste of time. It is a long tale that didn't need to be told as it was. I would have found this book much more interesting if he just came out and told his story, and told it for what it was: nothing more than a very long escape from the real world that was probably a lot of fun.
Rating:
Summary: no religous insight here
Review: First off, let me say that I approached this book with no preconceptions. I was not alive during the sixties, and I have never taken any real interest in learning about the gurus and thinkers of the time. I was honestly interested in what his book might have to illuminate me on these subjects and began reading it with an open mind.
That being said, I wish I could have the timeI spent reading this book given back to me. Supposedly a true hippie seeking spiritual bliss, Michael Riggs (his true name) instead seems to trade off any hope of finding spiritual bliss and engorges himself in sex, drugs, and stroking his ego. He doesn't spin a very enlightened tale. Although it was entertaining in content sometimes, it was almost painful to hear someone build himself up so much.
From the beginning, Riggs couldn't stop promoting himself. After finishing a two-week retreat from people, he begins: "One day two weeks later, the door opened... There were at least fifty women with flower garlands standing outside. They touched my feet and starting worshipping me. Then they started waving camphor lamps in circles in front of me as if I were a deity or a guru. ...It was then that I thought I realized my position in life: I was in saint school and I was going to be a saint!" Pg. 16
I had not thought it was possible to achieve saintliness until you died. I would also generally think that a charitable, unselfish or patient person (one non-Catholic definition of saint) would not raise himself up so much. It goes on like this though: "Granny was everything to me. ...Her devotion to me was so intense it was profound, like I was God to her." P.20 "As I got out of the river, the Indians would touch my feet and bow to me." Pg.24 Talking about his first meeting, and subsequent LSD experience with Richard Albert:
"He was looking out me intensely, as if he wanted something from me. He looked like he wanted sex. ... He was licking me up and down. He was fawning all over me without touching. Richard was flipped out, like I was God, completely ecstatic in his adoration of me." Pg. 144 There are many more examples like these. I am not trying to say that everything in this book is horrible, he is just very mystic and probably embellishes greatly on almost every story. Nothing in his book can just be an experience or an interesting happening. Everything is a deep personification of his spiritual soul and the souls of India, Hindus, Buddhists, Nepalese and anyone else he comes in contact with. Every person he meets immediately connects with him and it is all a revelation.
Some of the more positives points of the book include the fact that he does not promote drug use, exactly. At one point he describes them as a poison and a definite diversion on the path to enlightenment. During other moments he talks about some of his deepest and greatest moments that occurred because of his drug use. He just doesn't seem to be the guru he is trying to project himself as.
Overall I think this book is a waste of time. It is a long tale that didn't need to be told as it was. I would have found this book much more interesting if he just came out and told his story, and told it for what it was: nothing more than a very long escape from the real world that was probably a lot of fun.
Rating:
Summary: MIND-EXPANDING! I wish I could buy everyone a copy!
Review: For me, Bhagavan Das took me with my degree of life into the living world. Like studying for a career, you don't truely know what that career will be like until you're working it. Bhagavan Das with "It's Here Now (Are You?)" has given me a job in living.
Rating:
Summary: Another Mahabharata
Review: I can read Mahabharata for spiritual food - but when my humanness was 'stuck' in my fears, it was so easy for me to get 'stuck' in the grandeur and antiquity of it. At those times I wish I had the 'living Mahabharata', who is Bhagavan Das. Bhagavan Das is also Arjuna in the Maharabharata.
To me what's more Heroic about 'It's Here Now (Are you?)' than the great epic is: the epic was seen through Sanjaya's higher eye (intuition?) and written by Saint Valmiki. No big deal for Arjuna here, eventhough every truth in it was born through his fears as well as greatness... To walk through fears with honesty and having that same honesty to share it with others - that's a Real human being! Now I understand there is nothing more spiritual than being human. Bhagavan Das is everybody put together -Arjuna, Krishna, Sanjaya, Duryodana, Valmiki; an epic as solely himself.
Rating:
Summary: Jai Bhagavan Das!
Review: I have the luck to listen to and give Bhagavan Das a hug every couple months, and never see my copy of this book because one of my friends have inevitably borrowed it. Bhagavan Das' writing has reached out to young people especially taking away our cynicism and placing devotion in our hearts instead.
Jai ma, Jai bhaghavan das!
*** Be sure to see where Bhagavan Das is appearing
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