Ram Dass - Evolution Of Consciousness
Original release: Noumedia/Harbinger, 1973 (3-LP box set)
A 3-hour lecture by Baba Ram Dass, recorded in New York City, 1969-March-31
No producer credit
Comments: Baba Ram Dass, formerly Richard Alpert,
should need no introduction to readers of this website. This particular
album is interesting on several counts, however. It is by far the rarest of
his 3 box-sets from the era, and in fact required quite a bit of searching
for me to locate. The release credits are minimal, and there is no booklet
or such. Furthermore, the contents -- i e, Ram Dass' spoken lecture, or
"darshan" -- are quite close to the contents of his famous
spiritual guidebook, "Be Here Now", a classic of the 1970s
East-West movement. It appears that recordings from this series of lectures,
perhaps this very recording, formed the basis for the book manuscript, where
it was embellished with some elaborate and occasionally mindblowing artwork
by various communal sadhaks. The "Be Here Now" book refers to an
accompanying record, but as far as I can establish, it is not this obscure
box-set, but the much more well-known 6-LP whammy "Love Serve
Remember". So what is this "Evolution Of Consciousness" -- a
spiritual bootleg?
In any event, the lecture is mighty fine if you're inclined towards Eastern
spirituality as delivered by a hip, funny, ex-Harvard professor. It opens
somewhat stiffly, but Dass slowly has the crowd warmed up, and the vibe gets
quite friendly and relaxed. There is a group meditation using Guru
Rinpoche's old visualization trip (detailed in "Be Here Now"),
some reminiscences from his days as Alpert the Druggie, and lots of cosmic
and non-cosmic wisdom. Each side clocks in at upwards 30 minutes.
Unfortunately the pressing is quite poor, and at least my copy plays with
noise and high-end distortion here and there.
Check out 10 minutes from side 2 via this
sound-clip.
Ram Dass' other two albums -- "Here We All Are" (1969) and
"Love Serve Remember" (1973) are appealing, but less hard to find
and obscure than this one. "Love Serve Remember" is a 6-disc
smorgasbord of spiritual delights, including some fine hippie-folk music,
and should be picked up if you come across it. "Here We All Are"
is a 3-disc lecture from Vancouver, similar to this "Evolution Of
Consciousness". It exists as both a box-set and a non-box release.
©
Patrick The Lama 2007