"
I was startled by the offer. As a teenager, I had responded
to similar solicitations with: "I'm high on life--drugs would
just bring me down." But the buzz of youth had long disappeared,
and I knew that the rut ran deep. Sensing, too, that three years
before Rama had diffused my internal conflict with Stelazine,
I wondered if LSD could quell my recently resurfacing doubts.
There were other factors involved. Months before, Rama had asked Tom,
the bass-guitar-playing disciple who had finally moved west,
to compile a tape of songs from the late '60s. "I want to tap into
the people who had been involved in the early consciousness movement,"
Rama explained. Subsequently, the list of musicians whose
songs Rama played at Centre meetings and at public lectures--
without regard for copyright law--grew from Tangerine Dream,
Walter Carlos, Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and the Talking Heads,
to now include the Beatles, Cat Stevens, Traffic, and Jimi Hendrix.
Perhaps my decision regarding the LSD was affected by the music.
Perhaps it was affected by my fascination with the drug scenes in
the Castaneda books. Perhaps it was affected by my realization that,
according to the dictates of Rama's etiquette, there were grave karmic
consequences for those foolish enough to ignore his suggestions.
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