One of the most influential leaders in the world of spirituality gave a talk in Bucks County that later became part of his breakthrough book.

Ram Dass, a former Harvard professor who became one of the leading promoters of Eastern spirituality and yoga, gave a talk at the Seminar House in Erwinna in the late 1960s. The lectures were one of many public engagements he held that became the basis for his magnum opus, Be Here Now (1971), a book that brought the lessons of Eastern thought to a Western audience.

Formerly known as Richard Alpert, the author first gained notoriety as the right-hand man of Timothy Leary; they were the first academics to experiment with the then-new substance called LSD.

After this, he travelled to India and met his spiritual teacher, Neem Karoli Baba, who taught him yoga and spiritual lessons that he brought back to America and made accessible for a modern audience.

In all fields of work he had committed himself to, Dass was an influential part of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and early 1970s. His book is considered a spiritual classic and is still touching people’s hearts and souls to this day.

The Bucks County connection is a reminder of how much the area has had an impact on the rest of the world.

Watch the complete series from the Erwinna lecture here.