Be Here Now

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of substance use.

Be Here Now emerged at a pivotal moment in American history when the late 1960s and early 1970s counterculture was in full bloom. Against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and a widespread questioning of traditional values, many young people flocked toward experimentation, alternative lifestyles, and global spiritual exploration. Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, and other figures at Harvard University were pushing the boundaries of academia, researching the effects of psychedelics on the human psyche. Leary and Alpert are best known for the Harvard Psilocybin Project, where they documented the hallucinogen’s effects on consciousness by administering it to volunteer subjects and documenting their real-time descriptions of the experience. Although LSD and psilocybin were not illegal in the United States at the time, Harvard faculty members and administrators soon became concerned about research subjects’ safety and Leary and Alpert’s “unorthodox methodology” (notably, they conducted these studies while they were also under the influence of psilocybin). While Leary and Alpert underscored the scientific importance of their research, colleagues challenged the merit of their studies and “the seemingly cavalier attitude with which it was carried out,” as they failed to adhere to established research guidelines. By 1963, Harvard dismissed Alpert after he gave psilocybin to an undergraduate student off-campus; Leary was later fired, and the Harvard Psilocybin Project abruptly ended (“Timothy Leary (1920-1996): The Effects of Psychotropic Drugs.” Harvard University Department of Psychology).

Despite pushback against psychotropic drugs in the academic sphere, the counterculture movement embraced these substances to break free from what they saw as oppressive social norms. For Dass, the leap from psychedelic insight to Eastern mysticism after being banished from academia spoke to an even deeper longing—a hunger for spiritual truth beyond mere chemical highs. The book mirrors this convergence between Western restlessness and Eastern philosophical openness. As more people began questioning the validity of mainstream religion and capitalist ideals, an appetite for authentic meditative and yogic practices grew. A wave of Indian gurus and Tibetan lamas found an eager audience in the West; Be Here Now captures that cultural moment. Dass’s experience reflects a generation disillusioned with material success yet charged with idealism for a more meaningful life. The text’s design, with its swirling imagery and freeform typography, resonates with the psychedelic aesthetics and anti-establishment mood of the era.

At the same time, Dass’s message proposed a cohesive path forward for those tired of constant rebellion without a deeper ethical or spiritual framework. By synthesizing Indian devotional traditions, mindful practices, and the principle of present-moment awareness, Be Here Now offered an integrative, peace-driven ethos for a generation on the brink of radical change. Its continued resonance and distinction as a spiritual classic underscores how the legacy of that era’s social upheaval evolved into lasting cultural curiosity about holistic spirituality and self-transcendence.