Richard Alpert was definitely one of my early influences. He was a Harvard Professor and Timothy Leary's partner in their LSD experiments in the 60's. I was in Berkeley in that period and was tracking all of this. Then Richard Alpert went to India and got initiated by a guru and returned as BABA Ramdas and was advocating giving up drugs and he and Timothy Leary parted company. He wrote a book on what he learned from his Indian experiences and his drug free enlightenment called Be Here Now. The 3 video clips below show Ram Das in recent times, Ram Das in 1985 before a New York audience and Richard Alpert when he was still an LSD researcher with Timothy Leary in Harvard. I think you'll find his progression interesting. During the 60's when I was hitchhiking around the country playing music, I ended up at a weekend retreat with Ram Das at his father's farm in New Hampshire.

 

For some of you, this will probably be your first exposure to this counter-culture hero. 

 

You can decide if you should view these from the bottom up (oldest) or the top down (most recent)

 

 

So here's Baba Ram Das sharing his spiritual wisdom in recent times

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K6lD6EeGBU

 

Here's Baba Ram Das in 1985 in New York City

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=bWi6XwintEY&feature=related

 

And here's Richard Alpert during his LSD phase (He comes on after the short lecture by someone else). It's fascinating to note the shift in his persona from the above video to this one..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hW6Dm_m5t4&NR=1