The most significant period of my life occurred at age 19, in late September, '73, during a two-week stretch of a several week road trip with a high school buddy, the itinerary of which included nightly camping under the stars near flowing streams, and a daily drive of several hours between camp sites along a path from Colorado through the Great Northwest.
Friends in Manitou Springs introduced us to a woman who joined our trip. A year older than my buddy and I, she was quite earthy and spiritual. She introduced us to 'Be Here Now', and was able to score windowpane on the morning we left Manitou Springs for the ascent into the Rockies. That afternoon was the Autumnal Equinox. Aspen trees were changing colors for everyone's perception, whether altered or not. The immense beauty of the mountains, streams, and trees was heightened by the full dose of windowpane kicking in to stimulate a recognition of the unity and harmony, and immense love that permeates creation. For the next two weeks, as we traversed some of our countries most beautiful landscapes, I'd trip in the afternoons, and by the campfire we'd telepahtically communicate our understanding of 'Be Here Now'. I'll always appreciate Mr. Hoffman for the waves of intense bliss that flowed through my heart and the lessons of spirituality I was introduced to during that time. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > "Dr. Hofmann first synthesized the compound lysergic acid > diethylamide in 1938 but did not discover its psychopharmacological > effects until five years later, when he accidentally ingested the > substance that became known to the 1960s counterculture as acid. > > He then took LSD hundreds of times, but regarded it as a powerful and > potentially dangerous psychotropic drug that demanded respect. More > important to him than the pleasures of the psychedelic experience was > the drug's value as a revelatory aid for contemplating and > understanding what he saw as humanity's oneness with nature. That > perception, of union, which came to Dr. Hofmann as almost a religious > epiphany while still a child, directed much of his personal and > professional life. > > Dr. Hofmann was born in Baden, a spa town in northern Switzerland, on > Jan. 11, 1906, the eldest of four children. His father, who had no > higher education, was a toolmaker in a local factory, and the family > lived in a rented apartment. But Dr. Hofmann spent much of his > childhood outdoors. > > He would wander the hills above the town and play around the ruins of > a Hapsburg castle, the Stein. "It was a real paradise up there," he > said in an interview in 2006. "We had no money, but I had a wonderful > childhood." > > It was during one of his ambles that he had his epiphany. > > "It happened on a May morning I have forgotten the year but I can > still point to the exact spot where it occurred, on a forest path on > Martinsberg above Baden," he wrote in "LSD: My Problem Child." "As I > strolled through the freshly greened woods filled with bird song and > lit up by the morning sun, all at once everything appeared in an > uncommonly clear light. > > "It shone with the most beautiful radiance, speaking to the heart, as > though it wanted to encompass me in its majesty. I was filled with an > indescribable sensation of joy, oneness and blissful security." > > (more) > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/world/europe/30hofmann.html >
