Emma's Mixtape

I realize those are two infuriating stories about men twisting religion to suit their own moral bankruptcy. So I wanted to post about a new book called 'The Harvard Psychedelic Club' by Don Lattin, a riveting account of how Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil "killed the fifties and ushered in a New Age for America". These four remarkable figures were on the same campus, at the same time. Timothy Leary is the most famous - for encouraging the country to 'Turn On, Tune In and Drop Out'. but the one I knew the least about was Huston Smith. An ordained Methodist minister, he practised every world religion, introduced the Dalai Lama to the West and educated generations of Americans to adopt a more tolerant, inclusive attitude to other cultures' beliefs. In a 1950's public-television program shown at dinner time, he casually blew America's mind by climbing onto his desk, in a three piece suit, to demonstrate the lotus position.