Riding the Spirit Bus: My Journey from Satsang with Ram Dass to Lama Foundation and Dances of Universal Peace

Description

A memoir of spiritual awakening and travel in the 60s and 70s, sacred dance in the 80s and 90s, and astrological insight in the 90s and 2000s * Recounts the author's deep involvement with three spiritual community movements originating in the sixties which are still thriving today: the Ram Dass satsang, Lama Foundation, and Dances of Universal Peace * Offers insights from his study of Vedic astrology, sacred dance, his search for love, and his personal work with past-life recordings, Jungian analysis, and trauma release After coming of age and graduating in the tumultuous sixties, Ahad Cobb found himself wandering without direction. A chance road trip with a friend led him to Ram Dass, thus beginning an enthusiastic journey of spiritual awakening and deep involvement with three spiritual communities that originated in the sixties and still thrive today: the Ram Dass satsang, Lama Foundation, and Dances of Universal Peace. Sharing his opening to the inner life, his poetry and dreams, and his spiritual passions and astrological insights, Ahad Cobb's memoir begins with his summer with Ram Dass, immersed in meditation, devotion, and guru's grace. His path takes him to New Mexico, to a newly established intentional spiritual community, Lama Foundation, where he lives on the land for thirteen years, experiencing the discipline and rewards of communal living and spiritual practice. At Lama, he is initiated into universal Sufism in the tradition of Hazrat Inayat Khan and the Dances of Universal Peace. He travels overseas to spend time with Sufis in Chamonix, Istanbul, Konya, and Jerusalem. After the birth of his son, Ahad moves off the mountain and serves as sacred dance leader and musician for 35 years in Santa Fe and later Albuquerque. When Lama Foundation is nearly destroyed by a forest fire in 1996, Ahad serves as a trustee, guiding the rebuilding of the community. Ahad's memoir imparts insights from his personal work with Jungian analysis and trauma release, shares his search for and discovery of his soul mate, and details his twelve years of study with Hart DeFouw in the wisdom stream of Vedic astrology. Offering a poignant reflection on life lived from the inside out, and the delicate balance between spirituality and psychology, this memoir leads readers on an outer and inner journey steeped in poetry, music, astrology, and spiritual practice in the context of community that is devoted to awakening.

Ahad Cobb is the author, editor, and publisher of six books, including Image Nation and Early Lama Foundation. A musician and leader of Dances of Universal Peace, he has also served as a continuing member, officer, and trustee of the Lama Foundation. He studies and teaches Jyotish (Vedic astrology). He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Maple City, Michigan.

"Ahad's metaphoric journey vividly evokes the spiritual awakening that exploded in the '60s. He writes with humor, insight, and a compass needle aimed at Truth. His love is magnanimous, his recollections are luminous, and his prose is visionary. He has a gift for transmitting gems of wisdom embedded in personal parables." * Rameshwar Das, coauthor with Ram Dass of Be Love Now, Polishing the Mirror, and Being Ram Dass * "A wonderful telling of an awakening life dedicated to manifesting loving kindness and compassion throughout life's changing conditions. Through Ahad's journey we meet many great teachers and experience firsthand living in spiritual community." * Pir Shabda Kahn, spiritual director of the Sufi Ruhaniat International and coauthor of Physicians of *