This weblog goes back in time, with newest entries at the top. Older entries are transferred to the archive. If a search engine or a link brought you to this page and you don't see what you're looking for, search the site: You can also go to the Pray for Peace News archive (click here) or an index of everything at this site (click here).
| Deadhead Seeks Amnesty on Religious Freedom Grounds |
Karen recently sent us this photo of herself. [Editor's note: Karen has been released from prison.] |
Twenty-six-year-old Karen Hoffman-Horning is currently serving forty years in prison for selling LSD. She was arrested in a federal sting operation (known as "Through the Looking Glass") by undercover policemen disguised as Dead Heads at a Grateful Dead concert. Her story appeared in High Times magazine, Feb. 1997, p. 40, stating that she received a life sentence. However, since the story was reported her sentence was reduced.
Karen recently told the courts that she believes LSD is a religious sacrament. She also wrote to Pray for Peace News for information regarding the Hindu religion. Karen stated that her experiences on LSD led her to believe she is a Hindu. In response, we photocopied some information on Hinduism and enclose it here, with this newsletter (see below).
That made us wonder, what would hippies and Hindus have in common, and how does LSD tie in?
Karen's Book
The Tallahassee Project: 100 Nonviolent Women Prisoners of the War on Drugs, by John Beresford Ph.D. (Editor), Karen Hoffman (Introduction)
In their own words, more than 100 women, most of them first-time nonviolent offenders, tell their side of a story not often covered in the media - the unfair incarceration of drug offenders. The Tallahassee Project gathers personal statements and photographs of these victims of a drug war condemned by every civilized nation - except the United States.
THE HARE KRISHNA CONNECTION
Hare Krishna, the most commonly recognized American Hindu group, has close links with Dead Heads and LSD. First, the Hare Krishnas basically grew out of the hippy movement. Second, although hippies faded away for a few decades, one group kept the faith, i.e., the Dead Heads, or followers of the Grateful Dead. Over the last three decades, Krishna devotees have provided free food to Dead Heads (and others) at "Rainbow Gatherings." Gatherings are a meeting of the tribes for those who choose to live an alternative lifestyle, away from the grind of what they refer to as "Babylon." The Hare Krishnas provide blessed vegetarian food, along with mantras, Krishna fashion, and philosophy. They even sometimes mark people's heads with sacred clay at a Rainbow Gathering.
It's possible Karen's original contact with Hinduism could have come from attending Rainbow Gatherings, or from associating with Dead Heads who were exposed to Hindu beliefs at Rainbow Gatherings.
SET BACK THE CLOCK
An even earlier link between hippies and Hindus was established in the 1960s, through the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. On Sept. 19, 1966, Timothy Leary declared LSD the sacrament for his new religion and the Brotherhood made LSD widely available. Leary and the Brotherhood taught followers to listen to Indian music "turn off the mind, relax and float downstream," as Leary wrote in his translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Beatles used the line in their song, "Tomorrow Never Knows."
A member of the Brotherhood met the Hare Krishna's guru, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, and became his disciple. Unbeknownst to his guru, this disciple went on selling LSD while preaching the Hindu message. Although the Krishnas' guru would not have approved, many young people took "Krishna acid" believing it to be a sacrament of transcendence.
Hippy paraphernalia has always included Eastern imagery, such as Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, peacock feathers, incense, beads, and Ravi Shankar music. In the sixties people traveled overland from The Netherlands to India on the Magic Bus. Many would testify that LSD experiences inspired them to seek transcendence. These are some of the reasons Karen may have adopted LSD as her holy sacrament, and her religious practices have put her in jail.
Editorial Comment: PFPF NEWS' POSITION ON LSD
Pray for Peace News does not endorse the synthetic chemical LSD, but we acknowledge that its effects are similar to natural psychedelics that are genuine religious sacraments. The Native American Church, for example, legally uses peyote, and their constitutional right to do so is recognized by most state governments. Other countries have psychedelic plants that have played an important part in native religions. We believe Karen was sincere in her spiritual search, and that she took LSD to experience a religious high.
The problem with LSD is that while it may open the doors of perception, the chemical can be a harsh teacher whose lessons may be misinterpreted without adequate spiritual guidance. We hope that young people will recognize this and place less emphasis on LSD as a spiritual tool.
Karen is being persecuted for her spiritual beliefs and we hope the courts will give her case further consideration.
Genuine Hinduism
Karen's case was recently turned down and she continues to serve her sentence in Florida. She appreciates hearing from people. Karen Hoffman-Horning, #00644-049, 501 Capitol Circle, NE, Tallahassee, FL 32301.
When Karen asked for information on Hinduism, PFPF News sent her this excerpt from Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami:
<<Hinduism has always accepted adoptives and converts. It is sometimes claimed that one must be born in a Hindu family in order to be a Hindu, that one cannot adopt or convert to this world's most ancient faith. This is simply not true. The acceptance of outsiders into the Hindu fold has occurred for thousands of years. Groups as diverse as local aborigines and the invading Greeks of Alexander the Great have been brought in. Entering Hinduism has traditionally required little more than accepting and living the beliefs and codes of Hindus. This remains the basic factor in the process.>>
For more about Subramuniyaswami, see <http://www.HinduismToday.kauai.hi.us/> Other excerpts from Loving Ganesh, by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami:
WHAT MAKES ONE A HINDU?
Sri K. Navaratnam enumerates a set of basic beliefs held by Hindus:
1. A belief in the existence of God.
2. A belief in the existence of a soul separate from the body.
3. A belief in the existence of the finitizing principle known as avidya (ignorance) or maya (illusion).
4. A belief in the principle of matter--prakriti (material nature) or maya (material energy).
5. A belief in the theories of karma and reincarnation.
6. A belief in the indispensable guidance of a guru to guide the spiritual aspirant towards God Realization.
7. A belief in moksha (liberation) as the goal of human existence.
8. A belief in the indispensable necessity of temple worship in religious life.
9. A belief in graded forms of religious practices, both internal and external, until one realizes God.
10. A belief in ahimsa (non-violence) as the greatest dharma (calling) or virtue.
11. A belief in mental and physical purity as indispensable factors for spiritual progress.
NINE BELIEFS OF HINDUISM
1. Hindus believe in the divinity of the Vedas, the world's most ancient scripture.
2. Hindus believe in one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.
3. Hindus believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution.
4. Hindus believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words and deeds.
5. Hindus believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, spiritual knowledge and liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained. Not a single soul will be eternally deprived of this destiny.
6. Hindus believe that divine beings exist in unseen worlds and that temple worship, rituals, and sacraments, as well as personal devotionals create a communion with these devas and Gods.
7. Hindus believe that a spiritually awakened master, or satguru, is essential to know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry and meditation.
8. Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore practice ahimsa, "noninjury."
9. Hindus believe that no particular religion teaches the only way to salvation above all others, but that all genuine religious paths are facets of God's Pure Love and Light, deserving tolerance and understanding.
For more about LSD and other psychedelics, visit the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS): Maps.org.
If you or a loved one needs help sorting out psychic experiences, especially from drug use, it could be a "Spiritual Emergency." In other words, something spiritual may be trying to break through - an emergence, but it's coming too fast - an emergency. Seek a counselor who knows how to treat this condition. Here's a relevant link: PeakStates.com.
Information on what you can do to help American's drug war prisoners: November.org - the November Coalition.
WORDS OF WISDOM from Swami Beyondananda
Swami Beyondananda, also known as writer/comedian Steve Bhaerman, writes a monthly advice column called, "Ask the Swami." Swami Steve is the author of "Driving Your own Karma" and "When You See a Sacred Cow, Milk it for All it's Worth" and has three live comedy tapes: "Yogi from Muskogee," "Enlightening Strikes Again" and "Don't Squeeze the Shaman." Contact: Asian Publishing, P.O. Box 108, Lower Lake, CA 95457; (800) 275-2606. Disclaimer: PFPF News does not imply that the Swami supports illegal substances, only that it's fun to laugh about them.
Dear Swami:
I've been reading about the folks who have been busted for baking marijuana brownies for AIDS patients, and I think it's totally ridiculous. Surely, there are more important things for us to spend our valuable human and financial resources on--cleaning up the environment, for example. What do you think, Swami? How do we go about having marijuana legalized? Bliss Stout, Hempseed, New York
Dear Bliss:
I agree with you that weed killer is far more dangerous in the long run than killer weed, but I think you've got a hard row to hoe, so to speak. Among our younger generation, marijuana's popularity has been superseded by an even more powerful mood-altering substance--money. Not only that, but people in general have become more health-conscious, and the smoking of anything (including herring, for that matter) has fallen out of favor. . . .
I predict that this very health-consciousness will provide the open door for legalization. All you have to do is publicize a newly-discovered disease called MDS--Marijuana Deprivation Syndrome. Symptoms include: obsession with status and financial achievement, inability to be in the present moment, and chronic seriousness which can become laugh-threatening. Miraculously, just a small weekly dose of marijuana can offset these symptoms and restore homeostasis (that's where you stay home and listen to your old Firesign Theater albums and eat Screaming Yellow Zonkers). I'm sure that as soon as the medical journals get hold of this information, it won't be too long before you'll be able to get prescriptions for cannabis just like any other drug.
Dear Swami:
I am bothered by absentmindedness. I forget everything. Even to write this letter, I've had to keep going back to the first sentence to remind myself what I'm talking about. What can be done about this problem I've already forgotten I have? Wanda Ring, Torrance, California
Dear Wanda:
There are two very simple exercises you can do to alleviate absent-mindedness. Forgetfulness, by the way, is caused primarily by weak neck muscles. See, thoughts originate in the head. When the neck muscles are weak, the thoughts can fall through the neck and down into the body, where they don't do much good. So the first exercise is to tighten the neck muscles and constrict the neck. (It's true. Back in the old days when boys had to wear ties to school, they remembered more.) Now in the beginning, until your neck muscles are really strong, there's bound to be some leakage. That's why you should stand on your head at least twice a day. This will allow the thoughts to rush back into your brain. If this doesn't work, forget it.
MORE NONSENSE FROM SWAMI BEYONDANANDA
--back by popular demand!
Dear Swami:
I've noticed that some followers of traditional western religions seem to feel threatened by Hinduism, and have even equated yoga with "devil worship." Even in my own liberal family, when my Jewish grandmother heard I was studying yoga, she said, "Yoga? Don't you know that "yoga" is "a goy" spelled backward?" Is there anything that can be done to combat these misconceptions? Haydn Sikh, Watsonville, California
Dear Haydn:
I wish I had some good news for you, but I don't. I have heard reports that some fundamentalist Christian schools are teaching their children about an elaborate Hindu plot to use yoga, meditation, chanting, and delicious spicy food to curry favor with unsuspecting Westerners. And these curry-favoring Westerners, the story goes, will be led down the garden path until Christianity is completely co-opted by Hinduism. Allow me to quote from a pamphlet put out by Rev. Tim Tayshin's "Mortal Majority":
"Imagine, if you will, our beloved faith totally Hinduized. Imagine our young people being forced to sing Krishna carols--you know, "We wish You a Hare Krishna" or "Puri Roasting On An Open Fire, Kali Nipping At Your Nose," or some Elvis impersonator crooning about how "It's gonna be a Blue Krishna without you." But it's even more grim than that. To the tune of "Onward Krishna Soldiers," our young people will become born-again, born-again, born-again Krishnas who embrace reincarnation. And here is the worst part: Those who resist this false belief in reincarnation will be forced to accept it in their next lifetime!"
Contact comedian Swami Beyondananda through Asian Publishing, P.O. Box 108, Lower Lake, CA 95457; (800) 275-2606.
PRAYERS FOR DECEMBER
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed. --Genesis 1.11
Why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that which I give thanks. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. --I Corinthians 10: 29-31
By the inclination to serve the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, suffering humanity can immediately cleanse the dirt which has accumulated in their minds during innumerable births. Like Ganges water, which emanates from the toes of the lotus feet of the Lord, such a process immediately cleanses the mind. --Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.21.3
Pray for Peace News est. 1995
Pray for Peace News was founded to spread awareness, education and devotion to the Great and Holy Mystery that is God. We accept all paths as true; all religions are but branches of the same tree. We promote interfaith dialogue and exchange programs to develop tolerance between religions.
Pray for Peace News is dedicated to nonviolence (vegetarian diet) and daily meditation. Pray for Peace News editors are committed to the legalization of sacred natural medicines for spiritual healing, for all people.
End the War on Drugs
index
