RAY CHARLES AT GEORGIA STATE COLLEGE LATE 60'S

One great benefit of being a student at Georgia State College was the fabulous entertainers the school brought for it's students. Whether it was BB King, Santana, Otis Redding, Herbie Mann, Peter, Paul, and Mary, or Ray Charles, the shows were top notch.

I had been using a Minolta Twin Lens Reflex, and made multiple exposures with the B setting on the shutter. I really did not take a lot of pictures that night, simply because the show was too good, and Ray gave a wonderful performance.

Ananda Ashram 1972 Group Photo

During the Summer of 1972, we went up to Ananda Ashram in Monroe,N.Y., for a weekend program of yoga and meditation. The grounds of the Ashram are located on a beautiful mountain lake. It was truly a place where one could leave behind their problems and focus on spiritual growth.

I asked Dr. Mishra if I could take a group picture, and he kindly obliged. He also praised my photographic talents, which was an unexpected pleasant surprise. I continued to photograph and video tape Dr. Mishra as opportunities presented themselves over the next twenty one years.

Dr. Mishra is in the front row on the right, as you face the picture.

We left NYC at the end of 1973 for Texas. During our first week in Florida after graduating UT Dallas in 1978, I received a traffic ticket for a wrong turn in N. Miami Beach, and went to traffic school in N. Miami Beach High School.

During our break I came across Edith Epstein, Swami Naranda, teaching a Hatha Yoga Class.She told me her Guru was Dr. Mishra. Later I studied Hatha Yoga with her, and completed her teacher's training course.

If you click on: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Shel+Stein you can view videos of Dr. Mishra and Swami Naranda . They are also in my photo blog.

A new version of "Fundamentals of Yoga" is being worked on and should be available soon from the bookstore at www.anandaashram.org . George Leone was kind enough to give me a heads up on this new revision.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. GEORGIA STATE COLLEGE 1968

Not too long before his untimely death, I met and photographed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr at Georgia State College. He was a gifted and talented speaker, naturally charismatic .

I wonder what he would add to his "dream " today ? A world with clean air, pure food,....less environmental contaminants and pollution ? Would he say a world where people of all faiths get along in harmony, where Sunnis love Shiites, where Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus get along in harmony ? A world free of disease and hunger, rather than free of universal health care ? Where people live their lives by the 10 Commandments ?

What would he have put on his website ? Who would he support as the 2008 Presidential candidate ? What would he say to President Bush were he alive today to visit the White House?

When I shook his hand after his speech, all I could say was , "It was a pleasure to meet you."

These moments can be taken for granted at the time they transpire, and in retrospect they had historical impact.

ALEXANDER LOWEN MD & JOHN PIERRAKOS MD, FOUNDERS OF THE BIOENERGETIC MOVEMENT. LATE 60'S GEORGIA STATE COLLEGE

During the late 60's, the Psychology Department at Georgia State College held a seminar on Bioenergetic Therapy. Alexander Lowen,M.D., and John Pierrakos M.D. were the founders of the Bioenergetic movement. While these were a couple of simple available light pictures, as a psychology major, seeing Drs Lowen in Pierrakos in action was purely profound, especially when they worked on the department head and another of my professors.

Above is a picture of Dr. Pierrakos , shortly before his flight left Atlanta. after the session we got into an interesting conversation where he spoke about the aura and Kirilian photography.

He also mentioned that he once watched the soul of one of his patients leaving the body upon death,while he viewed this taking place through a filter of dye cyanin. This was much more exciting than studying dog experiments in experimental psychology or sectioning frozen rat brains with a micro tome, post experiments. I purposely avoided this tract in my course work.

Top top image in the center is of Dr Lowen and Dr. Pierrakos outside, what I believe was the Dragon Seed Restaurant in downtown Atlanta. I drove them for lunch and back to the airport.

The other people in the picture were from the Psychology department at GSC.

The Bioenergetic movement came form the work of Wilhelm Reich. What I will always remember is that every psychopathology has a physical correlate, and in order to effect a lasting cure,the body and flow of energy have to be worked on, not just the mind alone. Personality can be etched in the face, and reflected in the posture and structure of the body.

These were medical doctors that focused on the mind as well as the energy flows in the body.The 60's schism between talk therapy and using meds still exists today, except inflation has made this a more expensive indulgence.Bioenergetic therapy often had profound and lasting results. I saw Dr. Lowen cure a migraine headache in minutes.

Several years ago I met Dr. Michael Lesser,M.D. who wrote, "The Brain Chemistry Diet" from http:/www.nutritionconference.com . Dr. Lesser, who worked together with Dr. Linus Pauling posits, that dramatic changes in a persons state of mind can be accomplished through therapeutic does of vitamins, minerals , and amino acids.

As you look at heavy metals and environmental contaminants in the food chain, a lot comes together in the form of answers. You can also look at http://www.autismone.com and listen to their podcasts on the effect environmental issues have on children.

A lot of psychology courses revolved around what I felt was ancestor worship, memorizing and understanding theorists, and showing your understanding in tests. Bioenergetics was on the cutting edge.