A lost poem/letter from Allen Ginsberg – from 1973 – Allen on the use of the AH! mantra
(a valuable instruction from Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche)
A reader writes:
“Attached please find a short poem/letter Ginsberg wrote in July 1972, when he was planning to attend the Democratic Party Convention that summer in Miami Beach. It appeared in Nelly Heathen, a one-shot tabloid produced in 1973 by the Psychedelic Venus Church, a Berkeley-based pansexual neo-Pagan group that practiced ritual cannabis use, nudity, and sacred sexuality. (Ginsberg attended one of their rituals with the Angels of Light gay performance-troupe, and played harmonium at it.)
“Dear Boats Mammie & Friends -/I(‘ve) been trying Ah! As/ a mantra in large scale gatherings/& also in silent subvocal heart medi(t)ation/.So I’m going to Miami to say Ah &/I don’t see productivity or charm in/ violent imagery/ -/ The Ah! can be said in/normal voice/ Ah – no association – no trip/ Nixon trip – aggression trip – trash trip a trip/ If peace trip a trip, then not even Peace but even/ – Ah!’ – Allen
