Alayna

So he was just like, oh, well, that's what's happening. Right. Like, which is...

So he was just like, oh, well, that's what's happening. Right. Like, which is...

Exactly.

Exactly.

Exactly. And he wasn't getting somebody to sit him down and say like, it's okay. Like you loved him and that doesn't mean you were in love with him. Right. You know. And if you are, great. Feel your feelings, you know. Yeah. But in reality, he was a teenage boy who was forced to confront the existential crisis of death in a particularly cruel and unexpected way. Like, this came out of nowhere.

Exactly. And he wasn't getting somebody to sit him down and say like, it's okay. Like you loved him and that doesn't mean you were in love with him. Right. You know. And if you are, great. Feel your feelings, you know. Yeah. But in reality, he was a teenage boy who was forced to confront the existential crisis of death in a particularly cruel and unexpected way. Like, this came out of nowhere.

And he was lacking the emotional tools or support that he needed to manage this. So it's like, of course he's going to come to some, like...

And he was lacking the emotional tools or support that he needed to manage this. So it's like, of course he's going to come to some, like...

random conclusions because of it and so his emotions just got away from him basically and within a few weeks after the funeral he started seeking a religious or spiritual path to understand death so that really was part of the issue was like i just don't understand this that makes sense unfortunately and much to his mother's disappointment he didn't turn to catholicism instead he turned to eastern religions and new age spiritual practices that were growing in popularity with young people at the time

random conclusions because of it and so his emotions just got away from him basically and within a few weeks after the funeral he started seeking a religious or spiritual path to understand death so that really was part of the issue was like i just don't understand this that makes sense unfortunately and much to his mother's disappointment he didn't turn to catholicism instead he turned to eastern religions and new age spiritual practices that were growing in popularity with young people at the time

Not surprisingly, the idea of reincarnation was particularly appealing to him. Okay. Because of, you know, the recent loss. Yeah. In the mid-1960s, and honestly, like, pretty much today too, Western audiences had minimal insight into non-Western religions and tended to understand them through the lens of Christianity. The result was essentially a spiritual practice that looked...

Not surprisingly, the idea of reincarnation was particularly appealing to him. Okay. Because of, you know, the recent loss. Yeah. In the mid-1960s, and honestly, like, pretty much today too, Western audiences had minimal insight into non-Western religions and tended to understand them through the lens of Christianity. The result was essentially a spiritual practice that looked...

decidedly foreign and mystical, but was otherwise fairly Christian in practice. Also, the lack of insight or any kind of, like, real information into these practices typically meant that white practitioners of these took it upon themselves to just kind of, like, fill in the gaps with their own ideas and beliefs. Whitewash it. Which, like, you know. Yeah. So...

decidedly foreign and mystical, but was otherwise fairly Christian in practice. Also, the lack of insight or any kind of, like, real information into these practices typically meant that white practitioners of these took it upon themselves to just kind of, like, fill in the gaps with their own ideas and beliefs. Whitewash it. Which, like, you know. Yeah. So...

For Herb, the lack of available information simply meant that he needed to go to Asia to learn more about the practices that he had become so taken with. Wow, okay. Yeah. Which, like, at this point, you're like, okay, go to Asia. Yeah. Learn about that. Like, whatever makes you feel good.

For Herb, the lack of available information simply meant that he needed to go to Asia to learn more about the practices that he had become so taken with. Wow, okay. Yeah. Which, like, at this point, you're like, okay, go to Asia. Yeah. Learn about that. Like, whatever makes you feel good.

But his parents were not thrilled about his interest in Eastern religions and refused to help him travel there or learn any more about it. That's dumb. Instead, his father encouraged him to join the military. That will not help. Because he was arguing, well, you could travel and learn more about the real world.

But his parents were not thrilled about his interest in Eastern religions and refused to help him travel there or learn any more about it. That's dumb. Instead, his father encouraged him to join the military. That will not help. Because he was arguing, well, you could travel and learn more about the real world.

But to Herbert, a hippie with an interest in progressive ideologies, the idea of joining the military during the ramp up of an immoral foreign war was pretty incomprehensible.

But to Herbert, a hippie with an interest in progressive ideologies, the idea of joining the military during the ramp up of an immoral foreign war was pretty incomprehensible.