From Bindu To Ojas

(San Cristobal, New Mexico: Lama Foundation, 1970. Softcover. Very Good. First edition. Does not include LP record or corrugated box (see below). Square quarto. Illustrated by Steve and Barbara Durkee and other members of the Lama Foundation. Brown sheets handbound with twine. Mandala paper label affixed to front cover. A couple tiny thin stains on wraps with about a four inch thin stain on rear wrap, light soiling on the topedge, rubbing and light spotting on paper label, very good. Transcribed by stenographer Lillian North from a series of lectures given by Ram Dass (at the Sculpture Studio series in NYC in 1969) about his time in India. North gave Ram Dass the transcribed manuscript and he began editing them with the help of writer, John Bleibtreu, during his stay at Esalen (a center of spiritual exploration) in Big Sur, California. He then traveled to the Lama Foundation, a commune of artists and hippies, near Taos, New Mexico where Steve Durkee and other members of the commune brainstormed ways to illustrate the edited text into art. The end result was a 12" x 12" corrugated box that included, *From Bindu To Ojas,* a booklet titled *Our-Story and His-Story,* *Cook Book for a Sacred Life,* *Painted Cakes Do Not Satisfy Hunger,* three posters with photos of gurus, four pages of spiritual quotes, and an LP Record of chants. As demand for the box increased, Durkee began working with a publisher to turn the contents of the box into what would become the seminal book, *Be Here Now* with *From Bindu To Ojas* as the core text. Presented here are all the items previously listed in the box with the exception of the box itself and the LP record; additionally the spiritual quotes have been trimmed from their pages along the cut-line borders and are faintly foxed. Also included is a return envelope for The Lama Foundation Reservoir for those wishing to enclose a donation. Most copies listed online appear to be missing most, if not all, of the additional contents. A well-preserved prototype for the highly influential work that introduced many in the West to Eastern spirituality, and served as an instruction manual for generations of spiritual seekers.