Until I started organizing the material for this website I was not aware that my mother had inquired about moving us to New Mexico and living at the Lama Foundation in Taos. In what would have been my senior year of high school. I do not have the letter that she must have sent that was the initial inquiry about living there only the reply she got. Following these two letters is the letter my mom wrote in return, after a long delay.
This first letter is from Barbara Durkee, cofounder of the Lama Foundation. She says that the fall of 1969 will be spent preparing an ashram for Ram Dass. She spelled his name as all one word, Ramdass, possibly by mistake. She then describes what the conditions are like in terms of the work done there. Towards the end she says she down not know about the local high school. I am sure my mother asked about that due to my having 2 more years of highschool left at that time. The stationary this was typed on is interesting, to say the least.
This next letter from the Lama Foundation to my mother is from July of 1970. It is in beautiful cursive from someone named Emily. Again it is on the official, colorful Lama Foundation stationary. Here is a transcription of what I think are the important parts of it:
Lama is full for the season. If you want to come next summer you might apply early in the year. Meanwhile visitors are welcome here on Sundays only.
This is followed by three paragraphs that describe the various communities in the surrounding area. Then Emily says:
I hope this helps you find a good place to be. The transition from a ‘straight’ job to something more developmental can be difficult, but it is sure worth it. Yours in peace, Emily
My mother finally got around to answering these two letters shortly after we received the box set from Bindu to Ojai. Reading this letter brought back memories of that winter in Joseph Oregon, a small town in the corner of Oregon near Washington and Idaho. We had moved there because it was the only place my mom could get a job teaching and she did not want to work in the aerospace industry anymore. The high school was very small which meant I had my mother as my chemistry teacher. There were only 5 students in it. I tried to call her Mrs. King but after the third or fourth time of calling her mom, the rest of the students decided that was fine with them too and we all just called her mom.
When the box set From Bindu to Ojas arrived with the album and we could hear Ram Dass chanting and explaining the chants and mantras it was absolutely marvelous. We devoured the book that was later to become the brown pages in Be Here Now.
