# Is "Be Here Now" by Ram Dass a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Be Here Now by Ram Dass (Lama Foundation, 1971) is identified by: First book edition, first printing: Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, New Mexico, 1971, in the publisher's original purple and white printed wraps, the cover a mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines and the word "Remember" repeated four times. The census claim that the 1970 boxed "From Bindu to Ojas" is the "true first state" of Be Here Now is CORRECTED: it is not a state of this book but a distinct, earlier publication of the core text under a different title.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First book edition, first printing: Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, New Mexico, 1971, in the publisher's original purple and white printed wraps, the cover a mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines and the word "Remember" repeated four times
- The first printing has no ISBN, no printing statement on the copyright page, a printed price at the base of the spine, and the Lama Foundation named alone as publisher on the rear cover — this last point is decisive, because the second printing of May 1971 and all subsequent printings (an eighth printing is recorded in November 1972) name Crown Publishers alongside the Lama Foundation
- A scarce cloth-bound issue in sky-blue cloth stamped in gilt is reported by one dealer; treat it as reported rather than established
- Take care with dealer listings giving the place as Albuquerque — San Cristobal is correct
- Publisher imprint reads Lama Foundation
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ram Dass |
| Publisher | Lama Foundation |
| Year | 1971 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First book edition, first printing: Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, New Mexico, 1971, in the publisher's original purple and white printed… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First book edition, first printing: Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, New Mexico, 1971, in the publisher's original purple and white printed wraps, the cover a mandala incorporating the title, a chair, radial lines and the word "Remember" repeated four times. The first printing has no ISBN, no printing statement on the copyright page, a printed price at the base of the spine, and the Lama Foundation named alone as publisher on the rear cover — this last point is decisive, because the second printing of May 1971 and all subsequent printings (an eighth printing is recorded in November 1972) name Crown Publishers alongside the Lama Foundation. A scarce cloth-bound issue in sky-blue cloth stamped in gilt is reported by one dealer; treat it as reported rather than established. Take care with dealer listings giving the place as Albuquerque — San Cristobal is correct.

## Is this the true first?
The census claim that the 1970 boxed "From Bindu to Ojas" is the "true first state" of Be Here Now is CORRECTED: it is not a state of this book but a distinct, earlier publication of the core text under a different title. From Bindu to Ojas (Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, 1970) was issued as a hand-bound box set — brown paper wrappers with a colour mandala label, pages hand rubber-stamped then photo-reduced and printed on rice paper in Japan, accompanied by booklets and an LP with sleeve — and it precedes and is scarcer than the book. Sources conflict on its size: Ram Dass recalled a thousand boxes, while a 1973 radio interview gives 10,000. The 1971 Lama Foundation wraps issue is the true first edition of the book as Be Here Now; ABAA dealers style it "first book edition, first printing." US only — no UK first is at issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented. The reprint tells are unusually clean: any copy naming Crown Publishers on the rear cover or carrying an ISBN is a later printing, and printings through the twelfth are recorded (Crown at 419 Park Ave. S., New York). Later Crown and Three Rivers Press (Random House) issues, which have kept the book in print past two million copies, are "first thus."

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Be Here Now* by Ram Dass a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/be-here-now
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.