This week I visited Ramon Sender Barayon and his wife Judith Levy Sender in Noe Valley, San Francisco. Back in the early ‘70’s, Ramon and I wrote a spiritual and music practice book called Being of the Sun, released as the sequel to Living on the Earth. Published by Harper and Row in 1973, the book’s central premise is each person can find his or her own to way to a dialogue with the Divine, without middlemen, hierarchy, or externally imposed rules of living, while borrowing practices from many traditions to enhance this dialogue. We then offered, as an example, various practices that we found useful.

Ramon’s unique contributions stem from his practices of meditation on sunlight and his background as an avant-garde composer and musician. He was, along with Mort Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros and Terry Riley, one of the composers who formed the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the early 1960’s, and collaborated audio engineer Don Buchla and Mort Subotnick in the invention of first synthesizer built on the West Coast, the Buchla Box (which was contemporary with the Moog, built on the East Coast).

My illustrations in Being of the Sun are far more lush, imaginative and colorful than those in Living on the Earth, and I bravely offered a drawing of a beautiful young woman defecating into a hole in the earth. Twenty-seven years after its publication, I recorded some of the songs from the book on my first CD, Music From Living on the Earth.

Being of the Sun was initially not well received; in 1973, Rolling Stone declared it “the worst gift book of the year.” However, in the intervening years, it’s become a cult classic, often referenced on Pagan/Wiccan websites, the illustrations pirated into various alternative journals.

When I visited Ramon and Judy, I brought along twenty pristine copies of the original (and only) edition, which I’ve somehow managed to preserve in perfect condition for thirty-three years now. Ramon and I sat down and signed them all, and Judy kindly took the photo at the top. Interested collectors can purchase them at $50 per copy. Please email me via the feedback on this site.

Actually, there IS another edition. It was originally published in Japanese translation in 1974 by Soshisha Ltd., and was re-released by Soshisha in March 2007.  And, by the way, Rolling Stone, it's selling very well.

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