On the front cover was a
blowup of Cindy, a beautiful, young, blond woman, meditating on the
hood of Rama's red Porsche. Inside were stories from The Last
Incarnation. On the back cover was Rama's past-life resume
advertisement, in which he claimed: "1531-1575, Zen Master, Japan;
1602-1771, Head of Zen Order, Japan; 1725-1804, Master of Monastery,
Tibet; 1834-1905, Jnana Yoga Master, India; 1912-1945, Tibetan Lama and
Head of Monastic Order, Tibet; 1950- , Self Realized Spiritual Teacher
and Director of Spiritual Communities, United States."

Ford took the issue and left.

"It's just like in Star Wars," Rama noted as Ford drove away. "He
doesn't really believe in The Force."

There was more to tell of that particular story--my house burned down
that day. And while disciples gave generously when Rama took up a
collection, no one could have replaced my birthday gift from Rama. I
found it lying on the scorched foundation, reduced from a sleek, red
bicycle to a meteor-like lump of distorted alloys.

But of all the sketches I could have written for The Last Incarnation,
perhaps the most telling would have been the story of "Rama and the
Enlightenment of Women." "Certainly we welcome men into our
organization," Rama often announced. "But our primary focus is on the
enlightenment of women." His interest in helping hundreds, even
thousands, of women seemed a genuine reflection of his commitment to
the underdog.

When I first met Rama in 1978, his crusade for women had already begun.
"Unless you are close to enlightenment," he had told potential women
disciples, "you will lose a great deal of your spiritual and mystical
power through sex and through sexual relationships." Over the years,
Rama spent many hours counseling and persuading women seekers to leave
their boyfriends and husbands in the name of gender equality and higher
spirituality. In 1981, for instance, weeks after the coup, he wrote
and published in WOOF! (Issue #2; January, 1981): "Dear WOOF!, I love
the spiritual life and the vital life too. What should I
do?--Sproutarina J. Prana

"Dear Sproutarina, Your difficulty is that you are burning the candle
at both ends and sooner or later you are going to melt. I suggest a
day in the desert alone, a good movie, or a powerful occult experience.
You see, Sproutarina, God loves you no matter what you do. If you want
the vital, you can have it, and if you want the psychic you can have
that too. But you