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The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment

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Cover artist
  
Klaus Rothe

Pages
  
91

Author
  
Thaddeus Golas

ISBN
  
978-0-9830574-0-6

4.2/5
Goodreads

Country
  
USA/GB

Originally published
  
1971

Page count
  
91

The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment t1gstaticcomimagesqtbnANd9GcSx57qncSwg94HlW

Subject
  
Spirituality, enlightenment, New Thought

Publisher
  
Seed Center Bantam Books Gibbs Smith, Seed Center Books, Even Lazier Publishing

Publication date
  
1971 1980 (mass market paperback) 1995 (hardcover) 2010 (paperback revised edition)

Similar
  
Love and Pain, The Cosmic Airdrome, The Archangel Guide to, The Archangel Guide to, Lazy Man's Life ‑ Autobiogr

The lazy man s guide to enlightenment full audiobook


The Lazy Man’s Guide To Enlightenment is a 1971 philosophical essay by American author Thaddeus Golas. Originally started as a letter for friends, the book itself began as a mimeographed pamphlet which Golas handed out on the streets of San Francisco in 1971. It was first published as a book in 1971 by Joe E. Casey, but was then taken over by the Palo Alto, California based Seed Center in 1972. The book was an underground bestseller, and in 1979, was published by Bantam Books. In 1995, Gibbs Smith, Publisher, of Utah, issued a hardcover edition, which included photographs and an introduction by Golas. In 2010, Seed Center Books issued an audio recording of the text read by the author, and an international edition of the book returning it to its original look and format, with three new chapters and revisions, penned by the author late in life.

Contents

Book review of the lazy man s guide to enlightenment by thaddeus golas


Origins

Thaddeus Golas, inspired by the popularity of subatomic physics and his passion for Eastern Mysticism, began formulating his personal metaphysical paradigm in the mid-1950s. While living in San Francisco in 1969, he decided to publish his first short-run pamphlet "Pleasure and Pain", that would put him in touch with others who shared his interest in enlightenment. The immediate result was that Golas was invited by an enthusiastic Stephen Gaskin to join his famous "Monday Night Class" meetings. Thaddeus Golas had gathered his ideas in the form of dense manuscripts, over a twenty-year period, but by 1970, he resolved to use his background as a copy editor for women's magazines to pitch his language on a level that casual readers could easily understand. The writing of his final manuscript of The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment was swift, and took place over a few chaotic and sleepless weeks during which he experienced great pain in his right arm. He would write tirelessly in bursts of prose which included the first sentence of the published text, "I am a lazy man". Golas later indicated that he never considered another title for this book, besides The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment. He quickly distributed photocopies of his text hoping to receive feedback, and offering for others to "do with it what they will," but his decision to self-publish resulted from the advice and encouragements of such authors as Alan Watts and Ram Dass. The book was originally intended as a "trip-guide" for LSD enthusiasts; it could be used to guide them psychologically and steer them away from "bummers". Thaddeus Golas later said he was stunned to see that "a general audience got off on it." While waiting for delivery of the first edition, Thaddeus Golas created a list of two hundred bookstores, including stores he had visited as a book salesman for Harper and Row in the early 1960s; he wrote every store manager, informing them that the book would be available from the distributor Bookpeople. He also visited bookstores in San Francisco, leaving them with consignment copies. These copies would eventually sell-out in a matter of days. The second printing, at 10,000 copies, sold out in two months. The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment became a rare publishing sensation in the Bay Area.

Chapter headings

(Includes the three additional chapter added to the final, revised edition.)

  • Foreword
    1. "Who Are We?"
    2. "Look, Ma, I'm Enlightened"
    3. "How To Feel Good"
    4. "Lifesavers"
    5. "How We Got Here"
    6. "Self-Improvement"
    7. "Time And Vibrations"
    8. "Going Through Changes"
    9. "What Is Real?"
    10. "Free will"
    11. "Expand!"
    12. "Who's On First?"
    13. "How You Get There"
    14. "A Fable"
    15. "Even Lazier" (brief selections from the main text)
  • "A Young Person's Guide to Enlightenment (Addendum)
  • Publication history

  • Self Published (1971)
  • Seed Center (1972)
  • Bantam Books (1980) ISBN 0553263587
  • Gibbs Smith (1995) ISBN 0879056983
  • Seed Center Books, Even Lazier Publishing (2008) ISBN 0983057435
  • Seed Center Books, Even Lazier Publishing Audio Book (2008) ISBN 0983057443
  • Seed Center Books, Even Lazier Publishing (2010) ISBN 9780983057406
  • References

    The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment Wikipedia


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