{"product_id":"2026200013919-secondhand-as-it-was","title":"As It Was!","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Fair\u003cbr\u003eJacket: No dust jacket\u003cbr\u003ePages: Yellowed\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: Condition as shown in image\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBehind one of the twentieth century's most captivating and controversial literary personas lies a story that defies easy categorisation — As It Was! presents T. Lobsang Rampa's own account of his extraordinary life, chronicling his origins, his mystical awakening, and the turbulent journey that brought his esoteric teachings to a global audience. Rampa, who claimed to be a Tibetan lama writing from the perspective of deep spiritual initiation, argues through vivid personal narrative that the metaphysical truths of the East are not merely philosophical abstractions but lived, embodied realities — complete with astral travel, aura-reading, and encounters with ancient wisdom.\n\nThe broader significance of this work rests in its place within a fascinating cultural moment when Western curiosity about Tibetan Buddhism and occult spirituality reached a fever pitch, and Rampa's books — despite fierce controversy surrounding his true identity — sold in their millions. Written in his characteristically direct and earnest style, the text invites readers into a world where the boundary between the physical and the spiritual dissolves entirely. Whether one approaches it as memoir, metaphysical treatise, or an audacious act of literary imagination, As It Was! remains a compulsively readable document of belief, identity, and the enduring human hunger for hidden knowledge.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49160991867099,"sku":"2026200013919-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/c1838d73-eaec-4f56-bedf-7fe94623cb22.png?v=1787188593","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200013919-secondhand-as-it-was","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}