Dear akazwell-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. Not a
lot is known about Steve Jobs? 1974 trip to India but a few obscure
details of the trip have been published for public consumption.
The precursor to the India pilgrimage dates back to 1972 when Jobs
entered Reed College, a private humanities school in Portland, Oregon.
Jobs, being from a middle-class background, had trouble fitting in to
the affluent school and though he was a voracious philosophy student
with a keen interest in religion, he dropped out after just one
semester. The 1960?s had come and gone and Jobs had essentially missed
it. Deeply philosophical, Jobs was determined to study and experience,
first-hand, the last vestiges of spiritualism and existentialism from
that recently bygone era. Because he had developed a keen interest in
the 60?s spiritual subculture, Jobs remained on the Reed campus for
another year to enable himself to experience as much as he could, even
though he no was longer officially attending ?a program? there,
although he did take a number of courses on religion and for a time he
managed one of their dorms. After about a year Jobs returned to
Silicon Valley in 1974 and took a job with a young video game company,
Atari. He saved his money intent on taking a spiritual retreat to
India to further his understanding of philosophy, religion and life
and expand on what he had learned from the waning 1960?s culture at
Reed.
That same year, when Jobs was 19 years old, he set off to India with
Reed College friend, Dan Kottke, with whom he shared his interests in
Eastern religions and mysticism, to visit the Kainchi ashram and Neem
Karoli Baba, a popular Indian holy man, to study under the master in
hopes of learning something more about life. Unfortunately when they
arrived they learned that Baba had died and that they had missed yet
another opportunity forever. According to Paul Freiberger?s and
Michael Swaine?s book, "Fire in the Valley: The making of the personal
computer" the two "drifted around India, reading and talking about
philosophy" (p. 261). Kottke later described the journey as a ?kind of
an ascetic pilgrimage?except we didn't know where we were going.? It
seems the pair were only seeking spiritual solace and enlightenment
(with a shaved heads and a backpacks).
Not long after their arrival, Kottke decided to attend a meditation
retreat for a month. Jobs didn't go with him, but rather wandered the
subcontinent for a few months before returning to California, and
Atari, in the autumn of 1974.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
APPLELUST
http://www.applelust.com/oped/Loop/Archives/loop_24_macphil.html
PINCHING PENNIES
http://209.87.142.42/y/c/c34.htm
FIRE IN THE VALLEY AMERICAN PIE 201
http://www.stanford.edu/group/mmdd/SiliconValley/Freiberger-Swaine/FireInTheValley.1984.book/Chapter7.rtf
RECOMMENDED READING
FIRE IN THE VALLEY: THE MAKING OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER
Product Details:
ISBN: 0071358951
Format: Hardcover, 463pp
Pub. Date: December 1999
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional
Edition Description: COLLECTORS
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=0CS5ISJUK8&mscssid=31GTGVVFLC6A8P4U1PCNG0E1KQWK1PE6&isbn=0071358951
STEVE JOBS, THE JOURNEY IS THE REWARD
Paperback
Publisher: Lynx Books; Reprint edition (November 1, 1988)
ASIN: 155802378X
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/155802378X/102-5551362-7463345?v=glance
(Review: ??describes his years at Reed and India in more depth than
any other author.?)
SEARCH STRATEGY
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STEVE JOBS
DAN KOTTKE
INDIA
ENLIGHTENMENT
SPIRITUAL
1974
KAINCHI
ASHRAM
NEEM KAROLI BABA
BUDDHISM
PILGRIMAGE
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