After moving to New Mexico, Rudhyar joined an art group located between Taos and Santa Fe. He continued painting his semi-abstract works, which Jose found as beautiful as a melodious piece of music. His unique piano playing style broke traditional chords in unusual ways, creating a nostalgic poetic musical style.
In the early 1970s, during a concert in Berkeley attended by Jose, surprisingly, Rudhyar's punchy keyboard style was not just noisy but almost grating. Rudhyar believed that music should return to its raw, primal state. He explained that this kind of performance was intended to break old patterns, even though his music had yet to reach the harmony achieved in his paintings. His artwork contained symbolic meanings, abstract representations of archetypes, filled with warmth and nostalgia, expressing unseen harmonious beauty through vibrant colors.
Rudhyar's major philosophical, metaphysical, and psychological work from 1970, *The Planetarization of Consciousness*, was recently published in the Netherlands. This book deeply influenced Jose, who was moved by Rudhyar's thematic ideas, such as the proposition that evolution truly begins when consciousness becomes a universal galactic phenomenon. He described the significant influence of the sun on the entire galaxy. Rudhyar's research spanned vast fields, primarily focusing on holistic astrology theories under high-dimensional perspectives, including stellar scales in the galaxy, life forms within the galaxy, and galactic civilizations. These topics resonated strongly with Jose.
Rudhyar likened galactic evolution to a grand ritual. He believed that in the next stage of evolution, consciousness would become a universal galactic phenomenon, encompassing human spirit. However, this ritual displayed an unstoppable great trend of human rebirth, akin to the universe's time reaching fulfillment. At the end of the year, Rudhyar dedicated his new book, *A Guide to New Life*, to Jose and Miriam. Some chapters in this book discussed "re-evaluating the relationship between humans and Earth." Jose's initial motivation for founding the Planet Art Network in 1983 largely came from Rudhyar's assessment of the artistic role in the upcoming new era. A decade later, after spending a summer with Rudhyar in Palo Alto, Jose wrote *Planetary Art Report for Despairing Earthlings* (an appendix to the 1984 publication *Landing on Earth*), detailing this theme.
The Foundation, established in 1968 and about 20 miles north of Taos, covered approximately 50 hectares, surrounded by Carson National Forest to the north, east, and south. At that time, it was renowned as one of the most hippie-commune-spirited places and among the earliest retreats for people of different faiths.
*A Guide to New Life* would become a spiritual classic because it brought many Westerners Eastern teachings. In the evening, everyone at the foundation was busy working on this book. Jose always looked forward to evenings, finding this activity exhilarating. He also willingly drew black-and-white illustrations for the book. The first edition of *A Guide to New Life* was hand-printed and bound with hemp rope, inspiring Jose and Miriam to make *Mandala* into a handmade, family-produced book.
One day, Jose accidentally heard Das and Deki enjoying what seemed to be an engaging piano piece inside. He later learned that they were listening to original records of the Russian mystic G.I. Gurdjieff playing the harmonium (a few years later, jazz pianist Keith Jarrett also recorded these pieces). Although Jose had met Ram Dass before, it wasn't until 2003, thirty-two years later, at the 33rd Global Campus Great Bazaar, that they reunited.