{"id":329,"date":"2026-10-02T12:27:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/?page_id=329"},"modified":"2026-10-02T14:43:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T14:43:04","slug":"before-there-was-before-namkha-drime-rinpoche","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/","title":{"rendered":"Before There Was Before \u2014 Namkha Drim\u00e9 Rinpoche"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>html{overflow-x:clip;scroll-behavior:smooth}body{background:#0C0F1C}::selection{background:#E3A33B;color:#0C0F1C}section[id]{scroll-margin-top:80px}.btwb-book{perspective:1600px;display:flex;justify-content:center;padding:24px 0 40px}.btwb-book .cover{position:relative;width:min(360px,70vw);aspect-ratio:2\/3;background-size:cover;background-position:center top;border-radius:3px 8px 8px 3px;transform:rotateY(-20deg) rotateX(3deg);transform-style:preserve-3d;box-shadow:40px 50px 90px rgba(0,0,0,.65),inset 7px 0 12px rgba(0,0,0,.5),inset -1px 0 0 rgba(246,213,142,.25);display:flex;flex-direction:column;justify-content:flex-end;align-items:center;text-align:center;padding:0 24px 34px;color:#F6D58E;transition:transform 1.2s cubic-bezier(.2,.7,.2,1)}.btwb-book .cover:hover{transform:rotateY(-6deg) rotateX(1deg)}.btwb-book .cover::before{content:'';position:absolute;left:10px;top:0;bottom:0;width:2px;background:linear-gradient(rgba(255,255,255,.18),rgba(0,0,0,.3))}.btwb-book .t{font:400 clamp(30px,4.2vw,44px)\/.95 instrument-serif,Georgia,serif;margin:0 0 14px;letter-spacing:-.01em}.btwb-book .t i{display:block}.btwb-book .a{font:600 10px\/1.4 hanken-grotesk,sans-serif;letter-spacing:.3em;text-transform:uppercase;margin:0;color:#EDE6D6;opacity:.85}.btwb-book .k{position:absolute;top:22px;left:0;right:0;font:400 22px 'Noto Serif Tibetan',serif;color:#E3A33B}.btwb-glow{position:absolute;inset:auto;width:520px;height:520px;border-radius:50%;background:radial-gradient(circle,rgba(227,163,59,.22),rgba(227,163,59,0) 65%);pointer-events:none;z-index:0}<\/style>\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tmabge-Bz94oe\"] { width: 100vw; margin-inline: calc(50% - 50vw); min-height: calc(100vh - 70px); display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: flex-end; padding: 120px var(--m1) 88px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(12,15,28,.35) 0%, rgba(12,15,28,0) 30%, rgba(12,15,28,.55) 68%, #0C0F1C 100%), url(https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-hero-2.png) center 30% \/ cover no-repeat; }\n@container (max-width: 767px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tmabge-Bz94oe\"] { min-height: auto; padding: 84vw 22px 56px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(12,15,28,0) 50%, rgba(12,15,28,.6) 80%, #0C0F1C 100%) center top \/ 100% 101vw no-repeat, url(https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-hero-2.png) center top \/ 180% auto no-repeat, #0C0F1C; } }<\/style>\n<section id=\"top\" class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"width: 100vw; margin-inline: calc(50% - 50vw); min-height: calc(100vh - 70px); display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: flex-end; padding: 120px var(--m1) 88px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(12,15,28,.35) 0%, rgba(12,15,28,0) 30%, rgba(12,15,28,.55) 68%, #0C0F1C 100%), url(https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-hero-2.png) center 30% \/ cover no-repeat;\" data-sm-mcg-custom-styles=\"min-height: auto; padding: 84vw 22px 56px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(12,15,28,0) 50%, rgba(12,15,28,.6) 80%, #0C0F1C 100%) center top \/ 100% 101vw no-repeat, url(https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-hero-2.png) center top \/ 180% auto no-repeat, #0C0F1C;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tmabge-Bz94oe\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-99PWfJ\"] em { color: #F6D58E; text-shadow: 0 0 60px rgba(227,163,59,.35); }<\/style>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-display mcg-margin-bottom-24px\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-99PWfJ\">Before There<br><em>Was Before<\/em><\/h1>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tmabjs-3RWlUr\"] { text-shadow: 0 1px 12px rgba(12,15,28,.8); }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-glow mcg-margin-bottom-32px wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"text-shadow: 0 1px 12px rgba(12,15,28,.8);\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tmabjs-3RWlUr\">A new book by Namkha Drim\u00e9 Rinpoche \u00b7 In bookstores 18 November 2065<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tmabjs-OshQoc\"] { display: flex; align-items: flex-end; justify-content: space-between; gap: 32px 64px; flex-wrap: wrap; }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"display: flex; align-items: flex-end; justify-content: space-between; gap: 32px 64px; flex-wrap: wrap;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tmabjs-OshQoc\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-HMi1OC\"] { max-width: 560px; margin: 0; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-lead wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"max-width: 560px; margin: 0;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-HMi1OC\">Projection, forgetting and the birth of a point of view \u2014 the first book in English from the tenth incarnation of one of the earliest lamas of Tibet.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-2vE41B\"] { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 16px 18px; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-2vE41B\"] .wp-block-button__link { padding: 16px 30px; border-radius: 999px; font-family: hanken-grotesk, sans-serif; font-weight: 600; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.22em; text-transform: uppercase; border: 1px solid #E3A33B; transition: all .3s ease; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-2vE41B\"] .wp-block-button:first-child .wp-block-button__link { background: #E3A33B; color: #0C0F1C; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-2vE41B\"] .wp-block-button:last-child .wp-block-button__link { background: transparent; color: #F6D58E; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-2vE41B\"] .wp-block-button .wp-block-button__link:hover { background: #F6D58E; color: #0C0F1C; box-shadow: 0 0 40px rgba(246,213,142,.35); }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 16px 18px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-2vE41B\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"#preorder\">Pre-order<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"#opening\">Read the opening<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/section>\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-group mcg-padding-inline-m1 mcg-padding-block-128px mcg-md-padding-block-96px mcg-text-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-tib mcg-color-saffron mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">\u0f04\u0f05<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-quote mcg-color-glow mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cProjection itself<br>was forgetting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">From the opening chapter<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n<section id=\"book\" class=\"wp-block-group mcg-padding-inline-m1 mcg-padding-block-96px is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-JQJuXG\"] { display: grid; grid-template-columns: minmax(0,5fr) minmax(0,6fr); gap: 48px 96px; align-items: center; }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-JQJuXG\"] { grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr); } }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: minmax(0,5fr) minmax(0,6fr); gap: 48px 96px; align-items: center;\" data-md-mcg-custom-styles=\"grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr);\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-JQJuXG\">\n<div class=\"btwb-book\"><div class=\"cover\" style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-cover-art.webp)\"><span class=\"k\">\u0f04\u0f05<\/span><p class=\"t\">Before There<i>Was Before<\/i><\/p><p class=\"a\">Namkha Drim\u00e9 Rinpoche<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-saffron mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">The book<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-7NnEeZ\"] em { color: #F6D58E; }<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-2 mcg-margin-bottom-32px\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-7NnEeZ\">A creation story that ends with a <em>heartbeat.<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-lead mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">Before space, before sequence, before anything had been forced to become one thing instead of another, there was completeness. It did not act. It projected \u2014 and every projection loses something on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-zo9e8G\"] { opacity: .86; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"opacity: .86;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-zo9e8G\">In this quiet, astonishing book, Namkha Drim\u00e9 Rinpoche follows that loss all the way down: through broken symmetries and cooling planets, through the first membranes and nervous systems, to the moment a network folds back on itself deeply enough to have an interior. What we call consciousness, he suggests, is not something the brain manufactures. It is what completeness feels like when forced into a small, self-referring shape \u2014 and forgetting is not a flaw of that shape, but the price of having a point of view at all.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-2AebG9\"] { opacity: .86; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-margin-bottom-48px wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"opacity: .86;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-2AebG9\">Part cosmology, part neuroscience, part meditation manual, it reads like scripture written by someone who has also read the equations.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-VvJ5Or\"] { gap: 24px; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-VvJ5Or\"] > div { border-top: 1px solid rgba(246,213,142,.3); padding-top: 16px; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-VvJ5Or\"] p { margin: 0 0 4px; }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group mcg-display-grid mcg-grid-template-columns-repeat-3-1fr mcg-sm-grid-template-columns-1fr is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"gap: 24px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma56g-VvJ5Or\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 mcg-color-glow wp-block-paragraph\">288 pages<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Hardcover, e-book &amp; audio read by the author<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 mcg-color-glow wp-block-paragraph\">32 languages<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Published worldwide on the same day<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 mcg-color-glow wp-block-paragraph\">18.11.2065<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Snowline Press \u00b7 in bookstores<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section id=\"movements\" class=\"wp-block-group bleed mcg-background-color-deep mcg-padding-inline-m1 mcg-padding-block-128px mcg-md-padding-block-96px is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm1\"] { display: grid; grid-template-columns: minmax(0,5fr) minmax(0,7fr); gap: 48px 96px; }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm1\"] { grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr); } }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: minmax(0,5fr) minmax(0,7fr); gap: 48px 96px;\" data-md-mcg-custom-styles=\"grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr);\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm1\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm2\"] { position: sticky; top: 110px; align-self: start; }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm2\"] { position: static; } }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"position: sticky; top: 110px; align-self: start;\" data-md-mcg-custom-styles=\"position: static;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm2\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-saffron mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">Seven movements<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm3\"] em { color: #F6D58E; }<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-2 mcg-margin-bottom-48px\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm3\">From completeness<br>to <em>a point of view.<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm4\"] { margin: 0; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm4\"] img { width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 4\/5; object-fit: cover; border-radius: 260px 260px 4px 4px; }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm4\"] { max-width: 460px; } }<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"margin: 0;\" data-md-mcg-custom-styles=\"max-width: 460px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm4\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-projection.webp\" alt=\"A luminous golden ring and beam of light projecting onto a dark plane scattered with stars\" class=\"wp-image-321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-projection.webp 960w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-projection-240x300.webp 240w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-projection-819x1024.webp 819w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-projection-768x960.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm5\"] { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 72px minmax(0,1fr); column-gap: 24px; row-gap: 0; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm5\"] p { margin: 0; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm5\"] h3 { margin: 0; padding-top: 28px; border-top: 1px solid rgba(246,213,142,.22); }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm5\"] .mcg-typo-eyebrow { padding-top: 34px; border-top: 1px solid rgba(246,213,142,.22); color: #E3A33B; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm5\"] .mcg-typo-prose { grid-column: 2; padding: 10px 0 34px; font-style: italic; opacity: .78; }\n@container (max-width: 767px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm5\"] { grid-template-columns: 44px minmax(0,1fr); column-gap: 12px; } }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 72px minmax(0,1fr); column-gap: 24px; row-gap: 0;\" data-sm-mcg-custom-styles=\"grid-template-columns: 44px minmax(0,1fr); column-gap: 12px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bm5\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">I<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">Completeness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-prose wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNothing had yet been forced to become one thing instead of another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">II<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">Projection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-prose wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo projection could preserve the whole. In what was lost, universes became possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">III<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">The Shadow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-prose wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA shadow could contain no instrument capable of turning around to inspect what cast it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">IV<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">The Fold<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-prose wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat condition had an interior. From the interior, it felt like something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">V<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">Forgetting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-prose wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere had been no memory to lose. Projection itself was forgetting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">VI<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">Translations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-prose wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe absence of locality became flight. The absence of separation became warmth or embrace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">VII<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">A Point of View<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-prose wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor the first time, the incomplete universe acquired a point of view from which to experience its own incompleteness.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section id=\"opening\" class=\"wp-block-group bleed mcg-background-color-vellum mcg-color-ink mcg-padding-inline-m1 mcg-padding-block-128px mcg-md-padding-block-96px is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bo1\"] { max-width: 720px; margin-inline: auto; }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"max-width: 720px; margin-inline: auto;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bo1\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-maroon mcg-margin-bottom-24px mcg-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Read the opening \u00b7 Chapter One<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-1 mcg-margin-bottom-64px mcg-text-align-center\">Before time<\/h2>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-zmDTt0\"] p { margin: 0 0 1.1em; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-zmDTt0\"] p:first-of-type::first-letter { float: left; font-size: 4.4em; line-height: .82; padding: 6px 12px 0 0; color: #7A1F2B; }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group mcg-typo-prose is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-zmDTt0\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before time, there was no before. There was no space in which anything might be located, and no sequence through which one condition could become another. There were no events, because an event required alternatives to disappear, and nothing disappeared. Every state that could be existed without displacing any other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To call this a field would later be convenient, although the word was wrong. Fields belonged to universes. They extended across dimensions, varied from place to place, and possessed values that could be measured. This had neither position nor extension. It was not everywhere, because everywhere was a property of space, and space had not yet been projected. Nor was it conscious, at least not in any sense that would later be recognized as consciousness. Consciousness required perspective, and perspective required limitation. There was none.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What existed was closer to completeness: not an infinite collection of possibilities, but a condition in which the distinction between possibility and actuality had never arisen. Contradictory states required no reconciliation because contradiction itself depended upon exclusion. Nothing had yet been forced to become one thing instead of another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Completeness, however, possessed a peculiar property. It projected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was no intention behind this. Projection was no more an action than gravity would later be an action. It was simply part of the structure of what was. From something that possessed no ordinary dimension arose structures with fewer degrees of freedom than their source, and those structures were incomplete by necessity. No projection could preserve the whole.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bo3\"] { opacity: .55; -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg,#000,transparent); mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg,#000,transparent); }<\/style>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"opacity: .55; -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg,#000,transparent); mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg,#000,transparent);\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bo3\">In what was lost, universes became possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bo4\"] { margin-top: 48px; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-tib mcg-color-maroon mcg-text-align-center mcg-margin-bottom-16px wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"margin-top: 48px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bo4\">\u0f04\u0f05<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bo5\"] { opacity: .7; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"opacity: .7;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bo5\">The rest of the story continues on 18 November 2065.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section id=\"translations\" class=\"wp-block-group mcg-padding-inline-m1 mcg-padding-block-128px mcg-md-padding-block-96px is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt1\"] { display: grid; grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr) minmax(0,1fr); gap: 24px 96px; align-items: end; margin-bottom: 72px; }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt1\"] { grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr); } }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr) minmax(0,1fr); gap: 24px 96px; align-items: end; margin-bottom: 72px;\" data-md-mcg-custom-styles=\"grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr);\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt1\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-saffron mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">Translations<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt2\"] em { color: #F6D58E; }<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-2\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt2\">The marsh was never<br>a marsh. <em>The river was<br>never a river.<\/em><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt3\"] { opacity: .85; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-lead wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"opacity: .85;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt3\">In meditation, lucid dreams and the edges of sleep and death, people describe light, flight, rivers and marshes. The book reads them not as places, but as a nervous system\u2019s best translations of something it has no categories for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt4\"] { gap: 48px 24px; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt4\"] figure { margin: 0 0 22px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 4px; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt4\"] img { width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 3\/4; object-fit: cover; transition: transform 1.4s cubic-bezier(.2,.7,.2,1), filter 1.4s; filter: saturate(.85); }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt4\"] > div:hover img { transform: scale(1.06); filter: saturate(1.1); }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt4\"] h3 { margin: 0 0 10px; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt4\"] .mcg-typo-eyebrow { color: #E3A33B; margin: 0 0 10px; }\n@container (max-width: 767px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt4\"] img { aspect-ratio: 4\/3; } }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group mcg-display-grid mcg-grid-template-columns-repeat-4-1fr mcg-md-grid-template-columns-repeat-2-1fr mcg-sm-grid-template-columns-1fr is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"gap: 48px 24px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bt4\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-light.webp\" alt=\"A person in white linen resting, embraced by warm golden light from everywhere\" class=\"wp-image-323\" srcset=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-light.webp 1024w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-light-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-light-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-light-768x768.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">No external source<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">Light everywhere at once<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Not light from a lamp or a sun, but luminosity that surrounds, penetrates, embraces \u2014 and feels like recognition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-flight.webp\" alt=\"A small figure in maroon robes flying weightless above snowy Himalayan peaks and clouds\" class=\"wp-image-324\" srcset=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-flight.webp 1024w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-flight-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-flight-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-flight-768x768.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">No locality<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">Flight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">In lucid dreams the body rises without effort. What stays after waking is not exhilaration, but relief: weightlessness felt familiar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-river.webp\" alt=\"A misty river in a Himalayan valley with prayer flags along the bank\" class=\"wp-image-325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-river.webp 1024w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-river-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-river-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-river-768x768.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">No sequence<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">The river<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Near sleep, fever and death, a river appears. It is the oldest image we have for a transition we cannot otherwise picture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-marsh.webp\" alt=\"A vast still marsh at twilight, black water winding through reeds under a pale sky\" class=\"wp-image-326\" srcset=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-marsh.webp 1024w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-marsh-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-marsh-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-marsh-768x768.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">No structure<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-3\">The marsh<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Resistance and sinking: the nervous system\u2019s attempt to depict the loss of structure using structures it already has.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba0\"] { background: radial-gradient(ellipse at 20% 40%, rgba(122,31,43,.55), rgba(12,15,28,0) 60%), #0C0F1C; }<\/style>\n<section id=\"author\" class=\"wp-block-group bleed mcg-padding-inline-m1 mcg-padding-block-128px mcg-md-padding-block-96px is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"background: radial-gradient(ellipse at 20% 40%, rgba(122,31,43,.55), rgba(12,15,28,0) 60%), #0C0F1C;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba0\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba1\"] { display: grid; grid-template-columns: minmax(0,5fr) minmax(0,7fr); gap: 48px 96px; align-items: center; }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba1\"] { grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr); } }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: minmax(0,5fr) minmax(0,7fr); gap: 48px 96px; align-items: center;\" data-md-mcg-custom-styles=\"grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr);\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba1\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba2\"] { margin: 0; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba2\"] img { width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 4\/5; object-fit: cover; border-radius: 4px; box-shadow: 0 40px 80px rgba(0,0,0,.5); }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba2\"] figcaption { font-family: hanken-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: #9AA1B5; margin-top: 12px; }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba2\"] { max-width: 460px; } }<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"margin: 0;\" data-md-mcg-custom-styles=\"max-width: 460px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-author.webp\" alt=\"Portrait of Namkha Drim\u00e9 Rinpoche, an elderly Tibetan monk in round glasses and maroon robes, in a monastery library\" class=\"wp-image-322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-author.webp 960w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-author-240x300.webp 240w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-author-819x1024.webp 819w, https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-author-768x960.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Namkha Drim\u00e9 Rinpoche in the library above Dharamsala.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-saffron mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">The author<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba3\"] em { color: #F6D58E; font-size: .62em; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; }<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-2 mcg-margin-bottom-32px\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba3\">Namkha Drim\u00e9 Rinpoche<br><em>the tenth Stainless Sky<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-lead mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">Recognised at the age of four as the tenth incarnation of Lama Namkha Drim\u00e9 \u2014 \u201cStainless Sky\u201d \u2014 an eighth-century teacher of the Yarlung valley remembered as one of the first lamas of Tibet, he spent twenty years in the debate courtyard before surprising his teachers with a doctorate in theoretical physics.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba4\"] { opacity: .86; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-margin-bottom-48px wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"opacity: .86;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba4\">For three decades he has taught where contemplation meets measurement: to monks about quantum fields, to physicists about attention. He lives in a small hermitage above Dharamsala, writes by hand, and still answers his letters. Before There Was Before is his first book written in English.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba5\"] { font-size: 34px; padding-left: 28px; border-left: 2px solid #E3A33B; }\n@container (max-width: 767px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba5\"] { font-size: 26px; padding-left: 18px; } }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-quote mcg-color-glow wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"font-size: 34px; padding-left: 28px; border-left: 2px solid #E3A33B;\" data-sm-mcg-custom-styles=\"font-size: 26px; padding-left: 18px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"ba5\">\u201cI did not write about where we come from. I wrote about why we cannot remember it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section id=\"tour\" class=\"wp-block-group mcg-padding-inline-m1 mcg-padding-block-128px mcg-md-padding-block-96px is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-saffron mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">Launch evenings \u00b7 November\u2013December 2065<\/p>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bu1\"] em { color: #F6D58E; }<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-2 mcg-margin-bottom-64px\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bu1\">Seven cities,<br><em>one conversation.<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-Ejnj6j\"] { border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(246,213,142,.22); display: grid; grid-template-columns: 180px minmax(0,1fr) minmax(0,1.3fr); align-items: stretch; column-gap: 32px; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-Ejnj6j\"] p { margin: 0; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-Ejnj6j\"] > p { padding: 24px 0; display: flex; align-items: center; border-top: 1px solid rgba(246,213,142,.22); }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-Ejnj6j\"] .mcg-typo-eyebrow { color: #E3A33B; }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-Ejnj6j\"] { grid-template-columns: 120px minmax(0,1fr); } }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-Ejnj6j\"] > .mcg-typo-small { padding: 0 0 22px; border-top: 0; grid-column: 2; } }\n@container (max-width: 767px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-Ejnj6j\"] { grid-template-columns: 84px minmax(0,1fr); column-gap: 14px; } }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(246,213,142,.22); display: grid; grid-template-columns: 180px minmax(0,1fr) minmax(0,1.3fr); align-items: stretch; column-gap: 32px;\" data-md-mcg-custom-styles=\"grid-template-columns: 120px minmax(0,1fr);\" data-sm-mcg-custom-styles=\"grid-template-columns: 84px minmax(0,1fr); column-gap: 14px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"mcgcs-tma5bo-Ejnj6j\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">18 Nov<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 wp-block-paragraph\">Kathmandu<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Release day \u00b7 reading and evening meditation at Boudhanath<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">21 Nov<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 wp-block-paragraph\">Dharamsala<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">A morning of debate with the monastery\u2019s young monks<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">26 Nov<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 wp-block-paragraph\">Z\u00fcrich<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">In conversation with a panel of physicists \u2014 \u201cWhat survives the projection?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">29 Nov<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 wp-block-paragraph\">London<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Reading and signing<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">3 Dec<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 wp-block-paragraph\">New York<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Neuroscience and the interior \u2014 a public dialogue<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">7 Dec<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 wp-block-paragraph\">Tokyo<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Reading with live Japanese translation<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow wp-block-paragraph\">11 Dec<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-3 wp-block-paragraph\">S\u00e3o Paulo<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Closing evening \u00b7 lucid dreaming and the self<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bu3\"] { margin-top: 24px; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"margin-top: 24px;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bu3\">Venues and tickets are announced one month before each evening.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp0\"] { width: 100vw; margin-inline: calc(50% - 50vw); position: relative; padding: 34vw var(--m1) 120px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(12,15,28,0) 0%, rgba(12,15,28,.2) 35%, #0C0F1C 72%), url(https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-heartbeat.webp) center top \/ 100% auto no-repeat, #0C0F1C; }\n@container (max-width: 767px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp0\"] { padding: 48vw 22px 80px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(12,15,28,0) 0%, rgba(12,15,28,.2) 25%, #0C0F1C 50%), url(https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-heartbeat.webp) center top \/ 160% auto no-repeat, #0C0F1C; } }<\/style>\n<section id=\"preorder\" class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"width: 100vw; margin-inline: calc(50% - 50vw); position: relative; padding: 34vw var(--m1) 120px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(12,15,28,0) 0%, rgba(12,15,28,.2) 35%, #0C0F1C 72%), url(https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-heartbeat.webp) center top \/ 100% auto no-repeat, #0C0F1C;\" data-sm-mcg-custom-styles=\"padding: 48vw 22px 80px; background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(12,15,28,0) 0%, rgba(12,15,28,.2) 25%, #0C0F1C 50%), url(https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/btwb-heartbeat.webp) center top \/ 160% auto no-repeat, #0C0F1C;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp0\"><style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp1\"] { max-width: 900px; margin: 0 auto 96px; text-shadow: 0 2px 30px rgba(12,15,28,.8); }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp1\"] em { color: #F6D58E; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-quote mcg-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"max-width: 900px; margin: 0 auto 96px; text-shadow: 0 2px 30px rgba(12,15,28,.8);\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp1\">There was warmth and pressure. There was no word for either.<br><em>Beyond the new boundary, impossibly close, another heart was beating.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-saffron mcg-text-align-center mcg-margin-bottom-24px wp-block-paragraph\">Pre-order<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mcg-typo-h-2 mcg-text-align-center mcg-margin-bottom-64px\">In bookstores 18 November 2065<\/h2>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp2\"] { gap: 24px; max-width: 1040px; margin-inline: auto; text-align: center; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp2\"] > div { border: 1px solid rgba(246,213,142,.28); border-radius: 4px; padding: 40px 28px; background: rgba(19,23,42,.7); transition: border-color .4s, box-shadow .4s; }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp2\"] > div:hover { border-color: #E3A33B; box-shadow: 0 0 60px rgba(227,163,59,.18); }\n[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp2\"] p { margin: 0 0 8px; }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp2\"] { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, minmax(0,1fr)); } }\n@container (max-width: 1023px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp2\"] > div { padding: 32px 18px; } }\n@container (max-width: 767px) { [data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp2\"] { grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr); } }<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group mcg-display-grid mcg-grid-template-columns-repeat-3-1fr mcg-sm-grid-template-columns-1fr is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"gap: 24px; max-width: 1040px; margin-inline: auto; text-align: center;\" data-md-mcg-custom-styles=\"grid-template-columns: repeat(3, minmax(0,1fr));\" data-sm-mcg-custom-styles=\"grid-template-columns: minmax(0,1fr);\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp2\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-saffron wp-block-paragraph\">Hardcover<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-1 wp-block-paragraph\">\u20ac34<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">288 pages, cloth-bound, gold-foil cover<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-saffron wp-block-paragraph\">Audiobook<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-1 wp-block-paragraph\">\u20ac24<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">Read by the author \u00b7 9 h 40 min<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-eyebrow mcg-color-saffron wp-block-paragraph\">E-book<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-h-1 wp-block-paragraph\">\u20ac18<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-small mcg-color-mist wp-block-paragraph\">In 32 languages on release day<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<style>[data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp3\"] { margin-top: 48px; opacity: .85; }<\/style>\n<p class=\"mcg-typo-lead mcg-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" data-default-mcg-custom-styles=\"margin-top: 48px; opacity: .85;\" data-mcg-custom-style-id=\"bp3\">Ask for it at your local bookstore, or pre-order wherever books are sold.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before ThereWas Before A new book by Namkha Drim\u00e9 Rinpoche \u00b7 In bookstores 18 November 2065 Projection, forgetting and the birth of a point of view \u2014 the first book in English from the tenth incarnation of one of the earliest lamas of Tibet. \u0f04\u0f05 \u201cProjection itselfwas forgetting.\u201d From the opening chapter \u0f04\u0f05 Before ThereWas [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-329","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353,"href":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329\/revisions\/353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testdrive.vonblock.com\/before-there-was-before\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}