The book is divided into four sections:

• Journey: The Transformation: Dr. Richard Alpert, Ph.D., into Baba Ram Dass
• From Bindu to Ojas: The Core Book
• Cookbook for a Sacred Life: A Manual for Conscious Being
• Painted Cakes (Do Not Satisfy Hunger): Books

The first section is a short autobiography, describing Alpert's successes as a psychologist, his research with Timothy Leary into psychedelics at Harvard, and his subsequent anxiety when this research did not resolve his spiritual questions. He then describes his first journey to India and his initiation into a Guru-chela relationship with Neem Karoli Baba, and spiritual renaming as "Baba Ram Dass" ("servant of Râm", or "servant of god"). Ram Dass closes the first section of the book with this passage:

Now, though I am a beginner on the path, I have returned to the West for a time to work out karma or unfulfilled commitment. Part of this commitment is to share what I have learned with those of you who are on a similar journey. One can share a message through telling "our-story" as I have just done, or through the teaching methods of yoga, or singing, or making love. Each of us finds his unique vehicle for sharing with others his bit of wisdom. For me, this story is but a vehicle for sharing with you the true message ... the living faith in what is possible. --OM--^[9]

The second section, the largest, is a free-form collection of metaphysical, spiritual, and religious reflections accompanied by illustrations. The narrative flow, in the form of a continuous free-verse poem, addresses the reader directly, with Dass's insights gained through different spiritual traditions.

The third section is a manual for starting on a spiritual path, and includes various techniques for yoga, pranayama, and meditation, as well as quotations from respected teachers of many spiritual traditions.

The last section, "Painted Cakes Do Not Satisfy Hunger" (a Zen commentary on liturgy), contains a list of recommended books on religion, spirituality, and consciousness. The book lists are divided into "Books to hang out with", "Books to visit with now & then", and "Books it's useful to have met".