--Contact author through mark.laxer profile facebook page --Follow author on facebook through thetravelerscircle or themonkeybible or vEcotourism --For physical copies of books, search your online bookseller or check with your local librarian Grateful acknowledgment is made to Simon & Schuster, Inc., for permission to reprint an excerpt from Gandhi: A Memoir by William Shirer. Copyright (c) 1979 by William Shirer. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-085777 ISBN 0-9638108-3-9 Initially printed and posted in the United States of America To Patsy Sims--inspired teacher, intriguing storyteller, intrepid journalist. Author's Note Names in the following story have been changed, except for those already mentioned in the press. Contents 1. Bicycle Ride--Walden 2. Zapped! 3. The Joining 4. The Community 5. Bicycle Ride--Lenox 6. The Garden 7. Money Mantra 8. Fast Leader 9. Off The Map 10. Bicycle Ride--Utica 11. Displaced 12. Thwarted Escape 13. Breakdown 14. Bicycle Ride--St. Ignes 15. The Enchanted Taco 16. Ride To Heaven 17. On High 18. Where's My Tribe? 19. I'm Okay 20. The Last Supper 21. Bicycle Ride--The Continental Divide Epilogue Appendix A: Excerpts From WOOF! Appendix B: Excerpts From "Welcome To Lakshmi" Appendix C: Excerpts From "Sophisticated Sexuality" Appendix D: Excerpts From Rama's Ads and Brochures 1. Bicycle Ride--Walden After I left Rama's inner circle in 1985, I occasionally bicycled to Walden Pond, where I read about Thoreau's experiment with self-reliance. My seven years in the cult of Rama--Dr. Frederick Lenz, who was known early on as Atmananda--had deeply shaken my confidence. Atmananda often assured me that I was possessed by Negative Forces, that I was barely able to function in the real world, and that I was fortunate he did not drop me off at a mental institution. I met him in 1978, when I was seventeen. Thoreau helped me recall a time, before Atmananda, when I was strong and self-reliant. I had been an avid cyclist. Pedaling thousands of miles each year helped strengthen both my legs and self-esteem. Throughout my teenage years bicycling and self-confidence were inextricably linked, and I grew to believe I could ride anywhere, under any conditions. I tried to approach life with a similar gusto, which may explain why, in 1979, Atmananda invited me to move with him to southern California to start a spiritual centre. From 1979 to 1981, I lived with him by the cliffs of La Jolla where I witnessed his rise to power. Today, in 1993, he controls the minds of several hundred computer consultants, businessmen, doctors, and lawyers. Each year he extracts from them roughly ten million dollars.