He shrugged again. We had been through this conversation before. I wanted to teach Frank that he was like a sitting duck, that he could protect himself, that he could change--suddenly I froze. I remembered that Atmananda had taught us that we were like sitting ducks, that we could protect ourselves, that we could change... 6. The Garden Southern Californians have been exposed to more New Age teachers than perhaps any population in the United States. Yet the forty or so people seemed unprepared for Atmananda, who strode into the lecture hall twenty minutes late, with a can of diet soda in one hand and a pack of green gum in the other. I assumed that many of the Birkenstock-clad seekers drank natural fruit juice and did not chew gum. "This evening I'd like for you all to hold hands and be like reeeally mellowwww," said Atmananda, mimicking the way some people spoke in San Diego's flourishing holistic community. There was tense laughter. A few people left. "Those who take themselves too seriously on the path to enlightenment," Atmananda said in a more dignified tone, "tend not to get very far." I felt good knowing that I did not take myself too seriously. "From the spiritual point of view," he said later on, "eating junk food is fine--as long as you do so in moderation and as long as you exercise regularly." Jaws dropped. I figured that many of them ate unprocessed rice and seaweed. When the meditation began, Atmananda played fast-paced electronic music by Tangerine Dream. More jaws dropped. I surmised that many of them meditated to flute and chime melodies. During the meditation, Atmananda briefly gazed at each person in the audience, as if he were sending them Spiritual Light. I closed my eyes...tried to slow my thoughts...opened my eyes... gazed intensely at Atmananda...perceived light emanating from his eyes!...kept gazing without blinking...perceived the entire room go white!.... "How many of you saw Light in the room?" he asked several minutes later. No response. "Be honest now." I raised my hand. "Why don't you describe what you saw, Mark?" I did. "Mark has been studying advanced meditation techniques with us for over a year. But you don't have to be advanced to have mystical experiences. Who--besides Mark--got zapped?" A few raised their hands. "I think you all got so blasted," Atmananda said, "that you don't know what hit you." After the talk, many of the people came forward with questions. I wanted to watch Atmananda work his charm, but I knew that I had a task to perform. Weeks earlier he had instructed me, "If you see a guy at a workshop trying to pick up a lady, move right in and engage him in conversation. This will give her the opportunity to walk away and maintain a high level of consciousness.