A story of Michael as he moves from learning TM (Transcendental Meditation) to being a devotee of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and all the ups and downs in-between. First of all big up Ameet for hooking me up with a pre-publication version. From the first few pages I was already getting some answers to questions that had been brewing and stewing for too long. I could identify with Michael on nearly everything… apart from all that crying. I guess in the presence of Guruji you can help yourself so I’m not judging ;o) I not only identified with his love for writing and spirituality but also acceptance issues with folks and especially the ego. In fact he talks about his ego and insensitivity in the book but while reading it you don’t really need to be told… especially a when it came to talking about other cultures. The Caribbean one took the cake… wont mention what he said but sounded like one person judging a whole nation and their lifestyle.

The book takes you on so many journeys and I couldn’t tell if I could identify more because I’m in Art of Living so I’ll skip the obvious AOL bits. I can’t believe how fortunate this guy is as he was there as a pioneer with Guruji spreading the knowledge and techniques. He got to meet some amazing people on the way and have experiences of hanging in there no matter what health or emotional issues come up to falling in love and not getting the girl. It was like an AOL version of Karate Kid. Oh and the miracles… he mentions seeing blue light coming out of Guruji’s hands and nostrils. See these were bits I didn’t get… for his personal issues he’d write paragraphs about but something like seeing the light… I wanted to know more about that. But yeah… lots of healings with the techniques or with Guruji tapping roses on people. One new thing I learnt was that if you have violence in the ashram they have to do some yagya thing called Rudram Abhishekam to clean the area codes from violence. I’d say the book started out great and then when down mostly because I’ve already heard stories like these from other devotees, disciples… and Guruji fanatics that I like to call ‘gurupies’ (mix of groupies and gopis). Big up Michael though for sharing experiences a devotee would die for and Ameet again for hooking me up just when I needed it.

Contents
– Prologue

– Part One
1: The Disappearance of Faith
2: The White Album
3: A Taste of India
4: The Dharma Hunter

– Part Two
5: When the Student Is Ready…
6: Journey Into Stillness
7: The Alchemy of Doubt
8: Sitting Close
9: First AIDS Course
10: Teacher Training
11: Surrender & Samadhi
12: The Diamond Cutter
13: Siddha, Buddha & the Amazing Tiger Swami
14: The Heart of Desire
15: A Fight at the Ashram

– Part Three
16: The Caribbean King
17: Coming Home
18: The Way of Grace

– Epilogue
– Acknowledgements
– Further Exploration