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Laxer, Mark Eliot

"Take Me for a Ride: coming of age in a destructive cult"

And he persuaded thousands in the two
years since the Stelazine experiment that he was a living legend,
a rare presence, and a direct line to God.
"We normally meditate on our own for forty minutes in the morning,
fifteen minutes at noon, and fifty minutes in the evening.
Once a week we meditate with Rama at a Centre meeting.
Sometimes we'll attend a public lecture or a field trip to the desert.
Sometimes we'll help out on a project like office work or postering.
But that's pretty much it. Basically, we're just a group of healthy
individuals who happen to meditate. It's not like we live in an ashram
or anything." I did not mention that Rama had been initiating disciples
with names--Prema, Hanuman, Arjuna--taken from Hindu mythology.
Nor did I mention that Rama had been teaching us to flip between
various "caretaker personalities." He taught, for instance,
that within the hostile environment of the "outside world"
we should adopt the shrewd powerful personality of a warrior,
whereas within the safe environment of a Centre meeting we
should adopt the gentle, trusting personality of a child.
Nor did I mention the details of Rama's spiritual etiquette, some of
which he described in his tape, "Welcome To Lakshmi" (see Appendix B).


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