Project Gutenberg Edition of Take Me for a Ride: Coming of Age in a Destructive Cult
This is Mark Laxer's excellent and incredibly accurate (from what I know) story about his involvement with Rama.
This is really great stuff and a great read and I highly recommend it, even if you don't care much about cults.
Everyone is looking for leadership from somewhere - from a boss, a friend, a minister, a sacred book, or whatever, and it's a big disappointment when that person or inspirational thing lets you down. As a result, of course, many people go into denial, and just ignore the little things that are starting to indicate that their spiritual (or business) guide isn't all he or she is supposed to be.
Mark, who was "in tight" with Rama from the early days, did pay attention to the warning signs, and was able to move on and grow from his experiences.
We should all be so lucky.
Well, I care about cults, and I care about religions, and I care about the ways in which the former evolves (sometimes into the latter). Thanks, Stephen, for mentioning my book; the idea of putting Ride on Project Gutenberg was to encourage folks to take rides of their own but to also provide a roadmap, so to speak, of what could happen if the journey goes awry. Am five years into second book, with a different take on "the path"--stay tuned. -mark
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