84.
"Bye, Rama, see you next time."

Months later, Donald's father called me. "Do you have a few minutes?"
he asked. I knew that Rama would not want me to talk with Mr. Kohl.
But I was shocked by the image of blood spurting from Donald's wrists.

"I have time," I said. "I'm sorry about your son."

Mr. Kohl asked about Rama and the organization.

"I know what you're thinking," I said. "But Donald was not involved in
a cult. We're not like that. Rama teaches us to accept or reject his
recommendations based on our own perceptions. He teaches us that he's
no more important than anyone else." I did not mention that Rama had
distributed to each devotee a larger-than-life poster of his face.

"Rama asks that we help cover the cost of room rentals and things like
that. But we're in charge of our own money." I did not tell him that
Rama actively sought gift money to supplement the skyrocketing
"tuition." Nor did I tell him that Rama worshipped and had named the
organization "Lakshmi," the Hindu goddess of beauty and prosperity.

"Our goal is to teach people to meditate." I did not mention Rama's
stated interest in finding students from his past lives, filling
stadiums, and starting a world religion. Nor did I mention that Rama
actively pursued these interests. He payed many thousands of dollars,
for instance, for promotional photographs featuring a back-lit aura.
He shifted his advertising copy and name to reflect a growing sentiment
that gurus were out while Zen masters were in (he called himself "Zen
Master Rama"). 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
environm