s the pride with
which he questioned authority, contributed to his standing in the
Centre as a less-than-model disciple. "I'm glad that you are friendly
with Mike," Rama once told me. "But you should understand that he's
not really into our program. I can see that he's in it for himself."

I missed Tom, the bass-guitar-playing disciple from Stony Brook whom
Rama had put in charge of security. (Rama, based on fears that his
psychic vision excluded those who wanted to shoot him, had assembled a
team of volunteer disciples and professional security guards.) Tom, one
of Rama's closest disciples, was the first high-profile follower to
leave the Centre. He left largely as a result of the "Omelet Incident."

The "Incident" occurred in Rama's kitchen in Malibu. Rama sat with Tom
and Fran, a tall, young UCSD recruit with a long, powerful stride and a
glint of the wild in her eye. Rama liked to say that Fran had spent
past lives in Africa as a hunter, and that she was one of two disciples
with the potential of attaining enlightenment in this life (I was the
other). At around 2:30 a.m., Rama asked Fran to cook him an omelet.
Perhaps she was tired from having accompanied Rama and Tom that night
to the San Francisco Centre meeting. She burned the eggs.

"You are in a lousy consciousness," Rama accused her, stewing over the
omelet. "Your level of spirituality has been plummeting!" Then he
continued to lambast her.

Tom was struck by the contrast between Rama's lofty language onstage
and his crass behavior at home. After mulling over the double standard
for several days, he sent Rama a note that he was leaving the Centre.
Rama called him and shouted at him for roughly twenty minutes. Rama
told him that he was a low life and that he was blowing it for future
lives. Despite Rama's warning, Tom left his apartment and prepared to
move back to the east coast. A day or two later, Dana told me that
Rama wanted me to track Tom down and have him call the Centre. When I
succeeded at my "Warrior's task," Tom spoke with a very different Rama.

"Don't worry about all the negative karma," Rama assured him. "I'll
absorb it for you." Rama also told him that he was not really leaving
so much as he was being kicked out. But I did not yet know the details
of Tom's sudden departure as I sat in rush hour traffic in Concord,
Massachusetts, feeling dejected and lonely.

I missed Fran. I missed Kate and Pat, each of whom I had gone out