Mick Brown - The Spiritual Tourist

Firstly, I owe thanks to all those who agreed to be interviewed, and who helped, sometimes unknowingly, in the course of the numerous journeys undertaken to write this book.

I am particularly indebted to the following, for their help, encouragement and friendship: Joan Anderson, Rosie Boycott, Martin Buckley, Tony Budell, Mike Bygrave, Robert Chalmers, Will Ellsworth-Jones, Mary Finnegan, Simon Freeman, Stephen Harris, Peter Heehs, Nigel Horne, Peter Kedge, Peggy Mason, Patricia Pitchon, Sarah Stewart-Smith, Claire Scobie, Jaslie and Jetty Singh, Andrew Stalbow, Alex Swindell, Steve Turner and Michael Watts. A large, cold beer to Peter Bialobrzeski for being such a good friend on the road in India.

Lillian Storey of the Theosophical Society in London kindly smoothed my path to the TS headquarters in Madras, and I am grateful to Leslie Price, founder of the Theosophical History Society in London, and Jean Overton-Fuller for their invaluable advice, and correction, on the subject of Madame Blavatsky. Stephen Batchelors book, The Awakening of the West , was particularly helpful in tracing the introduction of Tibetan Buddhist teachings to the West.

I am deeply indebted to Emma Soames, the editor of the Telegraph magazine, for all her support, to my agent Caroline Dawnay, and to Mary Tomlinson for her patient and meticulous copy-editing. I owe special thanks to my editor Liz Calder, and to Ruth Logan, for their belief and encouragement.

Finally, I owe everything to my wife Patricia, and my children Celeste, Dominic and Clementine.

MICK BROWN is a freelance journalist and broadcaster who has written extensively on pop music and culture for a wide variety of British and American publications. He is currently senior writer on the Telegraph magazine. He is the author of several books, including: Richard Branson: The Authorised Biography , Heartbeat: Travels from Woodstock to San Jose by Song Title (shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Prize for best travel book in 1994), Bloomsbury Movie Guide to Performance , The Dance of 17 Lives: The Incredible True Story of Tibet's 17th Karmapa and Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise And Fall of Phil Spector.

Adilakshmi, The Mother (Dornburg-Thalheim, Mother Meera, 1995)

Aurobindo, Sri, The Mother (Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo Society)

Batchelor, Stephen, The Awakening of the West (Berkeley, California, Parallax Press, 1994)

Bailey, Alice, The Unfinished Autobiography (New York, Lucis Publishing, 1951)

Beyerstein, Dale, Sai Babas Miracles: An Overview (British Columbia Skeptics, Internet document)

Blavatsky, Madame Helena, The Secret Doctrine (London, Theosophical Publishing Co., 1888)

Bradley, Ian, ed., The Penguin Book of Hymns (London, Viking, 1989)

Butterfield, Stephen, The Double Mirror (Berkeley, California, North Atlantic Books, 1994)

Caldwell, Daniel, K. Paul Johnsons House of Cards (Tucson, privately published, 1986)

Cooper, John, Did Madame Blavatsky Predict a World Teacher? (Sydney, discussion document)

Connolly, Cyril, Palinurus The Unquiet Grave (London, Horizon, 1947)

Cranston, Sylvia, The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky: Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement (New York, Tarcher/Putnam, 1993)

Creme, Benjamin, The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom (London, Tara Press, 1980)

Feuerstein, Georg, Holy Madness (London, Arkana Books, 1992)

H.H. Dalai Lama, Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart (London, Thorsons, 1997)

H.H. Dalai Lama, Freedom in Exile (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1990)

Dowman, Keith, The Sacred Life of Tibet (London, Thorsons, 1997)

Harvey, Andrew, The Return of the Mother (Berkeley, California, Frog, 1995)

Harvey, Andrew, Hidden Journey: A Spiritual Awakening (London, Bloomsbury, 1991)

Huxley, Aldous, The Perennial Philosophy (London, Chatto & Windus, 1946)

Huxley, Aldous, The Doors of Perception (London, Chatto & Windus, 1954)

Gardner, E.L., There Is No Religion Higher Than Truth: Developments in the Theosophical Society (London, Theosophical Publishing House, 1963)

Greenfield, Robert, The Spiritual Supermarket (New York, Saturday Press, 1975)

Griffiths, Bede, Universal Wisdom (London, HarperCollins, 1994)

Godwin, Jocelyn, The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor (New York, Weiser, 1996)

Johnsen, Linda, Daughters of the Goddess: The Women Saints of India (St Paul, Minnesota, Yes International Publishers, 1994)

Johnson, K. Paul, The Masters Revealed: Madame Blavatsky and the Myth of the Great White Lodge (New York, State University of New York Press, 1994)

Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, April 1986 , London

Indian Chelas on the Masters (Adyar, Adyar Lodge, The Theosophical Society, 1992)

Kasturi, Professor N., Sathyam Sivam Sundaram, Vols 14 (Prasanthi Nilayam, Anantapur Distr. India, Sri Sathya Sai Books)

Krishnamurti, J., The Penguin Krishnamurti Reader (London, Penguin, 1970)

Krishnamurti, J., The Urgency of Change (London, Victor Gollancz, 1971)

Krishnamurti, J., Talks with American Students (Boston, Shambhala, 1988)

Lutyens, Mary, Krishnamurti, The Years of Awakening (London, John Murray, 1975)

Lutyens, Mary, Krishnamurti: The Years of Fulfilment (New York, Avon, 1984)

Mackenzie, Vicki, Reincarnation (London, Bloomsbury, 1988)

Mason, Paul, The Maharishi: The Biography of the Man who gave Transcendental Meditation to the West (Shaftesbury, Dorset, Element Books, 1994)

Mason, Peggy & Ron Laing, Sai Baba: The Embodiment of Love (Bath, Gateway Books, 1993)

Mazzoleni, Don Mario, A Catholic Priest Meets Sai Baba (Andhra Pradesh, India, Sri Sathya Sai Books, 1993)

McDermott, Robert, ed., The Essential Aurobindo (Hudson, N.Y., Lindisfarne Press, 1987)

Mother Meera, Answers (London, Rider, 1991)

Murphet, Howard, Sai Baba: Man of Miracles (London, Frederick Muller, 1971)

Murphet, Howard, Sai Baba: Invitation to Glory (Delhi, Macmillan India, 1982)

Osho, My Way: The Way of the White Clouds (Shaftesbury, Dorset, Element, 1995)

Phipps, Peter, Sathya Sai Baba and Jesus Christ: A Gospel for the Golden Age (New Zealand, Sathya Sai Publications of New Zealand, 1994)

Pessoa, Fernando, The Book of Disquiet (London, Serpents Tail, 1991)

Purani, A.B., The Life of Sri Aurobindo (Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1958)

Rajagopal Sloss, Radha, Lives in the Shadow with J. Krishnamurti (London, Bloomsbury, 1991)

Ram Dass, Be Here Now (San Cristobal, New Mexico, Lama Foundation, 1971)

Rinpoche, Sogyal, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (London, Rider, 1992)

Ruhela, S.P., The Sai Trinity (New Delhi, Vikas, 1994)

Sadleir, Steven, The Spiritual Seekers Guide (Costa Mesa, Allwon, 1992)

Stevens, Jay, Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream (London, Heinemann, 1988)

Storr, Anthony, Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus (London, HarperCollins, 1996)

Sumedho, Ajahn, The Mind and the Way: Buddhist Reflections on Life (Boston, Wisdom Publications, 1995)

Tillett, Gregory, The Elder Brother: A Biography of Charles Webster Leadbeater (London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982)

The Theosophist, May 1995 , Adyar

Theosophical History, April 1988 , London

Theosophical History, April 1989 , London

Theosophical History, July 1995 , California

Trungpa, Chogyam, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (Berkeley, California, Shambhala, 1973)

Washington, Peter, Madame Blavatskys Baboon (London, Secker & Warburg, 1993)

Watts, Alan, In My Own Way (London, Jonathan Cape, 1973)

Wilfried, The Mother: A Short Biography (Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo Society, 1986)

Yogananda, Paramahansa, Autobiography of a Yogi (London, Rider, 1969)

Richard Branson: The Authorised Biography

American Heartbeat: Travels from Woodstock to San Jose by Song Title