In 1973, Mary Garden abandoned a promising academic career to spend seven years in India at the feet of such gurus as Rajneesh, Sathya Sai Baba and an enigmatic yogi in the Himalayan jungle – Swami Balyogi Premvarni. The Serpent Rising is her own story of the heaven and hell she experienced as she fell under the spell of self-appointed ‘god-men’.What was thought to be a passing fad of the 1960s and 1970s has not disappeared. People still surrender their minds and bodies to gurus and yoga teachers, even those who have been exposed as frauds, charlatans and abusers.
The #MeToo movement has exposed countless men guilty of sexual harassment and assault. Now #MeToo is shaking the yoga world and gurus who claim to be enlightened, but who are in fact sexual predators. Recent documentaries Wild Wild Country (Rajneesh/Osho), Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator (Bikram Choudhury) and The Vow (NXIVM/Keith Ranierre) have shone a light on these sex cults.
