R.U.'s Guide To Faulty CA Gurus

File under: Gurubusting

When we first moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1988, we came across a magazine called Reality Hackers that was everything this little psychedelic-cyber-fetish-transpersonal-techno-tagger-skater punk-yoga-geek could want in a lifestyle guide. Soon to be re-christened as Mondo 2000, this rag basically launched the whole cyber-culture phenomenon from a very strange house up on the hill in Berkeley, California. Leading the way was its editor and [now] our friend, R.U. Sirius.

We were more than happy to help R.U. compile a list of weird guru cults in California for the webzine 10 Zen Monkeys. We suggest all our readers take his advice for those who feel drawn to the Adi Das and Krackis of the world:

As someone who socializes at times on the periphery of “new age” circles, it is my personal observation that most spiritual seekers stopped giving themselves up to charismatic leaders and gurus by the end of the 1980s. But it is clear that there are still enough lost souls out there to fulfill the financial needs and psychopathic fantasies of cult leaders for years to come. My advice: If you feel a need to be part of a group, join a bowling league.