Holy Madness

This book explores the religious phenomenon referred to as crazy wisdom - the purposefully outrageous, convention destroying behaviour of spiritual adepts in every great tradition, from Christian Fools for Christ through the Sufi Path of Blame, to the charismatic leaders of new religions. The author explores the core of the spiritual process through eight critical in-depth cameos of holy madness in action in the lives of eight contemporaries, including Chgyam Trungpa, Bhagwan Rajneesh and Aleister Crowley. This revised and expanded edition includes a new assessment of the American guru Adi Da (formerly Da Free John) and the psychopathology of blind faith, using the example of Shoko Asahara (founder of Japan's infamous terrorist sect AUM). The author offers guidelines for choosing a wise, enlightened guide or guru, and tips for avoiding the exploitative.