Enlightenment for Idiots: A Novel

Front Cover
Crown, Jul 7, 2009 - Fiction - 384 pages
A yoga teacher finds new life in India–just not the one she was expecting.

Nearing thirty, Amanda thought she’d be someone else by now. Instead, she’s an ex-nanny yogini-wannabe who cranks out “For Idiots” travel guides. True, she has a sexy photographer boyfriend, but he’s usually off shooting a dogsled race in Alaska or a vision quest in Peru—or just hooking up with other girls. However, she’s sure her new assignment to the ashrams of India will change everything.

What she finds, though, is an ashram run by investment bankers, a model-obsessed guru, tantra parties, and silent retreats. India, it turns out, is not the spiritual refuge she’d pictured. But she finds a friend in Devi Das, a redheaded sadhu who refers to himself as “we.” And when a holy lunatic on the street offers her an enigmatic blessing, Amanda realizes a new life may be in store for her—just not the one she was expecting.

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About the author (2009)

Anne Cushman is the director of the Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in northern California, and teaches regular retreats and courses. Previously a contributing editor to both Yoga Journal and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, she is the coauthor of From Here to Nirvana: The Yoga Journal Guide to Spiritual India.

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