The Guru’s Touch by Robert G Schneider

A coming of age novel about blind faith, spiritual betrayal, and abuse of power.

In the heyday of the New Age movement, after the deaths of both his parents, troubled college dropout Doug Greenbaum seeks the meaning of life at the feet of charismatic Indian meditation master Swami Rudrananda. With just one touch, his followers say, Rudrananda has the power to awaken a spiritual force within his devotees known as kundalini, and can guide them all the way to enlightenment. But as Doug travels with the swami's entourage to India and back during the early 1980s, he discovers that life at the ashram contradicts his preconceived ideas about spirituality. VIPs get special treatment, and the higher-ups live in luxury, dress in designer clothes, use foul language, and never meditate. The guru’s core disciples appear certifiably nuts, but have one thing in common: a fanatical and unwavering devotion to Rudrananda, whom they call “Baba,” or father. The cult will stop at nothing to protect his shocking secret.

With a rickety roller-coaster ride of a journey, and a cast of unforgettable characters, including the beautiful American girl Doug falls hopelessly in love with and idealizes as “the Angel,” The Guru’s Touch will beguile, thrill, horrify, and leave you wanting more.