I rounded the corner of the hallway, I saw the meditation room´s wooden doors yawning open like a hungry mouth. I was about to enter when, in my peripheral vision I noticed movement: someone else was rapidly approaching from the opposite direction of the main dormitories, towards the private rooms shared by Wilson and other members of the gurus´ inner circle. Within moments, I saw that it was Heidi, another “seeker” like me, but one whom I had fantasized about since the first day I had seen her.
In her early thirties, she had worked in some sort of corporate job in Cincinnati before learning about Ravi and Ruhika through one of their infamous YouTube videos; they have since been taken down from the internet for being too explicit, but apparently the gurus demonstrated their techniques for individuals, couples, and groups. Whatever was on those videos, it caught Heidi´s attention. Shortly after trying out some of the techniques (by herself? With someone else? With a group of people?) Heidi quit her job, sold all of her belongings, and hitchhiked all the way to Hridaya in the hopes of finding “real peace”. Ravi and Ruhika welcomed her into their fold with open arms, and she was often cited as an example of devotion to the movement. While still relatively new to the community, Heidi possessed the tireless enthusiasm of the newly converted, a quality that to my mind bordered on the fanatical.
7233 words (MF, FF, MM, group)
Cover art by Ariadna Rodriguez BarclayIG: @chippiedraws