\u201cStop calling it a cult, mum! And stop calling me Beverley, I\u2019m Vasanthi now\u201d. Vasanthi didn\u2019t like the defensiveness she heard in her voice as it rose to a squeak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh darling, I wish you\u2019d just come home. You\u2019ve had your fun now. I do get it\u2026 I had my spiritual awakening in Tibet when I was your age\u2026\u201d Vasanthi rolled her eyes as her mother continually<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026 and I adored<\/em> that time, but I came to my senses and I came home. Manchester University rang to confirm they\u2019d hold your place in Computer \u2026. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Vasanthi slammed down the dusty black phone receiver. The community\u2019s single point of contact with the non-enlightened world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She began to reflect on what a good life she had created. From the moment Vasanthi walked the Celestial Life Caf\u00e9 for a mango lassi, the good vibes beckoned. Permanently smiling staff embodied the caf\u00e9 slogans to \u2018release your cosmic energy\u2019. Many a visit for a chat and a sticky sweet (and ok, the odd joint), convinced Vasanthi to experience the cosmic path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Six months into celestial living and she could hardly remember her unenlightened name let alone her family or address. I have no need to go home now<\/em>, thought Vasanthi, whilst simultaneously remembering she had given up any means to leave \u2013 her passport and money \u2013 as a commitment gesture. But that was hardly the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her dhal and rice diet meant Vasanthi easily lost the stubborn weight she had always wanted rid of \u2013 \u2018cosmic baggage\u2019 her yoga teacher called it. She also noticed that her diminishing food portions coincided with the appearance of cracked fingernails, jutting collarbones and an increasing lethargy. But that spaced out feeling facilitated Vasanthi\u2019s access to her higher mind. The odd fainting spell was just part of the enlightened life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doing daily chores in the meditative style helped Vasanthi from ruminating over the steady stream of unreliable boyfriends she had collected at university and on her travels. Now she was free to love everyone. On a spiritual level, this happened daily through community chanting and recruiting travellers from the caf\u00e9. On a physical level, well, the Friday night love ins were\u2026 intense. Mushroom tea, interlocking bodies and coconut oil led to some \u2018high\u2019 highs and desperate lows. Guru Veda reminded devotees that such lows signified a lack of celestial enlightenment, which would improve with guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gently swaying in the dusky breeze, Vasanthi felt a firm tap on her shoulder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGuru V would like to see in his private quarters\u201d, reported Sachin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vasanthi felt an imaginary stone drop in her stomach. Her eyes glazed as she turned to face the beach. The fiery crimson sun melted into the horizon as Vasanthi walked trancelike into the warm sea. As her head sunk below the surface, her sari gently wrapped around her neck. Her eyes opened to a show of azure fireworks in slow and slower motion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cStop calling it a cult, mum! And stop calling me Beverley, I\u2019m Vasanthi now\u201d. Vasanthi didn\u2019t like the defensiveness she heard in her voice as it rose to a squeak. \u201cOh darling, I wish you\u2019d just come home. You\u2019ve had your fun now. I do get it\u2026 I had my spiritual awakening in Tibet when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1490,1729],"tags":[114,1741,1739,1740,95,7,288,145,345,816,14,152,1738,11,72],"class_list":["post-2540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1490","category-good-life","tag-but","tag-calling","tag-celestial","tag-cosmic","tag-had","tag-her","tag-home","tag-just","tag-life","tag-now","tag-she","tag-stop","tag-vasanthi","tag-was","tag-your"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbrNJE-EY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2541,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540\/revisions\/2541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}