<p>Peter Macdonald Blachly takes us on a unique adventure, documenting the seventeen years he spent in a spiritual cult, while providing candid insights into the circumstances and conditions that set him up for manipulation by a charismatic and malevolent narcissist posing as a spiritual teacher. He provides a colorful and spellbinding description of adventures in India where he travels extensively with a group of fellow converts performing the sacred music of the Sikhs for audiences of tens of thousands. Back in the US, he forms a "spiritual" rock band that tours the country from Maine to Vancouver, weaving his travel adventures together with his own journey of spiritual awakening and his gradual disillusionment and eventual break from his Guru. Blachly's understanding of psychology and human frailties, make the lessons he draws from his own experiences universal and highly relevant today, when personality cults have infected both the political and religious life of the nation. While he pulls no punches about the moral failings of his Guru, the book is not an expose. Instead, while acknowledging that most people who started studying yoga with him in the late 1960s and early '70s did not join the cult, he writes with humor and introspection about his own vulnerabilities and the misplaced idealism that set him up for exploitation. Regarded by his fellow Sikhs as a powerful personality and pillar of the community, he is unflinching about acknowledging his own fractured sense of identity that he struggles to overcome. Most of all, "The Inner Circle" is an entertaining and compelling read about his journey into and back out of a cult that remains active today.</p>

The Inner Circle - Book One: My Seventeen Years in the Cult of the American Sikhs

Religion & Spirituality

Blachly, Peter MacDonald

Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts

Sheep Island Press

<p>Maine summers of the 1950s and '60s, seen through the experiences of a young boy skilled in sailing Casco Bay. This collection of vignettes and adventures brings the insights of growing awareness with the discovery of coastal communities and their often challenging shoreline. Included is the author's story of encountering the tragic history of Malaga Island and its neighboring island, where he lived and explored during formative years and where he has returned today. "Luminous, lyrical, Peter Blachly's stories of childhood summers in Maine are a wondrous reminder of what's important in life. He has me laughing, weeping, visualizing seals and summer storms, remembering the smell of the sea air and promising myself to love the simple." -Chellis Glendinning, author of My Name is Chellis &amp; I'm in Recovery from Western Civilization</p>

The Stone from Halfway Rock: A Boy's Adventures on the Coast of Maine

Polar Bear & Company

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blachly, Peter MacDonald. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Blachly, Peter MacDonald

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blachly, Peter MacDonald. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Inner Circle - Book One: My Seventeen Years in the Cult of the American Sikhs

The Stone from Halfway Rock: A Boy's Adventures on the Coast of Maine