refused to
accept that the Guru had fallen. You see, you don't just turn your
back on someone you have devoted eleven years of your life to, someone
you have loved more than anyone else in the universe."

I wondered if a con artist would devote eleven years of his life to a
guru.

"I had to make sure that the Negative Forces were not playing tricks on
my mind," he continued. "So I decided to visit New York and meditate
on the Guru in person. I found that he still looked like Guru. But
inwardly I could see right away that he had lost his power."

I wondered if I could have detected a change.

"When the Guru began to meditate, it became clear that he was not
entering into samadhi--though the disciples still believed that he was.
Nonetheless, I wanted to be absolutely certain that the Negative Forces
were not clouding my vision. So I visited Apeksha, a Queens, New York,
disciple who has studied with the Guru for as long as I have.

"At first, Apeksha thought I was crazy. But after we spent hours
looking at old Guru photos, neither of us had any doubt as to what had
happened.

"Apeksha is now in a real bind. On the one hand, he can see that the
Guru has fallen. On the other hand, he knows that he's not strong
enough yet to ward off the Negative Forces on his own."

Richard, who had bought the million-dollar Centre, raised his hand and
said, "Atmananda, isn't there anything we can do to help Guru?"

"Your sentiment is a noble one," Atmananda replied. "But you have to
be careful. If you are swimming near a sinking ocean liner, it doesn't
matter how nice a person you are--you'll be sucked under when the ship
goes down.

"You should understand that I am not criticizing the Guru. Nor should
any of you. You should give him a great deal of credit for holding out
against the Forces for as long as he did.

"The Forces are not exactly evil per se. They are merely playing their
role in the Cosmic Game. It just so happens that their role is to
destroy Light."

Several disciples shook their heads incredulously. Others cast a
glassy-eyed, soporific gaze at the renegade Centre leader--as if this
were a typical late-night meeting.

"In 1985, the situation in the universe will begin to get much worse.
A great cloud of darkness will envelop the earth for thousands of
years."

I pictured the shadow of a huge oil slick creeping toward the globe.

"There will soon be a sharp increase in the number of wars and n