"Armed with wit, insight, and truly astonishing research, Geoffrey Falk utterly demolishes the notion of the enlightened guru who can lead devotees to nirvana. This entertaining and yet deadly serious book should be read by everyone pursuing or thinking of pursuing the path of guru devotion." --John Horgan, author of "Rational Mysticism" "Stripping the Gurus is superb--one of the best books of its kind I have ever read. The research is meticulous, the writing engaging, and the overall thesis: devastatingly true. A stellar book." --Dr. David C. Lane, California State University Ramakrishna was a homoerotic pedophile. His chief disciple, Vivekananda, visited brothels in India. Krishnamurti carried on an affair for over twenty years with the wife of a good friend. Chogyam Trungpa drank himself into an early grave. One of Adi Da's nine "wives" was a former Playboy centerfold. Bhagwan Rajneesh sniffed laughing gas to get high. Andrew Cohen, guru and publisher of "What Is Enlightenment?" magazine, by his own reported admission sometimes feels "like a god." These are typical of the "wizened sages" to whom otherwise-sensible people give their devotion and unquestioning obedience, surrendering their independence, willpower, and life's savings in the hope of realizing for themselves the same "enlightenment" as they ascribe to the "perfect, God-realized" master. Why? Is it for being emotionally vulnerable and "brainwashed," as the "anti-cultists" assert? Or for being "willingly psychologically seduced," as the apologists unsympathetically counter, confident that they themselves are "too smart" to ever fall into the same trap? Or have devotees simply walked, with naively open hearts and thirsty souls, into inherent dynamics of power and obedience which have showed themselves in classic psychological studies from Milgram to Zimbardo, and to which each one of us is susceptible every day of our lives? Like the proud "Rude Boy" Cohen allegedly said, with a laugh, in response to the nervous breakdown of one of his devoted followers: "It could happen to any one of you." Don't let it happen to you. Don't get suckered in. Be prepared. Be informed. Find out what reportedly goes on behind the scenes in even the best of our world's spiritual communities. You can start by reading this book.

Ken Wilber is the "long-sought Einstein of consciousness research," having been generously regarded as such since the late 1970s. Ken Wilber is "a genius of our times." Ken Wilber is "the world's most intriguing and foremost philosopher." Ken Wilber's celebrated ideas have influenced Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Jeb Bush, Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, and a host of other luminaries, spiritual and otherwise. Writer Michael Crichton, leadership guru Warren Bennis, playwright Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues), alternative-therapist Larry Dossey, the Wachowski Brothers (directors of The Matrix), and a handful of rock stars have all lent their voices in support of the "integral" community. Yet Ken Wilber, his seemingly valid theories of consciousness, and the increasingly unquestioning community of "second-tier" spiritual aspirants surrounding him and participating in his Integral University, are not what they appear to be. "NORMAN EINSTEIN": THE DIS-INTEGRATION OF KEN WILBER will show you why the community around Wilber is being increasingly called a "cult," even by former members who have seen it first-hand.

The man who called the shots for some of the greatest heroes in the history of basketball reveals the innovative business secrets that catapulted him to the top of his game.

Basketball Digest called superagent David Falk one of basketball's most influential people, second only to NBA commissioner David Stern. Falk has represented more NBA first-round draft selections, lottery picks, Rookies-of-the-Year, and All-Stars than anyone else in the business. Now, he shares the fascinating insider details of how he negotiated lucrative contracts for superstars like Michael Jordan and Alonzo Mourning (changing the NBA's entire salary structure in the process), learned from his mistakes, and branded and marketed some of the greatest basketball players in history as the fledgling team sport grew into a multibilliondollar business.