How A Woman’s Search For Enlightenment Led Straight To A Cult

Aired 10/29/18 on KPBS Midday Edition

How A Woman's Search For Enlightenment Led Straight To A Cult

GUEST:

Renee Linnell, author, "The Burn Zone"

Transcript for audioclip 42149

Photo credit: Courtesy of Renee Linnell

Author Renee Linnell poses in front of the cover of her book, "The Burn Zone: A Memoir," in this undated photo.

When Renee Linnell walked into a meditation seminar in Southern California, she didn't expect to find its leader dressed in a fashionable business suit and stilettos.

In a word, she was wowed.

Linnell had been a surf model, a professional tango dancer and had traveled the world. But still, there was something missing in her life, and she instinctively felt that Lakshmi, leader of the seminar and of the University of Mysticism, could fill the hole.

Seven years later, Linnell would discover much more to be missing: thousands of dollars, contact with friends and loved ones and all her personal power and will.

Linnell recounts her seven years in what she now calls a cult on KPBS Midday Edition Monday.

She will be at Warwick's in La Jolla on Monday, Oct 29 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss her memoir, "The Burn Zone."

Want more KPBS news?
Find us on Twitter and Facebook, or subscribe to our newsletters.

To view PDF documents, Download Acrobat Reader.