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

Monday, October 29, 2018

By Maureen Cavanaugh, Pat Finn

Above: KPBS Midday Edition

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

Author Event

Renee Linnell will discuss and sign her memoir "The Burn Zone"

Warwick's Books, La Jolla

Monday, October 29, 7:30 pm

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."

FEATURED PODCAST

KPBS' daily news podcast covering local politics, education, health, environment, the border and more. New episodes are ready weekday mornings so you can listen on your morning commute.