Probably the most common question I get when discussing this book is which real-life spiritual teacher the character of Ma is based on.  I’ve had people tell me that Ma and/or her teachings sound exactly like this Indian guru or that Western teacher.  But I didn’t base my portrayal on any of these people. 

When I created the character of Ma and her community, I sought to bring together those characteristics and teachings that were common to all the groups that I studied with.  There were certain themes, issues and dynamics that I saw repeated over and over again in the numerous spiritual groups I encountered, and it was these that I sought to capture in my book.  The fact that people see so many different teachers reflected in Ma and her lessons highlights just how similar most of these groups really are, despite the fact that their leaders would prefer to have you think otherwise.