Anne Cushman

[3] She notes in her book Moving into Meditation that "the fusion of yoga asana and Buddhist meditation—once viewed as heretical in both camps—has [by 2014] become common.

[8] She travelled to India in 2007 on a "pilgrimage"[2] to visit places associated with the Buddha; the trip provided material for her 2009 novel Enlightenment for Idiots.

But in Dowdle's opinion, the book succeeds on both counts, being enjoyably entertaining and "capturing the ashrams and gurus that attract Western spiritual seekers.

"[11] A character called Mr. Kapoor whom she compares to B. K. S. Iyengar is enthused about by his students: "He'll crucify you over a metal folding chair";[11] she recognises characters Prana Ma, resembling the hugging guru Mata Amritanandamayi (widely known as Amma), and Saraswati, resembling Gangaji, who demands that her students understand that "Self and Other are merely constructs to be transcended".

[11] Publishers Weekly called the book "a hilarious take on the quest for truth that manages to respect the journey while skewering many of the travelers.