English-Man Beggar-Man Holy-Man

<p>In 1965 I left England. aged 17. I spent a year traveling overland until I reached India. I only planned to go as far as Istanbul but found myself on the hippy trail. </p><p>By the time I got to India I was physically and mentally exhausted. I was probably clinically depressed and effected by too much cannabis use.</p><p>I found myself in a spiritual centre called an <em>ashram</em>. I met my first <em>Guru</em> (spiritual teacher) - a <em>Swami</em> & sannyasin renunciate in ochre robes. I never had at that time any intention of becoming a monk for 10 years. However I spent 10 years in India living the life of a monk otherwise known as a sadhu who sometimes traveled and eventually saw nearly every part of India.</p><p>The first few chapters of my book talks about my travel through Europe and Asia in the days before the name hippy was known. (I was a <em>beatnik</em>). My book then moves to travels around India and adoption of the robes of a sannyasin.<em>(A</em><strong> </strong><em>religious ascetic who has renounced the world by performing his own funeral and abandoning all claims to social or family standing).</em> </p>