Washington Post expose on Frederick Lenz, a.k.a., Zen Master Rama

The Spiritual Marketplace

There is no past . . . -- Master Fwap, in "Surfing the Himalayas"

Sometimes, the enemies of Rama wonder whether he hasn't won the game, pulled in all the golden karma. He's a rich man -- making about $ 6 million a year from his students, according to Lenz-Watch, a group of parents that has monitored the guru. And now people are buying his book. Many will think that its author is a good and moral Buddhist.

"Buddhist teachers don't talk about hell worlds and threaten their students' lives and give them LSD!" Mark Laxer fumes. "And teaching them to cheat and lie on their resumes is not Buddhist!"

"Mark Laxer was a very, very, very, very dear friend of mine," the guru says. He sounds almost wistful. Then he bitterly dismisses his former confidant's autobiography as "disgusting," a "little travesty of a book," the product of an unstable mind. "Obviously, he couldn't get it published by a commercial publisher -- so much for literary merit."

Actually, Laxer's book has gotten far better reviews than Lenz's. "Well written," the Library Journal said of "Take Me for a Ride," adding: "His portrait of a charismatic leader's descent into madness is gripping." The Santa Fe Reporter said Laxer's portrait of himself as a young spiritual seeker "comes across brilliantly."

The Denver Post panned Lenz's book as "poorly researched crud." "Terrifically dull and stupefying," agreed longtime reviewer Hart Williams, whose column in Santa Fe Sun magazine said: "Aside from failing on every level, there is nothing remarkable about this novel, except that it was published."

Having achieved a measure of mainstream credibility with a best-selling book, Lenz seems to fully expect further persecution. He admits he is "not a saint," but says all these allegations are the work of a conspiracy against religious freedom.

And in America, every man is entitled to invent his own religion, to see a market need and sell his spiritual product accordingly. Lenz's brand of Buddhism seems right for the times: "Remember, Buddhists don't believe in sin and guilt," he says.

Lenz prefers to talk about success, about how his book was selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Quality Paperback Book Club, and how rights to his book were sold to 10 foreign publishers. And, yes, he's doing great in the music business too, having just produced two new CDs with his new age group, Zazen. "Have you checked out my new ad in Rolling Stone?" he asks. "It's gorgeous."

The Gwid In 1981, Lenz was based in San Diego, with a core following of about 50 students, including Mark Laxer. As Atmananda, Lenz was busy promising to turn rooms golden, and also publishing a newspaper called WOOF!

In the paper he created a cult leader named Gwid, presumably for purposes of parody. "Admirers of the Gwid have firmly rooted themselves in Rancho Bernardo," a front-page story reported in March 1981. The Gwid was quoted as saying:

"I do not wish to own your sons and daughters, merely to use them as a tax break. It is not the acquiring of wealth that interests me, but rather the actual possession of it. All else is useless to me unless it involves adventure, limber bodies, cunning and chocolate. . . . I stand for freedom . . . the dignity to live a free and happy life under my close supervision, and not getting caught."

GRAPHIC: Photo, greg gorman;

Photo, courtesy mark laxer;

Photo, bill o'leary, Lenz, right, in 1984 with then-devotee Mark Laxer, who has written a harrowing account of his life with the Zen master. Frederick Lenz calls reports that he has exploited followers "junk. . . . I have never physically or psychologically abused a person in my life." Frederick Lenz, pictured in the ad for his novel that appeared in Sports Illustrated. Right, Mark Laxer, a disgruntled former devotee of Lenz. --