Spirituality, non-duality and gurus

Something happens on a retreat, or on a drug, or at half past three in a room with nobody in it, and afterwards there is an industry waiting to explain what it was and what it costs. These pieces sit in that gap. They take meditation, Buddhism and non-duality seriously enough to be rude about the packaging: the guru with the immaculate posture, the awakening described in the language of a product launch, the sincere seeker who has mistaken exhaustion for peace. Scepticism here is not a pose against the thing itself — several of these pieces plainly want it to be true. They just refuse to pretend that wanting is evidence.