SAY OM
‘Stand up,’ he said. We got to our feet. ‘Place both hands upon your heads.’ We did as we were told. ‘Raise your left leg. That’s right. Now, I want you to begin to turn and as you do so, recite OM.’ We began to hop in circles. ‘Om,’ I said. ‘Ommm.’
‘Can we change legs?’ someone asked. ‘Yes,’ he said solemnly, ‘but if you do so, you must change direction.’
‘Om,’ intoned the ageing man hopping next to me.
‘Om,’ said the Swami Bohdi Premen, my roommate who until recently I had known as Justin. He gave me a slightly pensive look. ‘Om,’ I said.
‘Om,’ he replied.
Dave Oshana – the “Enlightened geezer” as Premen called him – who was holding an audience with us and a dozen other hopefuls in this cramped office above a crystals store in Covent Garden, left the room.