swami

Mr. Wilser quotes Mr. Hahn, almost in passing, as saying that the titular swami “regularly takes at least eight daily doses of Datura in the form of the betel chew.”

But in her late teens, she found that the teachings of Vedanta Hinduism, largely known for its orders of swamis, or religious teachers, resonated with her.

“I respect her choice. In fact, I admire the choice Sally made. After all, she is a swami, isn’t she?”

The swami was “the first example I have seen in recent years of Universal Love … in action,” Alice Coltrane wrote in the album’s liner notes.

“So she had a swami — who was very close to her family — help her parents see that this was not just a fantasy but a real possibility.”