Books: Ground Zero

THE LIGHT AT THE CENTER: CONTEXT AND PRETEXT OF MODERN MYSTICISM by AGEHANANDA BHARATI 254 pages. Ross-Erikson. $11.95.

Let your fingers do the walking and these days they stumble at almost every step over yoga parlors, t'ai chi ranches, Scientology centers, Subud temples, Sufi congregations, TM ashrams, Hare Krishna missions, Zen monasteries, astrology academies and tarot prophets. The flyways from East to West are dense with flocks of migratory swamis who come bearing wisdom and go lugging gold. A bazaar of the bizarre if ever there was one, and its most exotic merchandise,...