Roger Walsh, M.D., Ph.D.is professor of psychiatry, philosophy, and anthropology at the University of California at Irvine. He has published over a hundred articles and twelve books on science, philosophy, religion, and ecological issues, and his work has received over a dozen national and international awards.

• Part 1 The phenomenon: holy madness, the moderate spiritual eccentrics in different religious traditions - the upside down world of tricksters and clowns, the fools for Christ's sake, the Sufi path of blame; crazy wisdom and radical spiritual eccentrics in different religious traditions - the Avadhutas, Masts and Bauls, the crazy adets of Tibet, the Zen master of China and Japan; the feats and foibles of contemporary crazy-wisdom adepts from rascal gurus to spiritual clowns - Gurdjieff, Aleister Crowley, Bhagwan Rajneesh (Osho), Chogyam Trungpa, Lee Lozowick; the many faces of Da Love-Ananda - the early years, crazy wisdom and the futility of experience, crazy-wise and the community of devotees. Part 2 The context: spiritual practice and th path beyond all paths - the long search, the snare of pop spirituality, the paradox of discipline, the "heat" of spiritual discipline; the guru a license to kill - false images of the guru, the guru function, Jesus and divinization, true gurus, false gurus and crazy gurus; discipleship - the time-honoured tradition of spiritual disciplineship, individuals and obedience, levels of conversion, cultism, guru-worship and freedom; God, enlightenment and ego-death - the loss of God and faith, enlightenment and the transcendence of attention, a new life through ego-death. Part 3 The significance: holy madness and the smoke screen of conscensus reality - a test case, conventional religion as counterfeit spirituality, the mystical ego, the humanistic way of self-actualization, the ego "illusion", the cult of scientism, religious provincialism, cultural veils over authentic spirituality; understanding holy madness - holy madness revisited, of holiness, wisdom and ignorance, holy madness, spontaneity and the chaos of existence, the playfulness and humor of enlightenment and crazy wisdom; holiness, madness and morality - madness and holy madness, the personality of adepts, holy folly and the transcendence of good and evil.