It's 2006, and Emily, a 21-year-old American, is at a retreat center in India,

immersed in a week-long silent meditation.

She climbs up to the roof of the retreat center, and it's at 4 in the morning or so,

and wraps a scarf around her face and jumps off the building to her death.

I was shocked and confused when I heard this story.

How can a spiritual practice like meditation make you do that?

Some would argue that through this meditation,

Emily reached some sort of enlightenment.

But if that's the case, then what's the cost of enlightenment?

Death?

I'm Caroline Slaughter, the host of a new podcast called Astray,

and I'm also a seeker.

It's just about living in the light,

meaning the truth of who you are.

A lot of people that will hear this podcast will be seekers.

Like, don't go to India,

because this is a Venus fly trap for your vulnerability.

After Emily's tragic death, the media linked her to a phenomenon called India Syndrome,

a psychosis that befalls Westerners in India on a spiritual quest.

She's not alone in this diagnosis.

In the podcast, I investigate the disappearances and deaths of other Westerners who have gone astray in what's been called the spiritual Bermuda Triangle.

You don't know whether it's a permanent loss or a part-time loss or whether you've lost them forever or you haven't

...