Coming Of Age

Ahh . . . the audience. Although it once seemed unlikely that Buddhism would play in Peoria, it now seems almost inconceivable that the widespread yearning for divine wisdom should soon pass. Not with skyrocketing health-care prices making alternative medicine an attractive option. Not with a younger generation fixated on environmental issues. Not with the millennium in sight. Not with technological advances giving rise to so much collective anxiety. Not, in summary, with the way things are. The more complex the world becomes, the more we look for answers to make sense of our own lives.

All of which bodes well for New Age entrepreneurs. "As our Generation X customers continue to mature," speculates Rowland, "I think they're only going to become more concerned and more interested in improving their bodies and minds and their outlooks on life."

Entrepreneur Joe Bonk is equally enthusiastic. "I really see [this industry] growing bigger," he raves. "It's going to keep going on and on and on and on."

Kind of like the quest for spiritual enlightenment itself, wouldn't you say? It's a journey with so many roads, so many passengers . . . and so many possibilities.

This article was originally published in the July 1996 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Coming Of Age.