Mick Brown, longstanding feature writer at this paper, most often covers art, culture and music; but he has an equally established sideline in the history of spirituality and religion. His previous books include American Heartbeat: Travels from Woodstock to San Jose by Song Title (1994) and The Dance of 17 Lives: The Incredible True Story of Tibet’s 17th Karmapa (2004). The Nirvana Express now brings together all of Brown’s interests in one volume. It details the Western fascination with the religious beliefs of the Indian subcontinent, all the way from the founding of the Asiatick Society in 1783, devoted to the study of “whatever is performed by man or produced by nature” in Asia, to The Beatles’ dalliance with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Transcendental Meditation in the 1960s.…