So why am i writing this, when i never do stuff like this on my blog? Because i think that this movie ultimately amounts to a hit piece on someone i used to know a little bit. That, and, i fear that this movie will just stoke the public cynicism towards "spirituality". We need spirituality in our lives. There are a lot of quick buck gurus out there. Bhagavan is not one of them. His truth is far, far more complicated.
http://karmageddonthemovie.com/
http://www.bhagavandas.com/home.html
http://login.ramdass.org/WP/
Quick background: Bhagavan Das, born Kermit Michael Riggs, was one of the first Americans to go to India in the 60s, and was the person to introduce Ram Dass to Neem Karoli Baba. BD came back to the US after 7 years and became a sort of Rock star, drugs, sex, the whole bit. Google if you want to know more biography.
Jeff Brown is a Canadian lawyer who wanted to pursue his spirituality. So far, so good. He latched onto Bhagavan Das as a guru. Now the problems arise.
Bhagavan is both saint and sinner in one man. His spiritual kirtans and devotion are %150 sincere; he also has a large ego, likes food and drugs, loves sex with 18 year old girls, likes money and shopping, and talks in very plain, vulgar language. In short, a very earthy man, but one whose sins are venal and egotistic, not large and brutal, whose sins are more harmful to himself than anyone else, and whose spiritual practice has brought great light to many, many people. My testimonial: He taught me one of the greatest lessons of my spiritual life, which is that one can be a flawed human being and still be deeply, deeply spiritual.
For many people it is difficult to accept both the darkness and the light existing simultaneously. They usually feel the need to judge one way or the other. This movie focuses very much on the sinner side of Bhagavan. The saint gets little air time.
There is a phrase "when a pickpocket meets a saint, he sees only the pockets". My perception is that Jeff Brown simply was not spiritually mature enough to make this movie, but that his ego could not recognize this. The cynical, scared mind made this movie too soon, too quickly, not enough depth of practice to see more clearly a deeply complicated man.
A good example of this is the interview with Ram Das. Jeff does most of the talking, Ram Das gets in a word or two here and there. Why bother interviewing the man, if all you are going to do is repeat your own opinions. Maybe Ram Das did say a lot more and just got edited out, while Jeff Brown got edited in. I was really interested in what Ram Das had to say. I felt cheated, thought it was bullshit, a hatchet job. That may have been the point where i lost faith in this movie and the film maker.
In this movie Bhagavan really does display and talk about a lot of bad behaviour; ultimately i was left wondering if he was just trying to get Brown's goat, and i'm not going to defend or make excuses for bad behaviour, for example not honoring a contract he had signed to record some CDs.
I used to know Bhagavan at Harbin in the mid 90s when he was the kirtanwalla in residence. He was a totally no bullshit guy, anyone could talk to him, he made no pretenses about hiding his appetites. Didn't know him well, was not one of his inner circle, did play a dozen or so kirtans with him. One time, after the kirtan, i asked if i could hold his ektar (instrument). I literally got stoned and couldn't speak for about 15 minutes, just from holding the ektar for about a minute.
i loved his kirtans. I would lose interest after the kirtan was over when he started talking and playing guru, it just sounded to me like his ego took over. But in the kirtans, he really sounded as if he would die if god didn't come to him now. Very powerful, very real. I've never witnessed that degree of self surrender and self abnegation anywhere else. The lotus and the mud.
Another time i hitched a ride with Bhagavan from the front gate of Harbin to Santa Rosa (about 40 miles). He was driving this old total piece of junk someone had given him, and in about a mile the thing started to hesitate and grab. i totally expected the car to break down. Meanwhile, from the moment i had gotten in, i had heard Bhagavan doing his mantra. I jabbered away, he was polite enough to make some response, but basically he was into repeating his mantra, and this was not for my benefit. Anyway, the car keeps going, although i was sure that it was going to break down. We get to Calistoga, about halfway, Bhagavan pulls up to the coffee shop and says "i'm a scorpio, i need strong stimulation" (or something like that. Gets a coffee, offers to buy me one, we get to Santa Rosa a little later.
This movie was made 10 years after i knew Bhagavan. He's clearly changed, not just physically, and i did detect more negativity in him than i remembered- and, most people try to hide their flaws. Bhagavan is totally honest and sooner or later his seeds will be cooked and he will find peace in this world, not just in the world of spirit. i think that this will very much involve finding peace with his childhood with his mother, because even spiritual people have psychological issues.
I wish him nothing but good things.
Namaste
Jay Dancing Bear
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