Karmageddon (Bhagavan Das doco)

Just finished watching Karmageddon, a doco about kirtan singer, guru and 'crazy wisdom' teacher Bhagavan Das (and when I say crazy wisdom, as the film reveals, it means dodgy predator on young women, exploiter and thief, etc) - made by a guy who started out idolising him.

It was a bit like watching a car crash - excruciating but hard to look away. I think most of us wouldn't need the lesson in not idolising gurus; and the psychological payoff - that Bhagavan Das was a substitute father figure - is pat, if true, but there was something really interesting about the doco nonetheless and I'd recommend it - for one's own reaction to issues around power, sex and gender; spiritual bypassing; 'finding the guru you're looking for' (and characteristics that followers mirror in their gurus - in this case, self obsession) and unethical gurus (there's some stuff in there about Trungpa too); love and the heart's reasons of which reason knows nothing; the 'double bind' of cultish thinking about all the guru's actions as lessons; and so on.

Ram Das is in it too, and in comparison to a lot of other kirtan/yoga/spiritual figures who are interviewed (Deva Premal etc) comes across really well. And check out the adorable opening to the trailer, for the lulz (link below).

I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to listen to BD's music in the same way, or at all, which is kind of a shame, but nonetheless...

karmageddonthemovie.com/

every3rdthought wrote: It was a bit like watching a car crash - excruciating but hard to look away.

Ha, I have seen that film. Your quote pretty much nails it perfectly.

+1

We had a thread about this movie. Maybe on a KFD?