Kumaré

Today is the unveiling.

At the unveiling, we... unveil our true self.

You see,

I am not who you think that I am.

My name is Vikram Gandhi,

and I wasn't always a guru.

That's me. Yep, pretty cool. And my brother was pretty cool too.

I come from a long line of religious Hindus.

Like many first-generation immigrants,

my parents were determined not to let America's great melting pot...

dilute our Indian traditions.

So they immersed me in Hindu mythology,

Indian philosophy and endless ritual.

Most American kids my age worshipped Hulk Hogan.

- - But I was exposed to a whole different set of heroes.

At times, these ancient rituals seemed like little more than a source of public embarrassment,

and I began to question why we needed religion in the first place.

Religion is life, and life is religion.

Maybe this was all just a bunch of nonsense somebody made up a long time ago.

Despite my growing skepticism,

I remember watching my grandmother perform morning prayers...

- and seeing this great sense of calm sweep over her. -

- That feeling must have come from somewhere. -

I studied religion in college, hoping to find spiritual answers.

But it backfired. I only became more of a skeptic.

By the time I was an adult and ready to leave my religion behind,

America was embracing the very same tradition I was trying to escape.

Yoga had become the answer to all of our Western problems.

For me, it's like-- It's the only time when I kind of shut down my inner voices, like,

"You should do that. Oh, you should lose some weight."

And a five-billion-dollar- a-year industry.

The messengers of this movement called themselves gurus.

They dressed like Indian monks and swamis...

and drew their credibility from thousands of years of Indian spirituality,

- whether they had a claim to it or not. -

I wanted to know if these spiritual leaders were for real or just full of it,

so I started to make a documentary about them.

You know, I think he's right up there in the ranks of the angels.

Uh-- And I've been waiting for a teacher like this for so long, Vikram, you know.

Many were all too willing to enjoy the fruits of their power.

If I was a 20-year-old girl, I would love hanging out with me.

You-You'd follow me? I would just love that.

He's the new teacher of this age, of this world.

"He's having sex with all the young girls. He cannot be a real guru." Why not?

He's the one who has the answer. That's what I believe.

What could be more fabulous than having sex with a really spiritual, mystical person?

Wow.

These people insisted they were somehow different...

than everyone else in some inexplicable way.

But none of them seemed any different to me.

So how do you figure out who's real?

Only the one who carries that power to transmit it nonverbally.

That's how you know.

I traveled to India, hoping to find...

a true spiritual teacher that I could believe in.

But the Indian gurus were just as phony as the ones I had found in America.

When I was eight, I was given this divine touch by the master. One touch.

Just he touched me, like, here. And--

A lot of the gurus I met claimed to be more authentic than other gurus.

They don't teach history to us. Just they get money from them.

And they say, "Okay, make long beard. Make long dreadlocks.

And live like a Baba, dress like a Baba."

I felt like the gurus were trying to out-guru each other.

To go to God and to live in spiritual is very different.

And very difficult to live a spiritual life.

Even people who said they weren't gurus were often treated by others as if they were.

I guess my problem wasn't with spirituality. It was just with spiritual leaders.

- Why did we need them? - Oh, there's a store. Let's go shopping.

She's sexy, man. Huh?

Fuckin' sexy, man. Huh?

I wanted to prove to others who were looking for answers...

that no one is more spiritual than anyone else.

That spiritual leaders are just illusions.

And we are the ones who decide who and what is real.

So I thought, "What if I became a spiritual leader?

If I could do it, wouldn't it prove anyone could?"

With a few cosmetic changes, I could easily look like a guru.

So I let my hair grow out and my beard.

I started practicing yoga and meditation every day.

I felt the effects almost immediately.

-Now all I needed was to imitate my grandmother's voice. - Hello.

At first it was fun. It was a prank.

- Hello. - How are you? Good to meet you, guru.

- Nice to meet you. - Is that how you go by?

-Or is there another name we should call you? -What would you like to call me?

I don't know. They told me I should call you guru.

- - Yes. Very good.

I wanted to try out my disguise in a more formalized setting.

So I got my friend to book my guru alter ego as a guest teacher...

at a local yoga studio.

Can you just, uh, move?

I created a series of made-up chants.

People seemed to like it.

I thought of that inner peace I'd found while sitting with my grandmother.

- Was that real? -

Could people find the same peace from a made-up religion...

that they found in a real one?

- - Could I really pull this off?

I felt connected to you right away.

Um-- Something about you.

I was like-- I don't know. Like I was, like, "I'll just follow him anywhere."

This is the story of the biggest lie I've ever told...

and the greatest truth I've ever experienced.

It's about the time I pretended to be a wise guru from the East...

and started a following of real people in the West.

This is the story of Kumaré.

It was time to start my experiment...

living as the guru Kumaré.

I chose Phoenix, Arizona, because I figured people there would be open...

to the teachings of an Eastern guru.

And if I was gonna pull this off without getting caught,

I needed a place where nobody would recognize me.

I was gonna need help, so I brought with me Purva to book events...

and Kristen to help spread Kumaré's teachings to the yoga world.

They would be Kumaré's first followers and greatest public supporters.

Together, we set out to spread the teachings of Sri Kumaré.

This was our house and our temporary ashram.

I moved my bedroom outside so I could sleep like all the gurus and swamis I'd met in India.

I taught Kristen my fake yoga moves...

and began writing down the basics of the Kumaré philosophy.

As a guru, all I would teach people was that I was an illusion.

But in order to find students I could teach this to,

I needed to establish myself in the community.

So Purva began booking classes.

Okay, see you Sunday for three hours.

Okay, bye. Booked!

So, it's Inner Vision Studio in, uh, Phoenix.

They have, like, three or four locations, and--

It's such a huge place that I-I personally think we'll get, like, 40, 50 people in there.

- - Good job.

When we talk about Kumaré, Kumaré means "divine child."

It's more of a title rather than a name like any of us have.

This is, um, from, uh, The Kumaré Sutra.

Uh, Chapter 3, Section 12.

"The seeker who finds the teacher feeds himself with the milk of wisdom,

like a child at a mother's teat,

nurtured by faith in the dream of Pinkaloka."

Right side, left side. Right side, left side.

This is good for when we're feeling stuck.

- In what part of life you use yoga to help? - Uh--

Life problem sometime heal from yoga.

I have a really stressful job.

What your job is?

- I'm a death penalty attorney. - Oh!

I'm the one who, at the last minute, tries to call the governor...

to save the life of my client who's going to be killed by the government.

Okay. You need someone to be that one who calls your governor to save you.

- Yeah. Can you teach me? -

It's fascinating, but it's very dangerous 'cause your heart gets bound up with these people.

All people who want to do good, they sometime forget...

that they also have to do good for themselves.

Kumaré is more than a teacher, you know.

He's more than just putting you through the asanas and all that.

- Thank you so much. - Yes.

You were all wonderful.

Toby was a smart lady.

And much to my surprise, she felt a connection to Kumaré.

As much time as he can spend, I would be happy to spend.

In order to find more people like Toby, we needed to spread the word.

He holds up the mirror for you.

But not literally. Metaphorically.

We know the answer's inside.

We just need someone to bring it out in us. And that's what he does.

- Holds the mirror up. - So everybody's truth is going to be different.

I see myself in other people,

and people, I know, will look at myself and see what they want to see.

I met Guruji, and I swear he's fresh out of the Himalayas.

There's something about him that is truly unique. He's just a simple man.

There's nothing, uh, phony about him.

[ Kristen Instructing, Indistinct ]

Kumaré is a being that is open towards everything in a nonjudgmental way.

- Thank you. - The more students I met...

and classes I taught, the more it seemed the Kumaré movement could take hold.

- I just wanted to have a little bit of your energy. -

The people that feel that connection towards him and they see him,

and they're, like, "Teach me! Bring it in. Bring it in."

People were asking for my blessing,

so I just started to imagine I had this blue light,

this pure love inside me, and I would just shoot it onto them.

Focus blue light-- your forehead.

I didn't know what I was doing, but people seemed so fascinated by me.

He just has this infectious laugh, and you feel like you've known him all your life.

- -

For some reason, I just know that I'm gonna have a little bit more time with this guy.

I kept inventing my own spiritual jargon.

And what I was saying often made little sense.

- U-wa-é. - U-wa-é.

This one you say like "Om."

But because we say that, whole world change.

My backstory was equally convoluted.

If they ask, "Where you from?" I say, "Halikash. This one from my mind.

- You have problem?" -

Basically, I was just telling everybody I was fake.

This whole thing like a show, right? This one, this guy in a dress, looking this.

- All show. -