Short Cut to Nirvana

Today I saw a film with a friend: Short Cut to Nirvana. As A.O Scott points out in a NY Times review, the 70 million pilgrims who attended the last Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, India in 2001 really put into perspective the few million who went to Rome last week. It was in many ways an interesting film–moreso because I had little knowledge of the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival, and the largest pilgrimage in the world, before this.

The filmmakers approached a wide range of babas and holy people with open eyes. I was especially intrigued by the well-spoken Pilot Baba, a former Indian Air Force pilot who was now a guru, devoted to peace. Yog Mata, a Japanese-born guru, had herself buried for three days during the festival, in order to practice samadhi.

Kali Baaba, an African guru, we learned in the question and answer session with one of the directors, Nick Day, is also a Masai Anthropology professor out in California. Nick said Kali Baaba lectures on tribes, and in the course of meeting and studying tribes from Indonesia to Maoris in New Zealand and the Masai in Africa, had been inducted into each tribe in turn; in doing so, he was given the physical signs of this induction: Maori tattoos on his head, a lip-plate from an Indonesian tribe, and so on. He had been layered with symbols of tribal membership: perhaps an embodiment of tribal ecumenism?

The Dalai Lama makes an appearance, an honorary Buddhist visitor, speaking at the Mela about how “Conversion is an idea whose time is past.” He notes instead that religions should try to live in harmony together. There’s a holy man you can really get behind.

Though I enjoyed the spectacle and novelty of the film, and thought it was quite thoughtful in many places, I was perhaps less charmed by the subplot surrounding the encounter of Dyan Summers and Swami Krishnanand–a New Yorker in India for the first time, and a young, wide-eyed Indian monk, respectively. Indeed, the filmmakers’ focus on the experiences of Dyan and her partner, and their interactions with the Swami, seemed distracting to me. I appreciated getting to see the Kumbh Mela through the eyes of individuals, yes–but I wanted to know more about spiritual journeys, and less about the magic of young westerners encountering the east. I can see that the point was to help western audiences relate to the Mela–to see it through Dyan’s eyes. I just think a few more visitors’ views–from a wider variety of perspectives–would have balanced things out.

Still, it was well worth seeing if you get a chance. It’s an independent documentary, winning awards, and I love a documentary that gets into theaters. Check it out!