Short Cut to Nirvana
Nov. 30th, 2004 01:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidLast night I saw Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela at Kendall Square. It's a documentary about the Kumbh Mela, a pilgrimage every 12 years to one of four locations (so each spot is used once every 48 years) in India. All of the cities were places I'd never heard of, which surprised me just a little, since I have read a fair number of books set in India. Still, it's a huge country. Which is how this is the largest gathering of people I'd never heard of. The estimates were between 50 and 70 million people (!).
Why every 12 years? It's based on the story of a group of gods and devils fighting over a pot of eternal elixir. One of the gods grabbed it and started running to heaven, but it took 12 days. And god-days are a year long. As to why the location rotates, in the course of this flight, four drops of the elixir fell to earth, presumably landing in each spot.
The movie shows the sights and sounds of the site, showing all the tent cities, each section for a different swami, or yogi, or baba, with all their followers. At night lots of it is lit up, with all sorts of decorated structures and swirling lights; I thought of both Los Vegas and Burning Man. Actually, I think it's a bit more like Burning Man (from what I've seen/heard; I've not yet been), with so many people converging on a place, making religious experiences of many sorts (including art cars, essentially, with huge decorated chariots for each swami), then vanishing after the Main Bathing Day in the "mother Ganga" (the rush for ritual immersion (which is rather different from using a mikvah) is led by the sadhus, all rushing in together. Quite a sight).
The film had a few protagonists, guides through the maze: an Indian swami, and three Americans who'd come to see the festival. Others were interviewed as well, but it was through their lenses that we got to see how people transformed. One became more religious, another was pleased to share his religion. I was particularly interested when they interviewed different swamis, seeing where their messages felt familiar (One decried gossiping (lashon hara), saying that it reflects back on the teller, that it hurts the soul of the teller. Another (in response to a question), said that a religious leader shouldn't be seeking after money, rather than knowledge of self.), and where they were more foreign (all sorts of things, though these didn't stick in my head nearly as well). Some of the people were shown doing feats that exemplified their higher spiritual level, some of which seemed more, well, physical to me, such as the man rocking on the swing of nails (over hot coals); and the one who twisted his genitalia around a stick, put that behind him, and had someone stand on the stick (I winced; I didn't hear any of the men in the audience gasp, but I suspect there were silent responses.). One woman had herself buried in a chamber for three days. Others were revered more for their wisdom, without external signs, or ones that weren't shown. I was fascinated by the African pilgrim, who not only had many ear and nose piercings, but had also pierced then expanded his front lip so much that he carried a bowl in the opening. I've seen pictures before, but seeing him speak (oddly enough, rather American English), seeing how it didn't interfere with communication at all, was interesting.
It was also cool to see the Dalai Lama visiting with a group of Buddhists. He spoke words of tolerance and accepting the paths of others as legitimate for them, while his cadre looked rather stoic amidst the chaos of the place, with loud sounds, smoke, zillions of people everywhere.
I was glad to have seen this, partly because I know I will never go to a Kumbh Mela myself; it's just too far beyond the line into avoda zara for me. There's a fine line between respect for a leader in another religious tradition, and doing things that could be seen as worship, and I felt like the Americans we were seeing crossed that line. Which is fine for them, just not for me. It's like reading travel books: I know that as a kosher person, or as a woman, I cannot have these experiences, but I'm fascinated just the same. (Which is not to say that I can't have my own travel adventures, but they're going to be different.)
Why every 12 years? It's based on the story of a group of gods and devils fighting over a pot of eternal elixir. One of the gods grabbed it and started running to heaven, but it took 12 days. And god-days are a year long. As to why the location rotates, in the course of this flight, four drops of the elixir fell to earth, presumably landing in each spot.
The movie shows the sights and sounds of the site, showing all the tent cities, each section for a different swami, or yogi, or baba, with all their followers. At night lots of it is lit up, with all sorts of decorated structures and swirling lights; I thought of both Los Vegas and Burning Man. Actually, I think it's a bit more like Burning Man (from what I've seen/heard; I've not yet been), with so many people converging on a place, making religious experiences of many sorts (including art cars, essentially, with huge decorated chariots for each swami), then vanishing after the Main Bathing Day in the "mother Ganga" (the rush for ritual immersion (which is rather different from using a mikvah) is led by the sadhus, all rushing in together. Quite a sight).
The film had a few protagonists, guides through the maze: an Indian swami, and three Americans who'd come to see the festival. Others were interviewed as well, but it was through their lenses that we got to see how people transformed. One became more religious, another was pleased to share his religion. I was particularly interested when they interviewed different swamis, seeing where their messages felt familiar (One decried gossiping (lashon hara), saying that it reflects back on the teller, that it hurts the soul of the teller. Another (in response to a question), said that a religious leader shouldn't be seeking after money, rather than knowledge of self.), and where they were more foreign (all sorts of things, though these didn't stick in my head nearly as well). Some of the people were shown doing feats that exemplified their higher spiritual level, some of which seemed more, well, physical to me, such as the man rocking on the swing of nails (over hot coals); and the one who twisted his genitalia around a stick, put that behind him, and had someone stand on the stick (I winced; I didn't hear any of the men in the audience gasp, but I suspect there were silent responses.). One woman had herself buried in a chamber for three days. Others were revered more for their wisdom, without external signs, or ones that weren't shown. I was fascinated by the African pilgrim, who not only had many ear and nose piercings, but had also pierced then expanded his front lip so much that he carried a bowl in the opening. I've seen pictures before, but seeing him speak (oddly enough, rather American English), seeing how it didn't interfere with communication at all, was interesting.
It was also cool to see the Dalai Lama visiting with a group of Buddhists. He spoke words of tolerance and accepting the paths of others as legitimate for them, while his cadre looked rather stoic amidst the chaos of the place, with loud sounds, smoke, zillions of people everywhere.
I was glad to have seen this, partly because I know I will never go to a Kumbh Mela myself; it's just too far beyond the line into avoda zara for me. There's a fine line between respect for a leader in another religious tradition, and doing things that could be seen as worship, and I felt like the Americans we were seeing crossed that line. Which is fine for them, just not for me. It's like reading travel books: I know that as a kosher person, or as a woman, I cannot have these experiences, but I'm fascinated just the same. (Which is not to say that I can't have my own travel adventures, but they're going to be different.)
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-30 11:09 am (UTC)I feel exactly the same way. It's a point I couldn't get across effectively to some of my fundamentalist friends in high school, that simply showing interest in other religions or sinners doesn't make me a sinner, as I am in no way practicing these religions. We are simply showing a healthy respect, tolerance, and appreciation of other traditions without in any way compromising our own.
Side note
Date: 2004-11-30 12:32 pm (UTC)Re: Side note
Date: 2004-11-30 12:49 pm (UTC)I've mentioned this in my LJ somewhere, but my favorite Scripture passage is Matthew 7:1-5: "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye?" We're all a work in progress -- that seems to be a common theme of all the major religions -- and to focus unduly on the negative seems to miss the point. So, yeah, I agree.