One of the first spiritualist teachers to bring Eastern wisdom to the West, Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) popularized kriya yoga, a method of achieving oneness with God. He also ensured that future generations might be illuminated by his message of “how to live” through the Self-Realization Fellowship institution he founded and by his book “The Autobiography of a Yogi.” But those looking for further enlightenment might want to pass on the feel-good cinematic hagiography known as “Awake: The Life of Yogananda.”
Yogananda’s life, writings, and work have inspired millions, including such celebrities as Steve Jobs (perhaps not the best example of a serene and empathetic soul), George Harrison (who is interviewed, presumably before his death), and Calvin Coolidge (the two met, but it seems unlikely any knowledge was exchanged). As the go-to guru for Westerners seeking spiritual succor in a materialist wasteland, he preceded the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his 1960s Transcendental Meditation movement by decades.
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Paolo di Florio and Lisa Leeman’s film covers the biographical basics, how he showed special spiritual gifts as a child, searched for and found his spiritual master as a teenager, and founded a successful school in India. But his master instructed him to take his message westward, first to Boston and then to California, where he established his foundation and did most of his writing.
This the filmmakers relate through kitschy black and white reenactments of events intercut with actual footage and supplemented by stock archival material (the guru’s criticism that Americans waste too much time on hobbies is illustrated, for some reason, by a newsreel clip of a woman standing on the wing of a biplane in flight). Sometimes mystical music, spooky superimpositions of giant staring eyes over dreamy scenery, or pop psychedelic imagery are employed.
The interviews include a Harvard professor of theology, who confirms Yogananda’s claim that his method does not conflict with Christian dogma, and a Harvard physicist, who backs up the yogi’s assertion that his method is based in science. Other endorsements come from Ravi Shankar, Deepak Chopra, and, as mentioned, Beatle George. Their banal generalities sound culled from self-help books and magazines, and so do what appear to be writings of the yogi read by a voice-over narrator.
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“The Life of Yogananda” becomes most intriguing when it runs into rough patches. In the 1920s Yogananda was hounded by racists, especially when touring the South. In the 1930s the Yogi met with Mahatma Gandhi to offer him spiritual support, but it doesn’t seem to have helped the cause of nonviolence after India achieved independence in 1947 and millions were killed during the India-Pakistan partition (the latter is not mentioned in the film). World War II, the Holocaust, and Hiroshima all seem to have been unaffected by Yogananda’s message of expanded consciousness, love, and peace.
Add him to a long line of unheeded prophets.
Watch the film’s trailer:
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Peter Keough can be reached at petervkeough@gmail.com.