Entry tags:

crazy hippies, cults, documentaries, religions, the guru

"If this guy is God, then this is the God that the United States of America deserves."
Last night I viewed a film called Lord of the Universe, one of the early TVTV videos that was able to obtain funding and find itself aired on public TV. Made with video technology in the early 1970s, including newly developed Portapak recorders and whatnots, the piece is a display of a budding technology that is reminiscent of public access production in the 80s, even in the 90s. Lame graphics and choppy transitions, these things find a charm and even a place in a video such as this, because afterall, everything has its starting point, its time of evolution, right?

The subject matter, however, makes for a far more interesting journal entry. It's the early 70s, and America's counterculture is coming down from its anti-war, flowerpower high. All these burnout lost souls have nothing to live for, nothing to follow, until, thank God, the Guru Maharaj Ji descends upon them as God in Living Form, bringing unto everyone Peace and Happiness with his Holy Family and the Divine Light Mission. For real, the Guru was God in human form, so he claimed. At last, the hippie generation had something new to chirp about, to seek peace within, to go nuts without. When one does not have an active job or much responsibility, one gets very bored and Must Find Something.

By the way, the Guru Maharaj Ji is a chubby 15-year-old Indian kid. Yeah.

Through the Guru, one can obtain The Knowledge. Through the Guru, the collective whole can find Peace and Happiness. Through the Guru, one can attend "Millenium '73," a three-day conference at the Houston Astrodome in which the Guru and his Holy Family would appear to lead his American sheep into fits of peaceful meditation and Christian-like stadium singing led by his brother's rock-n'-soul band Blue Aquarius. Through the Guru, one can attend a Knowledge Session to finally, if they are chosen to do so, Receive The Knowledge. And oh, the people, the desperate, desperate people, the people who panic when they may not Receive the Knowledge before their flight leaves Texas, the people who freak out when they touch something that the guru has touched, the people who cannot comprehend why it is that the Rest of America thinks they are all mislead crazies under the spell of a prankster.

It is said, in Lord of the Universe, that when the Guru was about to move to the United States from his home in India, barely an adolescent, it was requested of his followers that they send any "extra appliances" they may have to his new home on Long Island. Yes, God lives it up, with a big house and fancy cars (that I don't think he was able to drive yet?) and many gadgets. He's a rich guru, could ya believe it?

I couldn't even really explain the wealth found in Lord of the Universe. Seeing is believing. Thank god, the ex-Premies (followers) have created a site with video clips. See it for yourself. Rennie Davis and Abbie Hoffman both make appearances in the film, with Hoffman delivering the best (and most sense-making) line of the entire piece. While the outward intent of the film is to capture the 3-day Event in Houston, I personally found the film to be more of a criticism of desperation. The guru, he's just there, serving as the master of this bizarre three-ring circus.


God is a smug bastard?

Funny enough, the Guru still lives, and preaches, and sends his messages via multimedia websites, although he seems to be known as the Prem Rawat nowadays. I guess God had to shed that nutty Guru image in order for anyone to take him seriously. Does anyone take him seriously?



The house where God lives.


Another wonderful chapter in American history.