The English-speaking world loves their gurus and Eastern mysterious wisdom and enlightenment and all that stuff. And while (I hope I\u2019m not being too optimistic in saying) we\u2019re collectively growing out of our most infantile\u2013and destructive\u2013phase of interacting and mingling with \u201cthe East\u201d, there is still a long way to go. Colonialism\u2019s dual projections of \u201cdark evil\u201d and \u201cmysterious goodness\u201d continue to play out in popular culture. But both rely on obscured vision of the place(s) and people for what\u00a0and who they are.<\/p>\n
This failure to see the person for who he truly is was documented brilliantly by Vikram Gandhi in his movie Kumare<\/a>\u00a0(2011). In the movie, Gandhi goes \u201cundercover\u201d as a made-up guru with made-up techniques and fairly generalized self-help advice for the small following that gathers around him. Read my full review and see a trailer here<\/a>\u00a0(it\u2019s well worth seeing if you are interested in contemporary convert Buddhism or Western religion on the fringe).<\/p>\n Others have taken shorter, more clearly humorous shots at our fascination with Eastern spirituality. Earlier this year, College Humor posted a short \u201cwhat if\u201d video depicting Mohandas Gandhi\u00a0visiting\u00a0a contemporary yoga studio<\/a>\u00a0and growing increasingly frustrated by the whole superficial scene.<\/p>\n And in 2012 Portlandia did its own spoof on meditation<\/a> worth seeing for its all-too-honest depiction of some of the very non-spiritual things that go through the minds of meditators.<\/p>\n Now we have\u00a0a\u00a0short parody of the projection and cultural appropriation still running rampant in the world today, which simultaneously mocks the equally superficial genre of reality TV. With just over 2000 views on youtube in 5 days, it may be a bit of a sleeper thus far, but I think it\u2019s a winner. H\/T to NellaLou at Smiling Buddha Cabaret<\/a>.<\/p>\n Enjoy.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Next Top Guru is a reality television series searching to find a promising but as-yet undiscovered Australian Guru. The guru\u2019s are given a platform to build a following, line up to fans (not equals) projecting their parental fantasies onto the gurus, and to boost their chances of forging a successful career within the guru industry.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n