Gurukulam

It is hard to think of a form of communication more contrary to the internal stillness and oneness of meditation than a movie. Meditation seeks to remove our minds and spirits from the distractions of the outside world to free us from the non-essential. And movies are noisy, with images that are never still and scenes that stop and then start up again in another place and time, while meditation transcends time and place.

And yet the documentary Gurukulam, directed by Jillian Elizabeth and Neil Dalal is so gentle a window into the world of a traditional Advaita Vedanta ashram in Tamil Nadu, India that it is itself a kind of meditation.

The film is reminiscent of 2007’s Into Great Silence, where Philip Gröning lived in a monastery for six months in near-complete silence, filming the monks’ daily prayers, cores, and rituals. As in that film, the inherent contradiction of making a film about a secluded community to share their world with outsiders is overcome at least in part by the quiet, unassuming, open=hearted approach of the filmmakers.

And it is, of course, fascinating to get a glimpse of this secluded world. We see members of the community perform various everyday tasks and the movie trusts us enough to expect that we will not find it boring, at least not for long, because the rhythms of the film illuminate the essential oneness — there is no separation between chores and worship. We meet people coming to the ashram and learn a little bit about what brought them at this moment and what they are looking for. And we hear some of Swami Dayananda’s lessons. One of the pleasant surprises of the film is how much laughter there is. There is seriousness of purpose, but the members of this community feel and convey a constant sense of joy that is as important a lesson for us as the commentary on the nature of reality.