Recently a film documentary appeared on YouTube under the name: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the Controversial Meditation Movement – Shadows Of Paradise – Documentary.

It was produced by Bunbury Films, a small documentary film company in Montreal, with some financial support from the Canadian government. It also won an award at the Montreal Festival Du Nouveau Cinéma. Sebastian Lange directed it, who lived in Fairfield for many years, and also studied at the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment.

The film begins with Maharishi, and the many promises of bliss and Heaven on Earth through Transcendental Meditation, and as the film progresses one gets a feeling of the changes that Sebastian went through. He was born to parents who meditated, and he learned the children’s TM technique at the age of four.

Later in his life he got to know David Lynch, Robert Roth, and the David Lynch Foundation and traveled with them to India and New York, and various other places.

Archive footage from the David Lynch Foundation was also used.

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The story details Sebastian’s experiences on the DLF tour, and later his desire to know the origin of Transcendental Meditation, even visiting the cave where Guru Dev, Maharishi’s master spent years meditating. Although this documentary is mostly about David Lynch, DLF, and Bobby Roth, the documentary also hints at Sebastian’s doubts about the TM movement, which isn’t covered in the film and isn’t spelled out.

The film includes segments from Maharishi’s funeral in India, and it also shows the devotees in the Ganges when Maharishi’s ashes were poured into the river. This segment hit home, as this author was also there, a few meters actually from where David Lynch was at the time. If you haven’t seen anything about Maharishi’s funeral, this film could give you a feeling about it.

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There is a segment showing the Maharishi temple that was built later on the elevated ground where Maharishi was cremated. During the funeral, some of the stone elements were lying around, but in this film segment, we can see the completed temple.

This author feels this film documentary is a work of art, a visual display of a subtle thought from a long-time devotee of Maharishi and the TM movement. The cinematography is splendid, and much thought went into creating this film.

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We at RajaLeaks thank Sebastian Lange for this creative display in film form.

A few days from now we will present and write about certain other art forms put on display in Moscow from the artwork of David Lynch, but if you watch this documentary you will understand beforehand.

Shadows of Paradise