Breath Of Fire

[DanaK]

Quote

HBO 4 part doc series that premieres October 23 2024 and continues weekly and streams on Max

Synopsis: In 2013, Katie Griggs, a millennial YouTube astrologer, rose to fame as the face of Kundalini yoga, opening the RA MA Institute in Los Angeles, donning a white turban, and reinventing herself as Guru Jagat. BREATH OF FIRE explores Guru Jagat's evolution while chronicling the shocking secret history of Kundalini through its origins in the 1960s to its expansion in the United States and its presence in wellness circles today. Based on the Vanity Fair story by Hayley Phelan, "The Second Coming of Guru Jagat," BREATH OF FIRE illuminates the culture of modern spirituality revealing complicated themes of cultural appropriation and the dangers of self-proclaimed gurus.

 

[DanaK]

Full press release http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2024/10/09/hbo-original-four-part-documentary-series-breath-of-fire-debuts-october-23-270310/20241009hbo02/

Trailer

 

[rlc]

Watched the first two episodes over the weekend. I remember seeing people on Instagram a few years ago dressed in white and wearing turbans. I thought it was ridiculous at the time, but now realize just how gross/inappropriate it is/was.

[Quilt Fairy]

This is the most boring docu series I have ever seen.  I can't believe HBO is stretching this to 4 episodes.  The first 3 have been all over the place in terms of people and timelines, it's very confusing. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

I watched the last episode last night and... yeah, no, I have no sympathy for Katie (I REFUSE to call her by her other name). She was an abusive, exploitative cult leader with bullshit philosophies and horrific judgment. While I agree that women tend to get criticized more harshly than men, I am not going to succumb to whataboutism. That Harbhajan Singh Puri (I also won't call him by his preferred name) was an utter monster doesn't make what Katie did all right. Yes, her crimes were lesser, but she was still horrible as well. 

I practice what I call Basic Bitch Yoga, and I find it extremely beneficial, but there are too many out there who twist yoga into something gross and sinister that's cultish at worst, ruinously expensive at best. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I was very interested in this because I have cousins who were lost to another yoga cult. But it is boring. I guess I always watch these cult documentaries to try to understand how people get sucked in, but I can never fathom it. 

[angelamh66]

I watched all four episodes last night (just trying to avoid real life news right now) and I agree that 4 eps was way more than necessary. Also, I continue to watch these cult documentaries in an attempt to understand how people get sucked into this stuff and I still don't know. I guess I am far too cynical and definitely not a "seeker" so I just don't get it. I just think if you look around yourself and you are surrounded by people all dressed the same and worshipping a human being... you are likely in a cult. 

[EastCoast4Life]

I watched all the episodes. I was interested in this, because a family friend tried to do an off-shot of this "cult" in Newport RI. She had a clothing line (all white), and was totally indoctrinated. My mom attended a class and said it was totally weird, but we wanted to support said friend. She ended up closing the business and buying a van and going across country to spread yoga. She landed in Montana and is now into ultra marathon running. Sometimes people just need SOMETHING to be obsessed with. 

Watching this, I felt bad for Katie's mom. 

[overtherainbow]

On 11/19/2024 at 12:55 PM, angelamh66 said:

I watched all four episodes last night (just trying to avoid real life news right now) and I agree that 4 eps was way more than necessary. Also, I continue to watch these cult documentaries in an attempt to understand how people get sucked into this stuff and I still don't know. I guess I am far too cynical and definitely not a "seeker" so I just don't get it. I just think if you look around yourself and you are surrounded by people all dressed the same and worshipping a human being... you are likely in a cult. 

On the topic of how people get sucked in, I don't know if you've seen it already, but I highly recommend watching Kumare (2011), it's about Vikram Ghandi who turns himself into a fake guru complete with a fake Indian accent despite growing up in Jersey as a kind of social experiment, turns out it really doesn't take much to get a cult following. The yoga people and megachurch people are the same to me, a lot of broken/damaged people, plus just people looking for community, a leader to follow, and some fort of tradition/ritual to feel like a bigger part of something.