Kūmāré - The True Story of a false prophet

I recently had the absolute pleasure watching this film, created by a young film maker Vikram Gandhi.

Vikram grew up in a very religious family and experienced much of what it was to be a Hindu through prayer and ritual. 

When he was at college he lost himself to a degree in the temptations of what life often has to offer young people his age.

He always felt that religion was something people did to make them selves feel better, that the myriad of gurus and self help practitioners were only kidding themselves.

What was so incredible about Vikram's story is that he became a victim of his own success, because what he was pretending to be, he became.

A false prophet? Or a product of his own success?

This tells the incredible journey of one man's mission to prove that belief and transformation comes from within not from without. What he discovers is something quite remarkable.

As a Buddhist I found this film a fascinating example of how a desire can become a reality if you really begin to believe it.

I really encourage you to watch this film because it really embodies what Nichiren Buddhism is about, and what "Kumare" really did end up doing, while he was pretending.

When we sit in front of the Gohonzon (The object for observing the mind)  and chant nam myoho renge kyo, and we study. We begin a journey of self discovery, of introspection and self analysis.

Our human revolution begins from within, and there is nothing wrong with laughing your way to enlightenment.

An interesting interview on Aljazeera.com

Find out more about the film

Vikram Gandhi is an award-winning director of narrative and documentary films. He grew up consuming equal parts ancient Indian mythology and American movies. After graduating from Columbia University, he began working as a filmmaker for hire. He’s since worked as a video journalist covering terrorism, natural disasters, and social unrest throughout Asia and as a cinematographer and producer on documentaries, television, and narrative films. He now directs commercial campaigns, music videos, branded content, and films through his New York-based production company, Disposable. Over this time, Vikram documented the emergence of the yoga industry in the US by interviewing spiritual leaders around the country until he decided to become one himself. In 2010, Vikram combined his passion mythology and documentary to create Kumaré. Vikram lives in Brooklyn and Kumaré is a manifestation of his ideal self.