Written & Directed by Ted Nicolau
The film Finding Happiness is a beautiful invitation to the Ananda spiritual community, wrapped lightly in the framework of a story. Of primary interest is the character J. Donald Waters, aka Swami Kriyananda, recently deceased founder of the Ananda movement worldwide, as himself. The film is set in the context of a skeptical investigative reporter’s visit to Ananda Village in Northern California’s Gold Country. There the reporter (Juliet Palmer, played by Elisabeth Rohm) discovers the benefits of living in a spiritual community. For younger families realizing that it does indeed take a village to raise a child, as well as singles looking to create an alternative family, the idea of living in community gives the film the possibility of a wider audience.
As our dependence on technology has increased, we’ve become more alienated from the earth and from each other. Ananda Village offers the opportunity to live with caring, like-minded people in a beautiful, natural setting, which is also appealing to many in the Boomer generation, who made going “back to the land” a national trend.
It’s difficult to know what really happens inside a community unless you live there, but listening to residents’ accounts of their lives (and bearing in mind the film is a commercial of sorts), it sounds idyllic. Goats frolic, tech geeks geek, doctors heal and teachers teach. Through it all the community works together to feed themselves and resolve their issues, as they have since the founding in 1967, and especially following a fire that nearly wiped them out less than 10 years later.
It’s not surprising to learn the original land was purchased along with Buddhist teacher Richard Baker, but who knew poets Alan Ginsburg and Gary Snyder were part of the deal? Snyder later writes, “Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” And indeed, this home in nature, shared with a likeminded spiritual community, is very appealing.
Just as the founding of the community mixed spiritual with non, the casting of the film is mixed. The premise is of a fictional visitor—played by a competent actor—assigned to investigate Ananda Village by her fictional boss (played by John M. Jackson). But who else is hired help? A visit to the film’s homepage indicates her guide, David, is an actor as well, but Swami Kriyananda and Paramahansa Yogananda are also listed as cast members. It seems as if the rest of the “actors” must be community members representing themselves, but ultimately it’s unclear. It doesn’t diminish the film’s message, but this reviewer found it a bit disconcerting.
No matter, the film’s message remains strong. One of Kriyananda’s stated goals was to “provide the world an example of living harmoniously.” He believed that “a small intentional community will change the face of the world.” That instead of trying to change the world, we “become the world.” Whether or not Ananda Village achieves all of his lofty goals, it is certainly inspirational and for some, a way of finding happiness.
—Abigail Lewis
❋❋ If you liked this story you might also enjoy . . .
~ Smuggling Beauty: The Village Idiot has Arrived
~ What Counts in Money & Happiness
~ Film: Kumaré
