David Silver joins Raghu to discuss ‘Brilliant Disguise,’ the new documentary exploring K.C. Tewari and his relationship to Maharaj-ji. In this special bonus episode of the Here and Now Podcast, Raghu and David share teachings from Ram Dass that further explore the film’s themes of grace, devotion and love.
Brilliant Disguise tells the unique story of a group of inspired Western spiritual seekers from the 60s, who in meeting the great American teacher, Ram Dass, followed him to India to meet his Guru, Neem Karoli Baba, familiarly known as Maharaji. Two days before he left his body, Maharaji instructed K.C. Tewari to take care of the Westerners, which he did resolutely until the day he died in 1997.K.C. Tewari—in the guise of a headmaster of a boys school in the foothills of the Himalayas—was secretly a High Yogi, frequently able to go into altered states of trance, known as Samadhi, at any moment.
Featuring Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Raghu Markus, Radha Baum, and others—including K.C’s two sons, as well as rare archival interviews with K.C. himself—Brilliant Disguise is set in the stunning backdrop of India and is adorned with spectacular and moving footage from the 1989 Maha Kumbha Mela – the largest spiritual gathering in the world, attended by K.C. and the group of Westerners featured throughout this colorful biopic.
This film is the story of a man who represents the intrinsic potential in all human beings to live in direct contact with the Divine Presence. K.C. chose to live within the humble disguise of a husband and school teacher. The brilliance is K.C.’s ability at a moment’s notice to go beyond himself into sublime states of consciousness. Watch Brilliant Disguise Here
Brilliant Disguise
Raghu and David dive right into the deep radiance and heart-brilliance that the western devotees who followed Ram Dass to India experienced through their time spent with K.C. Tewari – their Indian mentor met through their mystical and transformative Guru, Neem Karoli Baba, affectionately called Maharaj-ji. They discuss the “Brilliant Disguise” Tewari wore, in that he was a high yogi who frequently entered states of samadhi (spiritual absorption into oneness), yet still attended perfectly to his duties as a husband, father, and headmaster of a school.
“K.C. Tewari was a mentor to us when we went to India with Ram Dass. He was one of the most important figures in our lives. Once Neem Karoli Baba left in 1973, we were fortunate that he said to Tewari, ‘You take care of the Westerners now.’ So we were privileged to have this being; who in his own right was a very high yogi, married with children, a headmaster of a private school in a mountain town in the foothills of the Himalayas. He was one of the most prominent examples Maharaj-ji had of someone going into samadhi – a state of Divine absorption.” – Raghu Markus
For a deep dive on Maharaj-ji & Tewari, join Krishna Das on Pilgrim Heart Ep. 112
Ram Dass & K.C. Tewari (11:08)
Spelunking clips of Ram Dass discussing pivotal heart themes to the Brilliant Disguise film, David and Raghu jam on Tewari’s connection to spirituality, love, samadhi, miracles, ‘becoming somebody/nobody,’ being yourself, devotion, tuning the mind towards God, and how K.C. represents the possibility of finding a path to our innermost heart.
“For Tewari, because he had this tremendous devotion, when he called on a Deity, propitiated a Deity, that Deity came. That could only happen with this great love. Ram Dass said, ‘Devotion makes it easy to tune your mind in a certain direction,’ and that’s where Tewari’s mind got tuned into—into an absorption of the One.” – Raghu Markus
Krishna Das talks Hanuman & shares a story of K.C. Tewari, on Pilgrim Heart Ep. 118
Samadhi & Maharaj-ji // Mindfulness & Witness (35:35)
Raghu and David listen to a clip of Ram Dass sharing a Maharaj-ji story, which sparks an in-depth reflection about the state of absorption in oneness that K.C. Tewari would constantly slip into, called samadhi. From here, they talk life, death, bardo, mindfulness, transforming beyond the sense of small self, as well as the importance of Tewari’s honesty and humor. They close by talking darshan of the ‘Big Maharaj-ji’ and the love inside ourselves.
“Ram Dass is saying that you need to stop the train for a minute. One of the ways in which he does it all the time was by humor. And K.C. Tewari did the same thing… K.C. could make you laugh in a second. It was gentle, but it always meant something. That was one of the ways in which he transmitted these very hard things.” – David Silver