Saturday, December 26

Sex Magic: Manifesting Maya

     We recently screened the Australian premiere of Baba Dez's new documentary: "Sex Magic; Manifesting Maya." This was the third version that I had seen and it has come a loooong way since the controversial first cut. It was warmly received and celebrated by the 30 person audience in Byron Bay.
 

     I first saw the rough cut when it was screened at a Sacred Sex conference in Virginia Beach. The audience was so shocked, it nearly provoked an energetic riot.  Many teachers and practioners are  sensitive about the hollywood portrayal of deep issues such as tantra, sexual healing, polyamory and sex magic.  Directors Jonathan Schell and Eric Liebman were completely new to tantra when they began working on this project over three years ago.   Initially, they were looking for the "dramatic" angle but eventually were affected by the more spiritual dimensions of this story. They started by attending conferences and interviewing tantra teachers but ultimatly followed Dez's personal love story with Maya.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the treatment:

      It's a “Boy meets Girl, Boy looses Girl, Boy tries to get Girl back” story with a twist. The Boy is BABA DEZ, a renowned sacred sexual healer, whose polyamorous (multiple relationships). The Girl, MAYA, is a sacred prostitute with a history of sexual abuse. To get her back, Dez must embark on a challenging journey, one that pitches him into a cult of his own creation. Sex Magic takes an irreverent look at very serious people, where devotees and practitioners of the ancient Tantric Arts travel down risky emotional paths, attempting to channel their sexual energy toward spiritual growth and the manifestation of their greatest desires.
     But his desire to change for her comes into conflict with his commitment to his lifestyle and philosophy and Dez goes to Hawaii with two lovers to explore Sex Magic; the process of creating a god connection through love making to manifest dreams and desires. He starts writing a book about Sex Magic with one of the lovers, Kamala, whose married with a young child, and claims that by making love with Dez, she's able to “download” all his wisdom given to him by his teachers. And for Dez, she “holds space” for Maya's return. Trouble, however, seems brewing in paradise as the more pleasure is pursued the more Dez pines for Maya, pitching him into an existential crisis and he confronts the very real notion that the tools he’s employed for liberation are in actuality the prison bars of his unhappiness.

     Despite not having a happy ending, most of the objections evoked by the first several versions of the movie have been answered.  The film still bites off more than it can chew, adn I  still have my personal reservations about the way that sex magic is mis-represented, but at the end of the day, I feel the positive impact of showing a powerful sacred sex teacher in his vulnerable daily practices outweighs the negative impact of showing Dez and his attachment to personal love.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Im late on seeing this documentary, but i was stunned at how simplistic these relationship/scenarios were played out. You have a man that uses his addiction for good in essence, but while serving others in "healing" hes feeding his own addiction in the process. At times it seems as if he abuses his "power" ;and ends up in a conflict with one of his co-healers(who is gorgeous, I see why he wanted her...sheesh!), causing the need for a mediator and a confrontation on camera. Its comical in a way. Details missing, he goes from AZ to SD? and basically takes Kamala from her husband and whisks her away to Hawaii....genius!!!!!By the way, where was the kid?? poor Michael. Personally I think Kamala is the prize of them all. Shes a natural beauty, so open and intelligent, well spoken(author..lol)and seemingly would do anything for that guy, AND YOURE GOD DAMNED RIGHT..WHATS THE FUCKING PURPOSE OF YOUR CAKE, IT IS TO EAT IT!!!! i love how real she is! I really didnt like how he has Kamala waiting down a hill while hes talkin with Maya. Shes lookin so beautiful with that flower in her hair and is so patient, we can see that it hurts her(how deep is only for her to reveal). As he returns from his phone call and shes obviously affected, he doesnt even give her a hug or a kiss or any acknowledgement, singin like an idiot...end scene, and shes nowhere to be found again Hmm, i wonder why?? .(back to boring ass Michael i suppose?)Also, why didnt he have sex with the fat woman who was sexually abused and turned to eating for protection????(I guess healing has its limits, huh?) What was the real purpose of the Russian girl who wanted to eat everything raw in the world it seems??? Sad thing with the blonde who was crying cuz she "had a hand in his love for Maya"...the same woman who was pissed for wanting to open up when he took his vow of celibacy. She wanted him for herself, i can go on and on, the documentary was good for entertainment and im thinking of spinning a movie off Kamala. In all seriousness, they couldve dug a little deeper but it is what it is. I would definitely like to pick Kamala's brain if she would let me. My email is GHOSTRYDA88@YAHOO.COM PLLEEAASSE OBLIGE ME, I YEARN FOR HER TO CONTACT ME.

EmuV said...

I have just watched this film, can I just say Des is full of shit. What absolute rubbish. Des just takes advantage of week minded people, as soon as the women in his life realised this they took off and left him behind. What happened to Michael and the son he had with Kamala? What happened to Kamala? She just disappeared from the movie after a shot of her looking pissed off about Des talking to Maya. I guess Des had a fair bit to do with the production, direction and editing of this film even though he still came of as a predatory tosser. I would also like to hear what Kamala has to say about it all, also what Michaels take on it all was.