The Fire Yogi

I don't know which is more impressive, the fact that Yogi Rambhauswami lays in a fire pit with flames surrounding his body or that his diet for the last 26 years has consisted of two bananas and a glass of milk twice daily. In Mike Vasan's The Fire Yogi, we see the titular 63-year-old yogi preparing for the unusual 14-hour Fire Ritual, which features a purification ceremony, prayer, meditation, and a grocery list of items tossed into the fire pit and burned throughout the procedure—including 110 pounds of clarified butter (also called ghee), 400 slabs of cow dung, 50 coconuts, 4,000 individual rice cakes, and assorted cashew nuts, fruits, and flowers. Rambhauswami states that he performs the Fire Ritual for global prosperity, individual healing, and universal harmony, achieving a trance-like state while he lies prostrate in the fire pit, appearing to defy the laws of science, physics, and nature. There seems to be no scientific explanation for the fire yogi's tolerance for smoke, heat, or pain (the filmmakers had his robe tested for flame resistant substances, but the only organic compound found on the fabric was scant traces of butter), and doctors examining Rambhauswami both before and after the ceremony found him to have no skin injuries and normal blood pressure. Filmed in Tanjore, South India, this documentary features excellent camerawork and an impressive soundtrack by R. Visweswaran. As to whether this “oneness with fire” is the real McCoy or not, viewers will have to draw their own conclusions. Recommended. Aud: P. (N. Plympton)