#2129 - David Holthouse

Joe Rogan (0:03)

The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day.

Why man? Good to see you again.

David Holthouse (0:14)

Good, thanks for having me back, man.

Joe Rogan (0:15)

My pleasure. You made another awesome one, man. This, uh, the Krishnas one, oh my god.

Whew, there is something about these cult documentaries.

David Holthouse (0:26)

Right.

Joe Rogan (0:26)

This just...

David Holthouse (0:27)

Right.

Joe Rogan (0:28)

Whew, that one's heavy.

David Holthouse (0:30)

Do you remember the Hare Krishna devotees in the airports? Because you're like me, like, you're old enough of that generation that you might remember the white robe, like...

Joe Rogan (0:38)

I remember them.

David Holthouse (0:38)

They'd have the flowers, and they'd be selling books and shit in the airports.

Joe Rogan (0:41)

I don't know if I remember them at the airports. I remember them in some places. I definitely have seen them, you know?

Yeah. But, um, I just always thought they were just kooks, you know, it's just, it's interesting, you know, knowing what I know now about the 60s and, you know, what, what was done to sort of, to kind of, uh, crush the hippie movement.

David Holthouse (1:04)

Right.

Joe Rogan (1:04)

You know, it's interesting to see that this was connected to, you know, the Beatles and peace and love, and then you see this sect that this, this, what was his name again?

David Holthouse (1:16)

Kirtan Ananda.

Joe Rogan (1:17)

Yes.

David Holthouse (1:17)

Was the guru that went.

Joe Rogan (1:19)

Right.

David Holthouse (1:19)

Way wrong.

Joe Rogan (1:20)

Yeah, went way wrong. Yeah.

But it is, well, let's just get into from the beginning. How did you get involved in this particular subject?

David Holthouse (1:27)

So there's a production company, Marwar Junction, and they had actually sold this show to Peacock, and they were looking for a director. So this is the first show that I've made or helped to make that I haven't been involved in the sort of conception of the story from the jump.

So they had developed the story and sold it to Peacock, and they were shopping for a director, and they liked my work, and so they hired me to make it.

Joe Rogan (1:49)

And so did you have any experience with the Krishnas before this?

David Holthouse (1:53)

No, no. And I had a lot, you know, like a lot of people had a lot of misconceptions about them. Like I thought that there was a that the Hare Krishna movement was invented in America in the 1960s. I just had it associated with the sort of the hippie movement, you know, and that's not the that's not the truth of it at all. It's like actually a spiritual tradition that dates back thousands of years, like far predates Christianity, that's based in these ancient spiritual texts called the Vedas. That, you know, the written version is like at least 3,500 years old.

And the oral tradition goes back thousands of years beyond that. So I learned a lot about, you know, the Krishna consciousness in the making of this.

And the show is about a particularly dark chapter in the history of the movement in the 70s and 80s that I don't think is a representative of the movement like today. Like, I think it's a force for good in the world today, actually.

Joe Rogan (2:50)

Yeah, I think the principles behind it, if you pay attention to the main guru, what was the older German?

David Holthouse (2:56)

Prabhupada. Yeah.

Joe Rogan (2:57)

Yeah. My friend Duncan loves that guy.

And what the whole concept behind it sounds beautiful. You know, it's all just love and, you know, relinquishing your possessions and the hold that they have on you and just living this very peaceful, loving life and not just forgiving your enemies, but letting them into your home and it's all that sounds great. But all it takes is one psycho.

David Holthouse (3:24)

Yeah, one psycho. Well, Prabhupada took a risk. I mean, so Prabhupada was a guru. So several gurus, Krishna Consciousness gurus, had come over from India to the UK or to the US in the 1800s even and through the first half of the 20th century and had no luck because their timing wasn't right or they weren't the right person or both. But Prabhupada was the right dude at the right time. He showed up in Greenwich Village, New York City in 1965 and started preaching Krishna Consciousness. And it just like, you know, took off like wildfire.

And, you know, Alan Ginsburg got down with it. Wasn't maybe a full-scale devotee, but like he was hanging out with them.