PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Jim Carrey, well known for his comic acting, is not so well known for his deep


spiritual connection with the Universe – although segments of the video of his addressing the graduating class of the Maharishi University of Management recently went viral. Michael Sternfeld was behind the scenes at the campus producing the event and reports on Jim’s huge heart connection.


Behind the scenes with Jim Carrey by Michael Sternfeld


THE TRUE-MAN SHOW


SOMETIMES A GIFT TURNS OUT to be quite different from what we expect. When I was asked by Maharishi University of Management (MUM: Fairfield, Iowa, USA) to co-produce the Jim Carrey ‘production’ for MUM’s 2014 Graduation, I was honored to help and also figured it might be an interesting adventure working with an A-list comedian. Little did I suspect that valuable life lessons would unfold through the process. Of course, there were a few


challenges along the way, as Carrey likes to dream big. Why not create a 2-storey- high painting and have it freighted into Fairfield for the big ‘reveal’ at the climax of his commencement address. Much of the production revolved around how to get this super- sized painting through the doors of the Golden Dome (the meditation facility at MUM),


12 july 2014


suspend it from the rafters, as well as creating a tent-sized covering for the painting to drop at the precise cue, “Risk being seen in all your glory” – all while being illuminated by a giant bank of black lights. But these behind-the-scenes


dramas just set the stage for what really matters most (and that sentence foreshadows the very nature of this story). Jim Carrey’s speech took us on a journey from the fulfillment of our desires in true “Secret” fashion, to move through the field of desire itself, and finally resolving in the deepest levels of life. He described how he learned to fulfill his desires, “...as far as I can tell, it’s just about letting the universe know what you want and working toward it while letting go of how it might come to pass.” But rising to the ‘top of the mountain’ as one of the highest-grossing comedic stars, he found one thing


missing at the peak – himself. He realized that “the only one that I hadn’t freed was myself, and that’s when my search for identity deepened”. Carrey went back to the


drawing board to do the deep work. Transcendence – through his meditation practice, combined with the vicissitudes of life experience, and perhaps his interactions with Eckhart Tolle, must have led to the insight, “...I wished people could realize all their dreams of wealth and fame so they could see that it’s not where they’ll find their sense of completion.” Jim seems to be one of the fortunate ones who came out the other side on the journey of personal transformation, humbled with the realization that “the effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is”. Then he came to the sobering conclusion that “Everything you gain in life will rot and fall


apart, and all that will be left of you is what was in your heart.” Musing on his words and


my own recurring puzzle, I wondered: is it really possible to go beyond our ego desires, until we actually have the chance to fulfill them first? That nagging ‘spiritually- correct’ voice in my head keeps reminding me that I’m supposed to evolve only by somehow going beyond all my small self ego desires. But in real life experience for those on the path, I sense that unless we fulfill some of our deeper desires, shadows of our own self-doubt lurk somewhere in the recesses of our own mind. Then these impulses manage to come out at the most inopportune moments, as our shadows rear their ugly heads. Carrey’s evolution, though, seems to have been blessed by the heart- transforming experience of coming down from that ever-


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