A Journey
From Monastic Life to Hollywood

Shared with Photos and Videos

by Sharon Janis, author of:

 

(click on a cover to read full books or chapters online)

First, let's begin with a few photos from my 10 years of monastic life during the 1980's in the Siddha Yoga ashram of Swami Muktananda and Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, where I was called by the Sanskrit name "Kumuda" (You can read a chapter about how and when I received this name and much more from Swami Muktananda during our first magical meeting HERE.)

I had come to visit the ashram for two months while studying neuroscience and film/video at the University of Michigan, and I loved the monastic lifestyle and ancient spiritual teachings and practices so much that I stayed in the ashram for the next decade.

 

While living a decade of monastic life, I learned to experience a meditative state whether sitting quietly or playing wild drums for thousands of chanters.

Listen to a story from my ashram years and chant Shree Krishna Govinda

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My main service during this decade of monastic life was to edit hundreds of videos about the teachings of our spiritual path. These videos were sent to meditation centers around the world.

I was. . . ahem. . . a bit thinner then.

I loved the life, the solitude, the peacefulness, the friendships, the days filled with devotional spiritual practices and service.

Nevertheless, even great things have to transform in this world, and so it was. . .

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On to Hollywood !

CLICK HERE to read a chapter about this transition from the Monastery to Hollywood, and how I got my first main job after monastic life -- editing for the tabloid TV show Hard Copy (!)

These are some of the local, national, and international awards for my television work in Hollywood.

There's nothing like ten years of selfless service to teach you to do your job well.

KCAL'S PRIME NINE NEWS

 

 

Editing and producing news and news features for Disney's KCAL-TV was my first full-time job in Hollywood. This job gave me a chance to work with some of the best of the best in the television business -- including Pat Harvey, Jane Velez-Mitchell, Josh Mankiewicz, Bill Ritter, Larry Carroll, David Jackson, and Frank Buckley, many of whom have moved on to successful national journalist roles. During these two and a half years, I had a chance to work with many truly talented folks, from whom I learned a great deal. This job also gave a very consistent and indepth view into what was happening in the world, and a chance to catch up on all the world events I'd missed during ten years of monastic life.

News Features from Prime Nine News, Los Angeles

Produced and edited by Sharon Janis

Click on the TV to View this Video Clip

This is a montage of video clips that were produced and edited in the early 1990's for Disney's KCAL-TV in Los Angeles. This was Sharon's first full-time job after spending 10 years living a monastic life, and these pieces show how, with spiritual focus, even so-called tragic events can have great depth of meaning and beauty -- God's creation in action right here on earth.

 

 

 

Click Here to play in streaming realplayer the video piece we were editing in this photo -- it is a powerful and moving musical montage showing troops arriving home from the 1991 Gulf war into the arms of their loved ones, set to Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings," and filmed by our fantastic camera crews.

That evening, after the video ran, our newscast director had to go directly to commercial, because the newsanchor was weeping from watching it. Disney CEO Michael Eisner phoned to request a video copy, as did many viewers. I walked into the newsroom later that evening, and received a standing ovation from all the writers, producers and reporters -- it was a successful video!

Get realplayer here

 

Watch a video tale about sharing my sandwich
with a hungry Michael Eisner (Disney CEO) -- 6:10

 

 

Several more full video pieces to view from this time:

Line in the Sand (Emmy nominated piece about 1st Gulf war)

Let's be Thankful (Emmy nominated piece for Thanksgiving)

Fire in the City (Emmy nominated piece about the L.A. riots)

 

 

Winning an Emmy Award

Winning a Los Angeles Emmy (with seven nominations over three years) was only one of many amazing experiences in Hollywood, but it is one of the few where photos are available.

Many magical events took place on the day of winning the Emmy, including running into and chatting with Magic Johnson, driving behind a license plate that said "Emmy," and snubbing Governor Clinton, who was having a fundraiser across the street from a friend's house. One of the police escorts looked across the street, saw the four of us women dressed to the hilt, and invited us into the Clinton fundraiser. We discussed the idea, but decided to opt for getting to the Emmy awards on time.

 

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My co-worker Don won one too.

It is a rare woman who can wear the hat his wife is wearing and look so perfect in it!

 

 

 

Offering the Emmy Award to my Guru

When I first left the monastery to go to Hollywood, I'd had a vision that one day I would win an Emmy award, wrap it up in red velvet and give it to my Guru, saying "This really belongs to you."

Within 3 years of leaving monastic life, the time came -- on my guru's birthday. 

 

 

She said, "You should keep it," and gave it back.

 

 

 

THE X-MEN ANIMATED TELEVISION SHOW

I was the editor and associate producer for the animated television show, X-Men.  Although X-Men had not been anywhere near my choices of comic book reading as a child and teen, I came to like the characters, premises, and stories very much.  We had some truly dedicated writers and other talent on this show, and I enjoyed getting to piece together such interesting plotlines with music, effects and other special touches into a finished show.

In the scene below, I've been animated at a ski resort, with a "KUMUDA" nametag, and my line, "Oh come on. A demon? You must be kidding!" This was probably the most spiritual episode of X-Men. It took place in a monastery, and ends with Wolverine praying in church, so it was fitting that the storyboard artist decided to surprise me with a cameo.

 

Click on the TV to watch a clip of my animated cameo
from the X-Men Television Show

 

GO GO POWER RANGERS!

I was a video editor for "The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" television show from the time it began and for about two years. There's nothing quite like going to work and having meetings about how we're going to blow up the monster this time!

Here's how this pairing of me and the Power Rangers came about: In 1993, I'd just finished editing and co-producing the feature film "Beretta's Island," and was visiting the monastic ashram where I'd previously lived. I never was one for asking the Divine for too many "things," but on this day, I went into the main temple to pray for guidance and blessings for finding my next video job, asking, "Please bring me the right job that you want me to do."

Within a couple hours, I phoned into my home answering machine to find a message from an assistant editor I'd previously worked with, letting me know that a new Children's show was in need of an editor. "The show is only scheduled to be on for one season, but if you're looking for some work for the summer, you may want to contact the company." With that timing, how could I not!?! That was in 1993, and the show is still on the air!

 

Watch in Streaming Realplayer

Go Go Power Rangers! The Music Video
Co-directed and edited by Sharon Janis

Produced by Simon Cowell (before he became famous)

Click on the TV to View this Video Clip

 

 

Jo Champa and I were close friends for many years, although we've since lost contact, as happens fairly often in my eclectic life journey. This was somewhat of an unlikely friendship, since Jo is a well-known Italian actress and media personality, and when we met, I'd just left ten years of simple, monastic life. Somehow, we each had enough of the other's traits to find a great meeting point for many years, and we shared many fun and fine moments and learned a lot from one another.

Jo is actually much more beautiful and stylish than she looks in this photo.  In fact, this is possibly one of the least glamorous photos taken of Jo, as you can see from some of her recent photos. But I think this photo of us together, my bad hair day notwithstanding, shows another side of Jo -- the very simple hearted girl that often sparkled behind her eyes. 

Here's a short clip from Fox News where Jo and I were interviewed about the most popular fruit during the Super Bowl.  Unfortunately they cut out most of our usual humorous bantering. Who knew that avocado was a fruit (or that they'd positioned Jo and I with the right answer just behind us)?

 

 

Suze Orman

I thought Suze was a decent person when we first met -- she unfortunately fell in love with me while we were co-producing a beautiful video for our guru's worldwide satellite New Years program.  In spite of knowing that I was celibate, not gay, almost 10 years her junior and freshly out of a decade of monastic life, Suze pushed, lied, pursued, used, and eventually abused me -- using nearly two years of my skills, coaching, Hollywood contacts, finances, and care to help begin her career at a time when she was unknown and deeply in debt.  When I finally spoke up about her abuses, Suze became angry, broke every promise she'd made, and took steps to destroy my life, wellbeing, and reputation, revealing a darkness of heart that was unlike anything I'd encountered before or since.  I have few regrets in life and generally trust that whatever happens is ultimately the divine will, but I do regret having helped to bring Suze Orman into the public eye. 

Dear friends, please be intelligent and discerning about whom you receive personal moral or relationship advice from.  Just because someone can look snazzy and tell you how to invest your money; just because someone acts like they're better than you and is willing to use every trick in the book to motivate people to buy her books and other products; and just because someone has been endorsed by people like Oprah and Larry King, doesn't mean the person is trustworthy in moral matters beyond giving general useful financial information and advice. 

Of course, I've met many people with plenty of flaws, and I also have my own fair share, however based on my personal experiences with Suze, she is a thief, a liar, and a rapist -- someone who IMHO wouldn't hesitate to throw the whole world economy down the drain if it increased her own coffers.  For me, this is not just a case of having helped someone who has a few questionable issues, but of having helped someone into a position of social influence who I've since discovered to be extremely damaged and damaging.  I'm sure that much of Suze's financial advice is sound, but at what price?

I ignored problematic signs and came to learn about Suze's massive shadow the hard way. This message posted by a woman on Tammy Bruce's website is just one example of the kind of deep soul and family damage that can be caused by blindly following personal relationship and moral advice from someone who has neither the professional nor personal qualifications to be giving it: 

I have been a fan of Suze Orman for many, many years. In fact, I credit her with helping me achieve financial freedom. I never gave her sexual preferences a second thought. She always flirted with the male callers and created a sexual tension between she and her email co-host Jeff, on her CNBC shows. I did however, used to find it odd that whenever a woman called in to discuss her male partner's flagrant credit stories, Suze ALWAYS recommended dumping the guy, divorcing the guy or just plain getting rid of him. Suze never once suggested the two work it out and solve the financial problem together. I also used to find it odd that she would advice women to think of themselves first and forget their children.

For example: forget the college tuition and worry about socking money away for your own retirement.

Now, since Suze outed herself, it all makes perfect sense. If I had known this information beforehand, I would have handled her advice a bit differently. I had my own children endure painful and costly student loans all in the sake of my own retirement. Suze doesn't have children so how could she understand a mother's enduring love? Suze has different problems in her partnership than a husband and wife does.

I wish her much luck in the future. I just wish she could have been more honest 10 years ago when I started following her advice. I may not have cast off a relationship so easily.

 

Dear friends, use your intuition: 

Does this look like the face of a kind-hearted person who you would want to emulate? 
(This graphic is from Suze's own CD cover.)

 

It is challenging for someone who prefers to write about positive ideas to have to share this information, although in my updated memoir, I do share about how even the tumultuous problems with Suze did serve some positive purposes on my journey, including inspiring me to stay as far from greed as possible and to share my works as freely as possible (admittedly taking this to an unbalanced extreme that resulted in many years of poverty).  Also, in this case, my actions and naive choices contributed to bringing into the public eye someone who I believe has been significantly more harmful than helpful to society, and so I feel some responsibility to at least speak up -- not to ruin Suze's career, which would probably hardly be affected by this kind of info, but at least to make this information available to those who are intelligent enough to do some research about who is telling them to dump loved ones and refuse to help friends and family in need, along with the other warped advice and bad behaviors that have been woven along with Suze's financial teachings, like Saint Ignatius of Antioch's analogy of poison mixed with sweet wine. 

Even though I often share stories about my life as part of my speaking and writing works, I decided to wait to complete this part of my memoir until Suze came out, not knowing that she would take over a decade to do so. My newly and continually updated multimedia memoir, Never to Return: A Modern Quest for Eternal Truth, is available to read online as part of the Night Lotus website of free multimedia spiritual resources at www.nevertoreturn.com.

 

If Only. . .

 

 

 

 

Beretta's Island, Franco, and Arnold                

This was my first opportunity to co-produce and edit a movie, and it included a cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was best friends with the producer/star of "Beretta's Island" -- bodybuilder Franco Columbu. You can read about a significant shift of my personal intentions that took place during Thanksgiving evening 1992, while drinking peppermint schnapps and chatting with Arnold in this chapter from Secrets of Spiritual Happiness.

To be honest, this was a mediocre movie in most ways, with a poor script and excessive violence -- although the locations filmed in Sardinia were beautiful, some of the acting was good, and the music was composed by music maestro Cliff Magnus. It was an interesting combination of A, B, and C level movies all in one, and my first time editing or co-producing a feature film. I had a lot to learn, but fortunately was new enough to not realize how messed up the script was. The director had left right after filming, thinking no movie could ever be edited from what they'd filmed, and the movie fell into my beginner's mind hands. I went in and added dialogue, moved things around, and just made it work at least in terms of having a movie, if not a great move. At the premiere and wrap party, I received enthusiastic kudos from both the director "You did an amazing job -- I never thought a movie could have been edited from what we filmed," and Arnold, who proclaimed to Franco, "She saved your whole moooovie!"

All in all, it was a fun project to work on, with a whole lot of Italian food and wine for this monastic. The antics that took place during the production and post-production of this movie were much more dramatic and entertaining than the movie itself.

 

 

 

Melissa Skoff

This was my first vacation in well over a decade -- vacationing in Honolulu two Christmas's in a row with Melissa, a talented casting director for many movies and television shows, who gave some of today's biggest stars their first breaks.

Waikiki Beach with poolside margaritas and paddleboats -- only a slight change from monastic life!

 

 

NBC NETWORK PROMOS

 

I was also hired to train NBC Network's promo producers on the nonlinear AVID editing system, and to edit the national television promos for many "Must See TV" NBC Shows, including "Seinfeld," "Mad About You," and "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

Watch some of these NBC promos in streaming realplayer.

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Jerry Dunphy

 

Jerry Dunphy was the inspiration for Ted Baxter's character on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, as well as for the newscaster on The Simpsons. He was very sincere about his love for country, and we worked on many successful pieces together.

CLICK HERE to watch the music video I produced, directed, and edited to Jerry's song, "Desert to the Sea," sung by Country music singer T.G. Sheperd, and produced by Mike Curb.

 

 

 

Additional Works by Sharon Janis

Click on a book or CD cover to enjoy it online
(most in their entirety):

 

 

 

 

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