7 Great Spiritual Documentaries to be seen on Netflix

It looks like I had too much time on my hands as I was opening my Netflix account way too much in the past couple of months.

Luckily I wasn’t alone in this and we all probably watched a bit too much online than we actually should have.

However, after a while, I got sick of watching the same things over and over again, so I figured I should have a look at the documentaries Netflix has to offer.

I got sucked in really bad, but at the same time, my mind was stimulated again.

So here is a list of spiritual documentaries that you really need to watch if you’ve got a Netflix account.

I do have to add that Netflix doesn’t have the same movies and series everywhere, so your area might not be able to get these (yet), but there are other platforms you might be able to use as well if you’d really like to watch them.

#1 Ram Dass, Going Home (2018)

If your attention span isn’t that great, then this documentary might be something for you. It’s a very short one, merely 30 minutes long, so great for when you don’t have a lot of time to watch something. It’s even a great documentary to watch on the road. You can watch on the Netflix app while you are on the bus or train commuting to work. An amazing start to your day (or end of your day)

This documentary is about the life of Ram Dass, of course, who unfortunately passed away on December 22nd of 2019. He was a spiritual teacher, psychologist, and basically an inspiration to many people. In this documentary, you won’t just see glimpses of the life he lived, but he also shares a lot of his enlightening wisdom with us. Even if you don’t have a single clue who he is, it’s a must-watch for all the spiritual seekers out there.

This really is one of the top movies about spiritual awakening on Netflix. And for those seekers among us, this is a work that must be viewed if you want to know more about Ram Dass and his teachings.

#2 Heal (2017)

Did you know that the body has some self-healing properties? Well, this documentary will tell you all about it. It’s not just a spiritual documentary as you’ll get to see both sides of the coin. You will see scientists talk about the control the mind has over our body and also how spiritual guidance deals with treating your body or illnesses.

The greatest thing about this documentary is that it isn’t just about illnesses, it’s about the beliefs that our mind puts us through to maintain that status of being sick and having pain. And on top of that, there are even scientific results to be compared with it.

The documentaries that I absolutely love are those that actually contain both sides, where it is not about one person who has the wisdom and tells you about it. Hearing different stories and opinions will give you a better overall picture and that’s what this documentary provides.

#3 DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2010)

If you are looking for something lighter, this documentary will do as well. It’s about DMT, which is also known as a drug that you can use and start to trip. But that’s not entirely what this documentary is about. It’s mainly about why this molecule exists and why it is present in a lot of living creatures and plants.

The documentary will be talking about the drug as well of course, so it might not be so suitable to watch with the entire family. However, it’s a great watch if you’d like to know a bit more about this drug and what’s yet to be discovered about it.

#4 Minimalism

After I’ve read the book Minimalism I was dying to watch the movie as well. Although, as you often hear, the book’s always better and has some more practical tips in it as well. So, if you watch the movie and it triggered your curiosity to live a minimalistic lifestyle, it’s definitely something to read as well.

The movie itself was more about why we actually find it quite difficult to live minimalistic and it shows us the benefits of living a life with less materialistic things. It’s not per se a spiritual film, but it might be affiliated to it as it’s about living your life with little attachment to objects. Which is basically also what we know from Buddhism and other spiritual practices.

This film really changed my life and I have been living by the rules of minimalism. If you are interested as well, watch it now on Netflix.

#4.5 The minimalists: Less is now

Alright, a little bit of a cheat here. You won’t be getting 6 documentaries but 7!

This is because recently Netflix has released the sequel to the minimalism documentary!

The Minimalists: Less is Now is another work of Joshua and Ryan about the journey of minimalism.

If you weren’t convinced yet after the first documentary, make sure you watch the second one too!

I really liked this one, it’s just that I did feel this was so American. In the way that you expect that movies and documentaries are built.

Which was a bit of a shame as the first one was really amazing and did something different.

Now it’s like building upon a big movement to make it even bigger. Which is also good of course. It might have been done though differently.

Nevertheless, a must-watch!

#5 Awake: The Life of Yogananda

We’ve all heard the name Yogananda in our lives. We’ve probably also read the book “Autobiography of a yogi”. Now we see this work translated into a film. Awake represents the life of Yogananda, the yogi who brought yoga to the West.

This movie is in fact amazing to see the works of a yogi in action. And without him, we probably wouldn’t have the yoga we have today in the West.

And it’s not all lovey-dovey as they also show you the downside of being a guru. Which is that governments don’t always like it and are, sometimes justly, assuming that it’s a cult-to-be.

Of course, Yogananda opened the door to many other mystics into Europe and the United States. And even other countries. Although Europe and the US have been the furthest from mysticism than other countries.

#6 The Secret (2006)

I remember that the secret used to be a very big hype in the spiritual world a couple of decades ago. Many people who had just started their spiritual path probably started with the book before they entered the path of meditation and other techniques to raise their own awareness.

The reason it scores so low on this list is that it’s actually the only documentary that I could find. So there was no other option than to put this one here…

I’m not going to be too harsh about it, because I know it helped a couple of people. It’s just that I find it’s too focused on using your mind and meditation to achieve great success. It does fit with the age where technology was just starting to boom and it hadn’t reached its full potential yet.

However, within the spiritual world there’s been a shift as well. As ten to fifteen years ago the focus lied on the law of attraction, it is now more at ‘going to your through self.’ Which has been explained quite nicely in the Ram Dass documentary ;).

I’m not saying that the law of attraction isn’t important anymore and if you’d like to know more about it, this documentary will explain it all. So it might be nice to watch if you’re a bit of a novice in the spiritual realm.

Conclusion

That was it for my top 6… or 7… Spiritual Documentaries available on Netflix.

I hope you will enjoy watching one of these and let me know what your favourite was in the comment section below! And please, I still have so much time left to watch other things, so expand my horizon and give me your suggestions!

Nama-stay wonderful!