Madonna's Spritiual Side

Madonna's Spiritual Side

Like everything she does, Madonna is relentless about maintaining her own good karma. She practices yoga, keeps a macrobiotic diet, and is a devoted student of Kabbalah, a mystical form of Judaism, which predates organized religion. Madonna says it has turned her life around.

Lauer: “You called it very punk rock.”

Madonna: “Yeah.”

Matt: “I don’t know what you mean by that. Why is that?”

Madonna: “Because to me punk rock is thinking outside of the box, outside of the program, outside the establishment. And that’s what it is.”

Lauer: “You said one time it’s like getting the codes to the universe.”

Madonna: “It is the code to the universe. Isn’t it amazing that there are laws of the universe that you can actually find out about, live your life according to and change the world for the better? Isn’t that amazing?”

Lauer: “So if I said to you what is your religion...?”

Madonna: “I don’t have a religion because I don’t like that word religion.”

Lauer: “You used to have a religion.”

Madonna: “What was it, I was raised a Catholic. But that was something that was imposed on me by my family.”

Lauer: “So if someone asked you, you would say I have no religion, I’m spiritual.”

Madonna: “I’m a Kabbalah.”

Madonna regularly attends classes at the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles, as do husband Guy Ritchie and six-year-old daughter Lourdes.

Madonna: “My daughter goes to a spirituality class every Sunday where she learns about sharing and giving and the power of her words. And it’s changed her immensely. And my husband is very interested in it because he’s always been a very scientific person and was a total Darwinist when I met him. Wasn’t interested in God, the Bible, or any of those things, but because it’s so rooted in science, it’s something that he’s been able to take on board.”

Madonna has been studying Kabbalah for seven years and it is so important to her, that it is her teacher Rabbi Eitan Yardeni and not Mr. Ritchie whom she wanted us to interview.

Lauer: “So, you understand that you occupy a very important place in her life.”

Rabbi Yardeni: “Absolutely, me and my teachings, absolutely.”

So what was it like when the rabbi met the Material Girl?

Lauer: “In walks Madonna.”

Madonna: “I was pregnant at the time, too. I was six months pregnant.”

Lauer: “Okay, so in walks a pregnant Madonna. So what was your image of Madonna before you actually sat down and met her?”

Yardeni: “Honestly, I didn’t know much about her.”

Lauer: “You knew who she was?”

Yardeni: “Of course I knew who she was. But I didn’t know much about her. I knew she was a rebel and that’s the reason I knew Kabbalah can be very powerful for her.”

Lauer: “I think it’s very obvious to see a change in her, certainly it’s easy to hear a change in her. What changes have you seen in Madonna?”

Yardeni: “Less judgmental, more tolerant, less ego, more humility, more compassion, less reactive, being able to see the bigger picture versus just reacting to pain and difficulty on a regular basis.”

Lauer: “We’ve all been to school. We know that some people are better students than others at any subject. So what percentage of people get this?”

Yardeni: “There’s some people who get just one percent of Kabbalah which improves their life one percent. And it’s all about how much effort you put into it. And not many people get it. Kabbalah is to everybody according to their level and their capacity.”

Lauer: “Where does Madonna fall in there?”

Madonna: “I so knew you were going to ask that question.”

Lauer: “Why not?”

Yardeni: “I can tell you that with no shame, Madonna is under the category of one percent of the people that get this.”

Madonna, The Student

And Madonna is a devoted music student as well. She became passionate about the guitar after her husband gave her one as a gift when she was pregnant with son Rocco. She continues to take lessons from teacher Monte Pittman and shared what she’s learned with a real beginner.

Lauer: “If I can get three strums in this whole session that would be big for me.”

Madonna: “But listen, if we inspire you to learn how to play guitar from this, then hey... do you have a competitive nature?”

Lauer: “Yeah, very competitive nature.”

Madonna: “Well do you want me, a girl, to be better than you at guitar? OK, you are not that competitive.”

Lauer: “How do you rate yourself?”

Madonna: “C.”

Monte Pittman: “B.”

Madonna: “I’m not a B.”

On Critics and Fame

She’s beyond a superstar. She’s achieved icon status. But on this day, Madonna is as approachable as it gets, up close and personal, signing autographs for her fans. It’s a telling sign that these days even one of the top selling female artists of all time has to get out there and push the product.

“American Life” is just not any record. Those in the music industry say Madonna desperately needs to connect with the younger audience. A particularly stinging article in the New York Times headlined, “Madonna, institution and rebel, but not quite the diva of old,” pointed to her declining sales and practically played taps for her career.

Lauer: “How do you see your relevance now with the music-buying public?”

Madonna: “You obviously read the New York Times.”

Lauer: “I do read the New York Times. The New York times article basically was saying...”

Madonna: “I’m irrelevant.”

Lauer: “That you’re going to have a difficult time from now on connecting to the target audience that buys the CDs.

Madonna: “Well, so what.”

Lauer: “Do you agree with it?”

Madonna: “I don’t know. I don’t see the point of writing those kind of articles. At the end of the day, what is the relevance of Aretha Franklin? What was the relevance of Frank Sinatra? What is the relevance of all artists? Do we have to fit into an age group and appeal to a specific audience to have relevance? That’s absurd. It’s disrespectful and absurd.”

But does she worry about those pop princesses out there, taking away attention and sales?

Madonna: “I’m not claiming to appeal to the same people that Christina Aguilera or Britney Spears are going to appeal to. I’m not trying to. I’m doing what I want to do.”

Lauer: “Would you like to? Would you like those 17-year-olds to buy your records?”

Madonna: “I would.”

Lauer: “You’re the age of their parents, basically.”

Madonna: “Great. And you know, one day Britney Spears will be the age of her parents. So it’s an absurd thing to say. And there’s no point to it. Would I like people of all ages to be interested in my music, yes. For one reason, and one reason only. Well, for two reasons. One is I feel like I have a lot of pertinent and important messages that I would like to get across. And if young kids hear it, then that’s great. Two is the more records I sell, the more money I make. And the more money I make, the more I can help other people.”

Lauer: “People sometimes hear your name these days Madonna and they say... Why is she still famous?

Madonna: “As if that’s a question I’m going to answer.”

Lauer: “Well, why do you think you are still famous?”

Madonna: “Why are you asking the question?”

Lauer: “Why are you famous? Is it self-promotion?”

Madonna: “Why? Oh please, self-promotion. Once famous, always famous. I mean, look, Marilyn Monroe’s been dead for ages, and she’s still famous.

Lauer: “Alright, maybe fame is the wrong word. But there are a lot of people with as much talent as you or maybe just slightly less.

Madonna: “I doubt it.(laugh)”

Lauer: “You started in this business with people that we don’t talk about any more. Why are we still talking about you?”

Madonna: “I don’t know, go ask them. I’m not here to comment on other people. I mean, I still have things I want to do and things I want to say. And, you know, if people want to hear it, then that’s great.”

She’s still Madonna, still doing it her way. And to all those critics who question her style, her movies, her very relevance, think about this. It’s been 20 years since her debut album, and she is still a force to be reckoned with. “American Life” is now at the top of the charts. As one fan put it: “Madonna is over, when she says she’s over.”

Next: February 2000 Interview