"That night, when I was insulted and disrupted, I lost my heart; I lost my sense of humor."

Says Michael Richards, referring to his disastrous n-word rant. "I've retired from that. I'm taking time off to feel myself out, get to know myself and appreciate other people." Like so many Westerners before him, he pictures Asia as the place to search for wisdom:

Richards, 57, and actress Beth Skipp traveled to remote temples before visiting Angkor Wat on a tour sponsored by the Los Angeles-based Nithyananda Foundation. The sect adheres to the teachings of 29-year-old Hindu monk Nithyananda — an avowed "enlightened Master and modern mystic" who's referred to by his followers as "swamiji."...

"I'm not a part of the group. I'm not a devotee. Like I said, I don't wear club jackets, but I honor all the clubs," Richards said. "Life is not always about us or making people laugh. I'm trying to understand the humanity that I am, that I belong to. So, in that sense, I'm part of a group: humanity."...

"What constitutes spirituality is heart," Richards said. "Making people laugh is something else — I did 'Seinfeld' for 10 years — it lightens things up, helps people enjoy the world they live in more. I've had people call me from hospital beds and tell me, 'That Kramer character got me through it. Thanks.' It's pretty simple, you know, the feeling of opening yourself up to others.

"You go through a country like this and see the people close to the land. I see the heart they put into their homes and their lives. I see their children: open-eyed and cheery. You're in the middle of the country and they're waving at you from a motorcycle. When you're right there at that living connection, that's spiritual."

It seems to me that Richards has some pretty scattered thought patterns. He's sort of a tourist and he's picking up a little religious vibe -- either by seeing a bit of swamiji or motorcycling past some little kids.

He was best -- and at least he knows it -- when he was on a script, a good script. He's a comic actor. He doesn't really have much to say. Spirituality. Okay. Fine. It's just too bad he went on the stage off script and said things that make it hard for people to accept him as an actor inside a role -- even retrospectively, as Kramer.