Description

Hollywood to the Himalayas is the enlightening memoir of a reluctant spiritual seeker who finds much more than she bargained for when she travels to India.

As a Stanford grad, in the midst of getting a PhD in psychology, Sadhvi Saraswati was comfortable with her life. Despite years of grappling with an eating disorder and trauma from her early childhood, she felt as if she was successfully navigating her way through early adulthood. When she agreed to travel to India to appease her husband—and because she loved the food—Sadhvi would have never imagined that she would be embarking on a journey of healing and awakening.



 

“Sadhviji models for us, at the deepest level, that in the true teaching of the spiritual traditions, healing and grace are always possible.” —Prince Ea, in the foreword to Hollywood to the Himalayas

“Vivid and poetic…her journey is a river of love, compelling in its authenticity and unflinching honesty. …a must for anyone who is interested in exploring different paths to fulfilment and to the Creator.” —Jane Goodall

 
 “Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati is a great teacher of spirituality and consciousness. Her inspiring wisdom illuminates the path to healing, happiness, and inner peace.” —Deepak Chopra

“For so many of us, the road to the Divine sometimes begins with deep trauma. And, then Grace is bestowed upon us and we blossom in the holiness of love. Hollywood to the Himalayas is filled with wisdom and truth about the powerful revelations that unfold on the path to a deeper relationship to the divine. This is a beautiful book.” —Rev. Iyanla Vanzant, executive producer, Iyanla, Fix My Life

About the author(s)

SADHVI BHAGAWATI SARASWATI is a renowned spiritual leader, author, and motivational speaker based in Rishikesh, India. She’s the author of the bestselling memoir Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation. She is International Director of Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, one of India’s largest spiritual institutions. She is also the Secretary-General of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, an international interfaith organization dedicated to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene; the president of Divine Shakti Foundation, a foundation that runs free schools, vocational training programs, and empowerment programs; and the director of the world-famous International Yoga Festival at Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh—which has been covered in Time, CNN, The New York Times, and other prestigious publications and has been addressed by both the Prime Minister and Vice President of India. She serves on the United Nations Advisory Council on Religion and on the steering committees of the International Partnership for Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) and the Moral Imperative to End Extreme Poverty, a campaign by the United Nations and World Bank. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by U.S. President Joe Biden for her lifelong commitment to volunteer service. She was also the Managing Editor for the monumental project of the 11-volume Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Originally from Los Angeles and a graduate of Stanford University, Sadhviji has been ordained into the sacred order of Sanyas by her guru HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji and has been living at Parmarth Niketan Ashram for the past twenty-seven years. She oversees a variety of humanitarian projects, teaches meditation, lectures, writes, counsels individuals and families, and serves as a unique female voice of spiritual leadership throughout India and the world. www.sadhviji.org

Reviews

“Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati is a great teacher of spirituality and consciousness. Her inspiring wisdom illuminates the path to healing, happiness, and inner peace.”

Deepak Chopra

“Courageous, Relatable, and Inspiring! Sadhvi’s story will touch your heart and show you that the path to the divine is available to everyone.”

Prince EA

“Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati describes in vivid and poetic prose the journey that took her, a Stanford graduate, from a life of privilege in America to a simple existence in an Indian ashram. She speaks of her transformation from a disturbed adolescent to a woman who has found spiritual enlightenment; and how she was able to renounce the pleasures of the material world and physical desire through the agency of an inspiring and inspired Guru, the beauty of nature, and a sacred river. Her journey is a river of love, compelling in its authenticity and unflinching honesty. Sadhvi transports the reader to a world and way of thinking that most will be unfamiliar with, and this book is a must for anyone who is interested in exploring different paths to fulfilment and to the Creator.”

 

Dr. Jane Goodall

“For so many of us, the road to the Divine sometimes begins with deep trauma. And, then Grace is bestowed upon us and we blossom in the holiness of love. Hollywood to the Himalayas is filled with wisdom and truth about the powerful revelations that unfold on the path to a deeper relationship to the divine. This is a beautiful book.”

Rev. Iyanla Vanzant, Executive Producer of Iyanla, Fix My Life

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