Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation

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

As aStanfordgrad 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 husbandand because she loved the foodSadhvi would have never imagined that she would be embarking on a journey of healing and awakening.

Hollywood to the Himalayasdescribes Sadhvis odyssey towards divine enlightenment and inspiration through her extraordinary connection with her guru and renewed confidence in the pleasure and joy that life can bring. Now one of the preeminent female spiritual teachers in the world, Sadhvi recounts her journey with wit, honesty, and clarity and, along the way, offers teachings to help us all step onto our own path of awakening and discover the truth of who we really areembodiments of the Divine.





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 poeticher 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

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! Sadhvis 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
This is a book in which every sentence is a reflection of love and the wisdom of love. Sadhvijis journey is a lucid illustration of how her search for the Divine is taken with every step and every breath in a world ostensibly of the mundane. She speaks of her pain as a source of knowledge, as she shows how Divine love and light, ever present, leads her to an academically informed, humorously inspiring, inevitability of love as lived activism in the service of one and all.

-- Dr. Azza Karam, Secretary General, Religions for Peace; Former Senior Advisor, UNFPA
This true story shines a bright light on the path to becoming more deeply spiritual. Sadhvi courageously shares her life lessons, illustrating the infinite possibilities when we consciously seek connection to the divine. -- Jack Canfield, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul Series
This very special book chronicles a unique transformational journey of an American woman who overcame childhood abuse and trauma to lead a life of service as a global spiritual leader. A beautifully written account of awakening that offers ancient wisdom for modern-day issues. I highly recommend this!

-- Marci Shimoff, author of Happy for No Reason, Love for No Reason, and Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul
In Hollywood to the Himalayas, Sadhvi unfolds deeply personal experiences that offer the reader most important and valuable insights on how to become resilient, self-empowered. Beyond the lessons offered, Sadhvis wonderful writing style evoked a movie-like vision in my mind; it is a compelling story that made it hard to put this book down.

-- Bruce H. Lipton, PhD, Stem Cell Biologist, Epiogenetic Science Pioneer, and author of bestselling books such as The Biology of Belief, Spontaneous Evolution (with Jim Bhaerman), and The Honeymoon Effect
There is not one of us who hasnt suffered. For many, it is the suffering that gives one insight, wisdom and clarity. Sadhvis journey is one such story that leads to India and her relationship with her Guru and with the Ganga. Yet, it is much more because it is also a story of the power of forgiveness, compassion, grace and love to set one free. Profound, engaging and ultimately liberating.

-- James R. Doty, MD, Professor and author of Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart
This inspiring and motivational book is a real pageturner. I believe its the feminine version of the classic spiritual memoir, Autobiography of a Yogi. -- John Gray, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
A compelling account and an inside look at a great ashram, offering a Western womans remarkable odyssey of trust in Indian spiritual culture and her powerful healing journey. -- Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati was a student at Stanford seeking science-based solutions to her emotional wounds and childhood trauma, hoping to heal herself and then others. On a trip to India, in an unexpected twist of fate, she experienced a remarkable, divine healing, on the banks of the Ganges River. For those on a spiritual path, this book is a rare glimpse into connecting with the divine. -- Arielle Ford, author of The Soulmate Secret
While Dorothy had to go over the rainbow to discover there is no place like home, Sadhvi found her true home on the banks of the Ganges wrapped in the arms of the Divine. This enlightenment story will make your heart melt and your jaw drop. -- Justin Michael Williams, author of Stay Woke
Hollywood to the Himalayas is filled with soulful, deep insight and dynamic wisdom. Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatis honest, courageous, powerful story and resonant words radiate healing energy palpable to the heart and mind, borne of her authenticity and spiritual transformation. Study this book and allow your soul to sing. -- Michael Bernard Beckwith, Founder and Spiritual Director, Agape International Spiritual Center; author of Life Visioning and Spiritual Liberation
Hollywood to the Himalayas is a rare, intimate glimpse into the private, faith-filled journey one takes as they surrender all that they thought they were, for who they truly are. Love. This powerful book is a raw, honest, and heartfelt expression of Sadhvijis continued commitment to her service to humankind. It is an inspirational offering, from her soul to ours, reflecting back to us that the spiritual path can be tender, messy, funny, fierce, illuminating, blissful, awkward, deeply wondrous, and both very human AND divine. I am so grateful for her willingness to share her personal stories about the complexities of Self-discovery, as well as the profound teachings that she learned along the way. This book is transformative and recommended for all on the path who seek a relationship with the power of Source within themselves, each other, and this world. -- Seane Corn, author of Revolution of the Soul; Co-Founder of Off the Mat, Into the World
Upon leaving Stanford and a highly privileged life in the West, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, a nonseeker, found herself in India. On the banks of the Ganges, she experienced a profound healing and transformation from her years of suffering from sexual abuse and eating disorders. Today, twenty-five years later, she is considered one of the preeminent female spiritual leaders of our time. This revealing and deeply personal story is an inspiring demonstration of grace in action. -- Marianne Williamson
What an extraordinary book! Sadvijis writing is personal, funny, wry, loving, earnest, self-reflective and incredibly engaging. And her story! Wow! The journey from being in pieces to being at peace, from being a brilliant student at Stanford to living a life of devotion in India with her beloved teacher is a teaching for us all. Although we may not move to India, we can move from being hooked on our personalities to realizing what is and has always been breathing through us, loving us, blazing us. If one person can do and be this, so can we all. Thank you, Sadhviji, for reminding us of what is always here, always possible. I wont be the same after reading your book. -- Geneen Roth, author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller: Women, Food, and God
"In Hollywood to the Himalayas we join a journey of a borderless and courageous heart that learns three treasures: becoming closer to God everyday, serving humanity, and being happy. Sadhvi shares lessons of compassion and letting go learned from unflinchingly addressing abuse and suffering, lessons of extraordinary joy resulting from blessings of love and healing, insights of wisdom gained from modern and ancient disciplines of learning, guidance and transmission from an authentic teacher/disciple relationship, and inspiration to keep learning and serving. The integrity and clarity of her account (and ascent) is powerful and may rub off on the reader. If it does you will not be the same." -- Jonathan Granoff, President, Global Security Institute

Author Bio

American-born Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, PhD, moved to India in 1996. A graduate of Stanford University, she was ordained byPujya SwamiChidanand Saraswatiji, president of one of the largest interfaith institutions in India, into the tradition of sanyas and lives at the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh, where she leads a variety of humanitarian projects, teaches meditation, gives spiritual discourses, and counsels individuals and families. One of the worlds preeminent spiritual leaders, Saraswati is the author of four previous books on spirituality, and is also well known as a writer, speaker, and activist. She serves on several committees (within the United Nations and World Bank) for international charity and economic development and is a member of the Transformational Leadership Council as well as the director of the International Yoga Festival. She lives in Rishikesh, India, and travels and lectures regularly in the US, UK, Europe, and Canada.