Review of "Hollywood to the Himalayas" by Sadhvi Saraswati
How shall I put it? I think writing a memoir is like a catharsis, a type of letting go, getting the past out of your system so that you could move forward. Saraswati laid it all out, like ‘an open book’, for all to see her life. As she did when she first met Pujya Swamiji for the first time in Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh, when she burned a candle and set her hurtful past afloat on the Ganges River, never to let the pain and suffering of her past haunt her present again, so she did with this memoir. Except she not only included the hurtful past but also how she created her glorious present in her 50 years of existence. With the support and encouragement of Pujya Swamiji, she was able to grow into a great spiritual advisor who has helped connect the international community, especially the West with the great Indian tradition of Hinduism.
I remember first seeing her and hearing her speak at the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh in 2017, a year after I had received my yoga teaching certificate in Mysore. I wondered who this westerner was dressed in orange robes with her long brown curly locks naturally framing her pale sharp features. She spoke with a gentle high voice, almost innocent, like a young girl, but with conviction and knowledge from a deep experience.
She has learned a great deal not only about Hinduism but about herself and her spiritual path being by the side of Pujya Swamiji for the past 25 years. She now leads Aartis, Satsangs, international gatherings (i.e., the International Yoga Festival), and is a spokesperson for the Ashram as well as a religious leader in her own right. From a lost puppy who wandered into Parmarth Niketan to a leader breaking barriers and building cultural bridges is quite an accomplishment. How blessed she is, how blessed the ashram is, and how blessed we all are who have been touched by Saraswati’s words of wisdom.
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