ABOUT

1980s California. When a group of California baby boomers meet a young Pandit from India, what results is a movement that takes the world by storm.

The film chronicles  the early beginnings and extraordinary rise of the Art of Living Foundation that, in a short span of 40 years, has touched the lives of millions of people around the globe. This incredible story of one man’s vision to uplift humanity is told through the eyes of a motley crew of Americans who followed him and unknowingly laid the foundation stones of the movement. 

The Story

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a global humanitarian and peacemaker honored and celebrated by heads of state and universities and greeted by hundreds of thousands wherever he goes. But what was it like in the very beginning? How did one man with no money, structural support, or resources galvanize a movement of this scale? Perhaps the only people who can tell us are the ones who were with him initially.

The stories of bhakti (or devotion and love) among the very first devotees of Gurudev are legendary. They were all gopis, a reference to the devotees of Lord Krishna, that is, manifestations of unconditional love for the Lord – for the eternal beloved. It all started in the United States, from Nova Scotia to California. A motley crew of people, many of whom had learned to meditate through TM, seemingly fell in love with this young man, not more than 30 years of age.

What did they see in Panditji as he was called in those days? What drew them to him? What possibility did they see in his vision? And could they have imagined a day, within their lifetime, that would draw thousands of people to the steps of the National Mall–the most iconic place in the United States?

A character-driven journey, FROM HEAD TO HEART explores this precarious moment in history through the eyes of those few who were present when, unbeknownst to them, a movement was being born.