Paramahansa Yogananda, the great Indian mystic, was born in 1893. From the time he was very young, he foresaw that “through this body, many shall experience the enlightenment of India.” Even before his birth, sadhus of Banaras predicted that this spiritual prodigy would bridge the East and the West, science and religion, Christian and Hindu. Awake: The Life of Yogananda recounts Yogananda’s remarkable life with rich visuals, first-person narrative, and star-studded interviews fused with the divine insight of the yogi.

We are taken from Yogananda’s sublime youth; to meeting his beloved master, Sri Yukteswar; to his arrival in the United States in 1920. In lecturing throughout the US and establishing the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles, Yogananda’s wisdom ignites the hearts of ten of thousands of Americans. His affiliation with Gandhi gets him a media take down and the demise of his Mt. Washington ashram. With the spiritual depth gained from this dark night of the soul, Yogananda rebuilds Mt. Washington and establishes the Encinitas Hermitage and the Lake Shrine in Malibu. Yogananda writes many books, most notably his opus, Autobiography of a Yogi. With his “last smile” on his face, Yogananda falls dead while giving a speech at the Biltmore Hotel in 1952.

Autobiography of a Yogi goes on to sell millions of copies worldwide and is designated one of the “100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century.” It was the only book Steve Jobs kept on his iPad.

The filmmakers, Paola di Florio and Lisa Leeman, treat us to beautiful images, a detailed portrait of an iconic figure, and interviews with George Harrison, Deepak Chopra, Ravi Shankar, Bikram Choudhury, and others, whose lives were forever changed by this yogi from Banaras. With devotion and love, they tell a story of devotion and love. Proving itself a worthy conduit of Yogananda’s ecstatic vibration, this documentary offers its audience an experience of devotion and love, and the opportunity to be a little more awake.

—MYSTICA LINFORTH