Taavi Kassila began looking for a spiritual master when he was young and kept looking for decades — across continents, interview rooms, and ashrams. A Finnish film director by profession, he turned the search into a body of work: television interviews with J. Krishnamurti, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Dalai Lama, Sai Baba, Mother Meera, and Annamalai Swami, a direct disciple of Ramana Maharshi. He also sought out scientists — brain researcher Matti Bergstrom, who identified the neural region associated with the experience of God, and physicist K. V. Laurikainen, who believed the movement of light particles offered evidence for something beyond matter.
What Kassila documents is not a survey but a personal expedition. Each encounter tested what he thought he was looking for. The book reaches its destination in South India, where he found his own master in Mata Amritanandamayi — Amma — and traveled there to make a film about her. Published here for the first time are interviews with Amma and her father.
For readers who take seriously the question of whether any of these paths lead somewhere — and who want a witness rather than a believer — this account carries the rare authority of someone who did the work.
At a young age, Finnish film director, adventurer, and author Taavi 'Rishi' Kassila started to look for a spiritual master. He was seeking someone who could introduce him to the deepest mysteries of life. On the journey to find his teacher, he learned the art of meditation from an Indian yogi and met the world-famous spiritual teacher J. Krishnamurti. He hosted a television interview with the guru of the Beatles, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He interviewed the Nobel Peace Prize winner His Holiness the Dalai Lama at his administrative palace in the Himalayas, as well as the Meditation Master Jeshe Lama. Kassila sought out many famous spiritual masters, including Sai Baba, and Mother Meera of Germany. He was also able to interview Annamalayi Swami, an enlightened disciple of the famous Ramana Maharshi. He met and interviewed remarkable scientists, such as brain researcher Matti Bergstrm, a man who was able to pinpoint which part of the brain experiences God, and the professor of atomic physics K. V. Laurikainen, who explained how he found proof of God's existence by studying the movements of light particles. Kassila met over thirty masters of their fields and finally, he found what he was looking for - his own master - the South Indian saint, Amma, Mata Amritanandamayi. He traveled to South India to make a film about her. Now, in this rare book, Amma's and her father's interviews are published for the first time. This amazing and unique story takes the reader on an exciting spiritual journey to the inner landscape of the greatest thinkers and spiritual teachers of our time.
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