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[gentle music]

[Freeman] India.

Once a far away and
mysterious land.

A place of Mahatma Gandhi
and non-violence,

and ancient traditions of
spiritual enlightenment.

What happens when a young,
23-year-old Westerner

who realizes he needs to change

goes there in search of himself

and he finds
The Beatles are there too?

Four of the most loved and
famous people in the world,

and they're there to
meditate and to write music,

and they also want to
find out who they are

on a new and deeper level.

[music continues]

[Saltzman]
My name is Paul Saltzman,

and this story
happened to me in 1968

when I met The Beatles in India

at the Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi's ashram

on the banks of
the Ganges River.

The Maharishi founded TM,
Transcendental Meditation,

and The Beatles,
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr,

George Harrison,
and John Lennon,

were there to study with him.

I took these photos
at the ashram

and when I got home,

I put them away and
forgot about them.

[garage door opening]

[Saltzman] But I'm getting
a little ahead of myself.

Personally, I was confused,
a bit lost.

I went to India and
learned meditation,

which changed my life.

And I met The Beatles,

which set me on a creative
path I'm still on today.

Haven't done anything
with it in about 30 years.

I'd like to tell you
how it all happened,

and invite you to come with me

and see the ashram
as it is today.

[Freeman] We'll meet Patty
and Jenny Boyd in Liverpool.

Pre-eminent Beatles historian,
Mark Lewisonh in India.

We'll also meet
Emmy award winner

and Academy award
nominated film composer,

Lawrence Rosenthal.

And Paul's daughter,
Devyani Saltzman,

without whom his
Beatles photographs

would still be forgotten
in his basement.

And celebrated film director
and screenwriter,

David Lynch, in California.

And while The Beatles
were creating hit songs
one after the other,

society was changing.

[people shouting]

[Freeman]
And during the turbulent '60s,

with the violence and the
American Civil Rights movement

and the worldwide
demonstrations against
the Vietnam war,

something was missing,

and Paul's generation was
also keen to find inner peace.

And it was during
this time of chaos

that The Beatles, Paul,
George, Ringo, and John,

met the Maharishi,
a holy man from India.

He spoke of inner peace

and invited them to
his ashram in Rishikesh.

[jet engines roaring]

[slow Indian music]

[camera shutters clicking]

In February 1968,

The Beatles arrived in New Delhi

and the world's press followed.

[car horns honking]

[Freeman] Later, when Paul
first got to the ashram,

he met New York journalist,
Lewis Lapham.

[Lapham]
I was a contract writer for
theSaturday Evening Post.

I had lunch with the editor,

he said,
"What do you wanna do next?"

And I said,
"Send me to Vietnam."

And he said, "No, the more
important story is in Rishikesh.

- [Saltzman] Wow.
- [Lapham] I want you to go

and see if you can get to
talk to The Beatles

or find out what it is
that they are up to."

The Beatles,
at that point and time,

were the... probably the biggest
celebrities in the world.

Top of everybody's chart,
not only for their music

but also for their personality.

And ha, Beatlemania!

Yay.

And then of course,
Sergeant Pepper

and Rubber Soul, amazing.

Let It Be.

Every one of these remarkable,
mind blowing.

And Revolver.

And boy, was that life changing.

So with Beatles albums, we'd
rush down to the record store

to get them 'cause
if you didn't buy them

in the first two or three
hours, they would sell out

and then you'd have to
wait two or three weeks

'til another order came in.

So in 1966 withRevolver,
rushed down,
got it, came back,

and took a little stereo
out on the lawn

and lay down
with my girlfriend, Trisha,
and listened to it.

And I remember like
it was yesterday,

the last song,
"Tomorrow Never Knows,"
and they're singing

"Turn off your mind,
relax and float downstream,

it is not dying,
it is not dying,

lay down all thoughts,

surrender to the void,
it is shining, it is shining."

And they sang that peace and
real being is within ourselves

and that life is all about love,

and wisdom is knowing this.

And I remember
when the song ended

I thought, what are
they talking about?

Void?

Floating downstream?

Turn off your mind?

And it was the first time
I'd heard anyone talk to me

about an inner place
of peacefulness,

and I remembered
a little while earlier

I'd read something
that Christ had said.

He said, "The kingdom of
heaven is within you."

And I remember reading that
and I stopped and I thought,

what does that mean?

'Cause if there's a kingdom
of heaven within me,

I want to know about it
and how do you get there?

So here are The Beatles talking
about something within you

and something within you
that's glorious, that's shining,

that's calm and peaceful.

So that was my first curiosity

about is there an inner journey?

And aha,
The White Album, of course.

Yeah, "Back in the USSR,"
"Dear Prudence," "Glass Onion,"

"Ob-La-Di," "The Continuing
Story of Bungalow Bill,"

who we're going to meet.

Just a remarkable album.

"Blackbird," one of
my favorite songs ever.

"Rocky Raccoon."

I think that's what was
amazing about The Beatles

for so many of us,
it's like almost all of them

are a favorite.

And many of these songs
were written over 50 years ago

at the ashram.

So this is what they sent over

from The Beatles Story Museum.

This is the installation
they're gonna do...

- [woman] Okay.
- For the 50th anniversary.

Right, so 15 feet wide,
about seven feet high.

We're gonna print
two of them up.

[Saltzman]
The Beatles Story in Liverpool

covers the history
of The Beatles

and will be opening
a new exhibit

on their visit to Rishikesh
and the ashram.

[Jodi] Can you tell me
a little bit about this day?

[Saltzman] So this is,
kind of, the Maharishi's
kinda class photo

and I say affectionately.

The people in the background,
there were 60 people

from all over the world
who were there

to become TM teachers,
and then The Beatles
and the others,

the famous folks,
were not part of that course

but they were there also
to learn meditation.

Maharishi was very humorous.

He was, um,
had a lovely sense of humor.

Kind of a high pitched giggle.

And Ringo, Ringo was very dear.

He was pretty quiet.

Paul was the most
overtly friendly, warm.

George, George was the one
who sort of inspired
their going to India.

He and his wife, Patty Boyd,

were very much into reading
about Eastern mysticism.

And John was
wonderfully intense.

He was very funny.

He was very sort of wry,
slightly digging wit.

[peaceful music]

[Saltzman] You know, it's hard
to admit this publicly,

but I had a famous
television celebrity father

who was violent.

I felt painfully uncertain,
ashamed.

I looked to others for approval

and I was very hard on myself.

So I left for India and today,

I'm excited to
return to the ashram

to more fully understand,

did I choose the right path
for myself back then?

[cars rumbling]

The adventure begins.

I'm returning to India,
which I always love,

and going to Liverpool.

Going to Mumbai and Delhi

and exploring creativity
and meditation

and why did
The Beatles go to India

and how come I went and
how come I ran into them?

It's all a pretty magical story.

[upbeat music]

[Saltzman]
But first, to Liverpool.

To The Beatles Story to
honor the 50th anniversary

of The Beatles'
time in Rishikesh.

- [music continues]
- [woman speaking indistinctly
over PA]

I took the pictures with
no intention to ever use them.

It was just like, uh...

And I wasn't a photographer,

I was just a kid with a camera
in my backpack, literally.

And I put 'em away for 32 years.

I just forgot about 'em.

Out of mind, out of sight,
out of sight, out of mind.

And then my daughter
reminded me of them

from a childhood story
when she was eight,

she asked me about the first
time I ever went to India.

You give me a lot of great ideas

and they're always very
different than my own

which is the beauty
of creativity.

And you came into my study
one day and you said,

in a very wistful voice,
you said, "Didn't you tell me

when I was little that you
met The Beatles in India?"

And I said, "Yeah,"

and you said, "Didn't you tell
me you took some pictures?"

And I said, "Yeah," and you
said like, "Duh? Can I see
them?"

That was where it all began.

That's... I don't remember it
quite the same way.

- No? [laughs]
- But that's you, Dad.

[both laughing]

U, but yeah, no, I remember
you took out the photos

and they were incredible,
and I think said to you,

I guess that was
when I was about 16,

"What are you doing with them?"

- Right.
- 'Cause you had no plans
to do anything with them.

No, no, I didn't.

And I think that led to
going to meet Stephen Maycock

in London when
he was at Sotheby's.

- That's right.
- To get them actually evaluated

just in terms of their
historical significance.

[Maycock] It was a day in
London like any other day

and you just walked
in off the street

and said, "Would these
be of interest?"

And I thought, hmm, okay.

And then when I saw them,
Paul, I was just amazed.

The color is so strong.

The images are sharp.

And what I also felt
was a sense of the light

and the heat of India...
is amazing.

I've never been to India
but I can feel it.

The shot of John, I mean
that's just fantastic.

The relaxation
you've got there
that's captured, you know.

Here they are just away from
the world doing what they did,

which is writing music.

And they're looking happy,
they're looking relaxed,

they're looking creative.

They're off duty and
makingThe White Album.

The ones you took of
John and Paul together,

they're the standout
images for me

because there are
so few pictures of
just the two of them.

[Devyani]
And he was, like, blown away.

- [Saltzman] Yeah.
- And you were strangely
clueless the whole time.

- [both laughing]
- How do you mean?

I don't know. [stammers]
I don't know if you
knew the significance

of just, kind of, really... a
really important documentation

of an interesting period in
history and music history.

[Saltzman] This story really
begins in Montreal.

I was 23 years old and
I thought I was successful.

I'd already had my own
television show,

I drove a sports car, I dated.

Everything seemed great.

And I woke up one morning and
I had the shocking thought

that there were parts
of myself I didn't like.

I wasn't a very conscious
young man.

In that moment of being shocked,

I sat up and swung my legs
over the edge of the bed

and I said out loud
without thinking,

"What do I do about this?"

And I heard my soul talk to me

for the first time in my life.

I didn't even believe in a soul.

I'd been brought up to
believe there's no god,

there's no soul,
there's no spirit,

but in that moment,
I heard a deep inner voice

that was all loving,
all calm, reassuring,

and that inner voice
said, "Well, Paul,

if you really want to look
at yourself more clearly,

you might want to get away
from the environment
you grew up in."

And I said out loud
without thinking,

it was this odd conversation,
"Where do I go?"

And that inner voice said,
"India."

Now I had
no knowledge of India,
no connection with India.

Meditation, I didn't
know anything about
any of this stuff,

but I was so moved by that,
was so changed

by hearing that inner
soul talk to me.

I was working at the
National Film Board of Canada

and I went to a film director,

and I knew he was
shooting a film in India

and I didn't have enough
money to get to India.

So I went up to him
in the lunch room

and I said, "I'd like
to work on your film,"

and he said, "Well, I'm not
taking anyone from here.

I'm picking up a director
of photography in London

and I'm hiring a sound
person in Bombay."

And then there was silence.

In that moment of silence,

he said to me,
"Have you ever done sound?"

And lying through my teeth,
without a hesitation,

I said, "Absolutely."

And he said, "Okay, well, if
you get yourself to India,

I'll pay you the same
as I was gonna pay
the Indian sound person.

And I said,
"How much is that?"

And he said "500 dollars."

And I shook hands
and said, "Great,"

and I went to the phone
and I called the airlines

and I said how much is
a ticket to India? [laughs]

And it was 550 dollars.

So I had my airfare which
I couldn't afford otherwise.

And then I went to a really
great sound engineer,

the best in town, and I said,
"Can you teach me sound?"

And he said,
"Sure, come on over."

So that's what led me
to go to India.

[gentle music]

[Saltzman] So I told
my girlfriend, Trisha,
that I was going to India.

I knew I was going off
to find a different me.

I didn't even know if
a different me existed.

I didn't even know if I could
consciously change who I was.

And she cried a lot,
she didn't want me to leave,

and I cried a lot,
I didn't want to leave her.

And I flew to India,

it was my first time
out of North America.

I was scared.

I joined the film crew,
the three of us,

and we worked filming for
six weeks across India

and I got to Delhi
and I was very excited

to get my first letter
from my girlfriend,

and I opened the letter
and the first line was,

"Dear Paul,
I've moved in with Henry,"

and I was devastated.

I was kind of shattered
and someone said,

"Why don't you try meditation
for the heartbreak?"

And I said,
"I'll try anything."

And he said, "I'm going to
hear the Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi speak

at New Delhi University
tonight, do you want to come?"

And I didn't know anything
about him but I said yes.

And I only remember
one thing he said,

but it was the thing
I needed to hear.

He said, "Meditation takes
you beneath and below

your daily worries and concerns

to a place of inner rejuvenation

from which you come back
renewed and refreshed."

And I thought,
that's what I need.

- So I took a train
to Rishikesh.
- [train horn blowing]

I knew that he had
an ashram at Rishikesh.

I came to a gate and
there was a guard

but he didn't speak English,

and he came back with Ragvendra,

and Ragvendra turned
out to be my angel.

I said, "I've come to
learn meditation,"

and he said, "I'm sorry,
the ashram's closed

because The Beatles and
their wives are here."

I didn't even know
The Beatles were in India,

and in that moment
it wasn't good news.

And I said, "Can I wait?"

And he was a little taken
aback and he said, "Oh, okay."

There were two army tents there

and he said,
"You're welcome to sleep there

and we'll send you our
simple vegetarian meals."

So this man, Ragvendra,
was an angel.

I waited outside
the gate for eight days.

So after eight days, he said
"Okay, it's time to come in."

And he took me to
a small meditation room

and he taught me
transcendental meditation.

It took less than five minutes.

He said,
"I'll now leave you alone,"

and I did the meditation
for 30 minutes

and I transcended twice.

Transcending normal
consciousness.

I came out of the meditation
and it was a miracle.

Your story is
incredible because you
had to prove yourself

that you were serious,

and even waiting three hours,

a lot of people would have left.

- [Saltzman] Mm-hm.
- Three hours is a long time.

- [Saltzman] Mm-hm.
- Eight days, forget it!

- [Saltzman] Mm-hm.
- You wanted this thing...

- [Saltzman] Mm-hm.
- And you were gonna wait.

- [Saltzman] Mm-hm.
- It's beautiful!

And then you got in because
you proved yourself.

- This is the thing.
- [Saltzman] Mm-hm.

And then in you went.

That's really great.

So, um, at the eighth day,
what were you thinking

when you were sitting out there?

Uh, and... and... and what...

did you... did you, sort of,
inside know that someone
would come get you

and you were gonna get there?

Or what were you thinking?

[Saltzman] I didn't think that.

I just knew I couldn't leave

- 'cause I didn't know
what to do.
- Uh-huh.

[Saltzman] So I was desperate,
I was in pain,

and what had replaced
the agony was bliss,

and I thought if Trisha,
my beloved,

was happier with Henry,
I was glad she was with him

and I really meant it.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
- [Saltzman] I really felt it.

Yeah, yeah.

When you were in Rishikesh
and you were with The Beatles

and they started meditating,
I had zero interest.

I thought meditation was
a fad and I just wanted to work,

and I thought it was
fine for The Beatles,

but, and I hoped they
kept on making music,

but I didn't have any interest.

And then something
happened to me.

I suddenly,
like the stars turned,

and I got an obsession
with spiritual things,

and I had heard this phrase...

I've told this story
a million times.

"True happiness
is not out there,

true happiness lies within."

And as I say, that phrase had
a ring of truth to it for me,

but the phrase doesn't tell
you where the within is,

nor does it tell you
how to get there.

And it dawned on me that
maybe meditation was a way

to go within and
find that happiness.

I was very fortunate that
my first meditation, as I say,

was like I was in an elevator
and someone cut the cables.

Pow!

I shot within.

I was rolling in bliss.

It was incredible and
I came out of that

and, um, never looked back.

[peaceful music]

[Saltzman] And then I went out
of the meditation room

and I was just walking
through the ashram.

The Beatles weren't
in my mind at all.

I was just so relieved
not to be in agony,

and at one point,
I looked to my right

and about 150 feet away
I see John Lennon

and he's sitting at a table,

and I can tell that Paul
is sitting across from him

with his back to me.

And I walked over and I got
to the edge of the table

they were sitting at and
there were John and Paul

and George and Ringo,
Patty Boyd, George's wife,

Maureen Starky, Ringo's wife,
Cynthia Lennon, John's wife,

and Jane Asher,
Paul's girlfriend,

Mia Farrow,
the American actress,

Mike Love of The Beach Boys,

Donovan,
the Scottish folk singer,

and Mal Evans,
The Beatles' roadie.

And John looked up at me and
I just said, "May I join you?"

And he said,
"Sure, mate, pull up a chair."

Paul turned to me and said,
"Come and sit here,"

and I sat down beside Paul

and then three magical
things happened.

To my surprise, I hear
this scream in my head,

eek, it's The Beatles!

And as soon as that
scream inside me finished,

I heard my soul talk to me for
the second time in my life.

Calm, reassuring, wise,
and it said,

"Hey Paul, they're just
ordinary people like you.

Everyone farts and
is afraid in the night."

That's what it said.

And in that moment,
John turns to me

and in that wonderful
John Lennon wry humor,

brilliant man, lovely man,
he says to me,

toying with me and
it's not a compliment,

and he says,
"So you're American then?"

And I say, "No, Canadian."

And he turns to
the rest of the group

and he says, "Ah, he's
from one of the colonies."

And we're all laughing
and he turns back to me

and he says,
"So you're still worshiping
Her Highness, then?"

And I say,
"No, not personally."

And then Ringo and Paul

start teasing me about having
the queen on our money,

and I say,
"Well, we may have the queen
on our money but hey,

she lives with you guys."

- [laughter]
- [Saltzman] So we're all
laughing, the whole table,

at which point John turns
back to the rest of the group

and he says, "Ah, you see?

They still have a sense
of humor in the colonies."

And that was it.

They just took me
into their group

and I just hung out with them.

[upbeat music]

[woman] Closer, yeah,
that's good, yeah.

I love the quote
about Chuck Berry.

[Glover] Oh, yeah.

"And without Elvis,
there would be no Beatles,"

John Lennon said.

[bright music]

[Saltzman] And how old were
they when they met?

[Glover] Oh, they were only
about... they were about 18
at the time, 17.

I know George was the youngest

'cause they brought George in.

And how old... how old was
George when he joined?

George was only 16
when he joined.

[music continues]

[crowd cheering]

Welcome to Beatlemania.

- [Saltzman] Beatlemania.
- [Glover laughs]

This just gives
you a little taste

of what it was like back then.

And then they
arrived in America.

[music continues]

[gentle music]

[Saltzman] One day,
we were all sitting
at the table by the cliff

and everyone got up to leave,

and John was sitting
across from me

and it was the only time in
the week I spent with him

when he had
his little National Health
glasses from England

and he was writing
in his notebook.

And after a moment
he put down his pen

and he said to me
in a kind way,
"So what are you doing here?"

Because no one was
allowed in the ashram.

And I said, "Well,
heartbreak, meditation,

the miracle of it."

And he looked off in
the distance and he paused

and he said,
"Well, you know, Paul,

love can be very tough on
us sometimes, can't it?"

And I said, "Yes,"
and we sat for a moment

and he looked away again.

And then he looked back and
he said, "But you know, Paul,

the really great
thing about love

is you always get
another chance."

And in that moment,

he couldn't have said
something more kind.

It was reassuring to me

that because I was coming out
of a heartbreak and my life,

in terms of love, wasn't over.

And I didn't realize he was
talking about himself as well,

because I read
a few months later

that he and Yoko had met.

So he was talking about me

but he was also
talking about himself.

[gentle music]

[Glover] You know, it's a place
for reflection, it's...

[Saltzman] Mm-hmm, beautiful.

[Glover] It's just a nice,
quiet tribute to a great man.

[Saltzman] You bet.

See, the John I met, and
I only knew him... [laughs]

I only knew him for
a week, eight days,

was so generous with me.

["Imagine" playing quietly
in background]

Okay, so welcome
to Beatles in India.

Oh wow, look at that!

And there is your
famous photograph.

- [Saltzman] Oh, my.
- [Glover] Life-sized version
of your photograph.

[Saltzman] I've never
seen it this big.

[Glover] Yeah, so we've offset
the people forward on it.

- Right, how terrific,
beautiful!
- [Glover] Yeah?

And we've got information here
about the famous photograph

and about yourself as well.

- [Saltzman laughs] Wow.
- And the people
who were in attendance.

So you're forever in
our exhibition. [laughs]

[Saltzman] Oh, well that's
very sweet of you, thank you.

[bright Indian music]

It is very easy for
everyone to take his mind deep

within the thinking process

and thereby expand the capacity
of the conscious mind

and improve his efficiency
in thinking and in action.

It takes about half an hour
to let a man experience

the secular phases of a thought.

His mind expands.

Sitting quietly will
make the mind dull.

One has to know how
to reduce the thought

below mental thinking level.

This experience is very
simple and very natural,

but it has to be learned.

So they give you a word
or a sound known as a mantra

which pulsates with that rhythm.

So by using the mantra
rather than a thought,

because the whole
idea is to transcend

to the subtlest
level of thought.

So you replace the
thought with the mantra

and the mantra becomes
more subtle and more subtle

until finally,
you've lost even the mantra

and then you find yourself

at that level of
pure consciousness.

No matter what
you're thinking about,

just let it go, and then you
just introduce the mantra

over the vibration.

Just to take over
from the thought.

You don't will it or
use your willpower.

We've only been doing it for
a matter of six weeks maybe,

but there's definite
proof I've had

that it is something
that really works.

Here they were,
miles from anywhere,

and able to just be themselves.

We just sat around at
the table and chatted

and had chai and ate meals
together and fooled around.

I was leading quite
a fabulously exciting life

with George and The Beatles
and various friends,

and we seemed to be running
here, running there.

Just generally having too
much fun all the time,

and life was wonderful, it
couldn't have been any better.

Before India, I was
this 18-19 year old

who was searching for something.

Having done the modeling
and all that,

'60s London style,
swinging '60s,

and then one day
I looked at this book.

Just flicking through it

while I was listening to
whatever records were going on

and it was a book called
Karma and Rebirth,

and as I was looking through it,

I saw this one line that
"life goes on

within you and without you."

So I called Patty and
George immediately

and George answered the phone
and I said, "Listen to this,

'Life goes on within
and without you.'"

He loved it and then of course,

that inspired him
to write that song.

Yes, I remember George wrote
"Within You, Without You."

He was very in that mood of, um,

understanding our true souls

and it was quite...
it's a very spiritual song,
really, and very beautiful.

So there's a combination
of songs like that.

[upbeat music]

[music continues]

[boat horn blaring]

[bell ringing]

[indistinct chattering]

[engines rumbling]

[Lewisohn] The first time
The Beatles came to India
was July, 1966.

- [Saltzman] Mm-hm.
- But prior to Rishikesh,
which was February '68,

George Harrison made
his next trip here

to record the soundtrack for
a film called Wonderwall,

and George at that point was
very much into Indian music,

deeply into it.

He booked time at
the HMV studio in Bombay

and that's exactly where
we are now and in fact,

if you look up there,
do you see that?

- [Saltzman] Ah.
- [Lewisohn] His Master's Voice.

And they recorded
here for five days.

Right, and that was...
"The Inner Light"

was one of them, wasn't it?

One of them is what became
"The Inner Light," yeah.

He didn't do the vocals,
that was done back in London,

but the instrumentation was
done here at this studio.

So a Beatles B side.

Everyone thinks The Beatles
recorded only at Abbey Road

but one of the Beatles'
singles, the B side,

was recorded here in Bombay.

Cool. And that was the one
that Hariprasad Chaurasia
played the flute on,

- is that right?
- That's right.

- On "The Inner Light."
- Yes.

[Saltzman] Tell me about
your friendship with George.

I cannot explain with
my words what the love

and the emotional friendship
and the music he used to play,

and we used to enjoy
playing together.

He was a saint, musical saint.

So that's why I used
to listen to him

and that's what I got.

And he loved, you know,
flute sound.

[Saltzman] And do you
remember what you played

for "The Inner Light"?

It's a long time. [laughs]

And I'm getting old
so it is difficult.

[flute music]

I miss... I always miss him.

So maybe I have
a memory glitch here.

So when George was playing it,
when we went to see
the Maharishi

and then The Beatles
all came in,

his voice came out
of the tape recorder.

Maybe it was a guide track
and he started singing along.

Although the instrumental
track was recorded here,

George took the tapes
back to London

and just before they
flew out to India,

they had some sessions,
recorded "Lady Madonna,"

"Across the Universe,"
"Hey Bulldog,"

- and the vocals for
"The Inner Light."
- Oh, okay.

So of course,
it's a gorgeous song.

To have traveled so
far across the world

and then to find yourself in
a room with the four Beatles

and George singing a song
that you hadn't yet heard

and wouldn't hear for a while

because it didn't come
out for another month.

[slow Indian music]

- [train whistle blowing]
- [train rattling]

[indistinct chattering over PA]

So, what do you think?

I've never been in
a station like it.

Oh, look at this.
This is fantastic.

[Saltzman] Yeah.

Have these people
been here all night?

[Saltzman]
Well, they're waiting for trains

and they may have
been here all night

because of connecting trains.

So how long since you've been
wanting to come to the ashram?

Uh, about 50 years. [laughs]

- Yeah?
- I was a child
when you were there

with The Beatles in 1968.

Can't believe we're
actually going to Rishikesh.

[Saltzman]
When did you first become
aware of The Beatles yourself?

[Lewisohn]
I was only five years old.

[Saltzman] Wow!

[Lewisohn] But I really hadn't
heard anything like it.

There hadn't been,
I now realize it,

there hadn't been anything

that sounded quite
like that before.

"She Loves You" was a new
sound and it was a joyous,

happy, so uplifting sound.

I was just swept away

and it just went
straight into my... into my heart

and into my bloodstream.

[upbeat Indian music]

[no audible dialogue]

[train horn blares]

I think number one
is that nobody...
they only listen to themselves,

and they had
an unerring sense of right

or what was right for them,
and it turned out

that what was right for them
was right for all of us,

and this is why they
have sustained so long

because they were pure and
true, and key ingredient,

no artificiality whatsoever.

The Beatles didn't
preach any message,

and those who eventually
read messages into their work

were barking up the wrong tree

because they were not
message givers particularly,

they were just
writing for themselves

but what they did
was empower people.

They empowered people
to think for themselves,

to express themselves
differently.

[slow Indian music]

[Bhojwani] And then I remember

when the first Beatle
album came our way.

- It was Please Please Me.
- [Bhatia] Mm-hm.

I think that came out in '63.

- October.
- And some guy came from England

and said you've gotta
hear these guys.

The album '64,
but the single in '63.

The single.

We loved the sound and
we said, "This is it.

We gotta do this kind
of rock and roll."

It changed the scene completely.

There was no band here who had
ever heard a sound like that.

Although I must say, talking
about their trip to Rishikesh,

they came there probably looking

for some kind of...

higher evolution of spirit,

largely prompted
by George Harrison.

Whereas here,
we're kind of born with it.

You were there.

What did you see?

What did you see when you
saw them together as a group?

So, I was... I was with them
for a week,

- about every day for a week.
- Yeah.

And what was completely
obvious was they were brothers.

They were like this,
they were family.

- Yeah.
- [Saltzman] You know,
there was so much joy,

which is of course what, to me,

is always there in their
music, whatever they do.

[Lewisohn] Absolutely right,
yeah, and the humor.

The fantastic humor that
they had between them

that worked every time
no matter how,
who was saying what

and in what circumstance,
they were funny.

Well, they were
four brilliant guys.

- Yeah.
- Crazy, it's crazy.

Yeah.

[ehthereal music]

Well, Paul, what do you say
we promenade by the Ganges?

[laughing]

[Lewisohn] I've been waiting
a long time to come here.

It's such a wide river.

It comes down from the mountains
pretty much here, right?

This is where it
enters the plain.

Well, on the Ganges, Gangama,

the holy... the holy river that
people come to bathe in

and clean up your sins,
so to speak.

[Lewisohn] Right, okay.

Well, I'd better go for a
long bath then, hadn't I?

[Saltzman] You want to deal
with your sins?

[both laughing]

[Saltzman] Do you want to deal
with your sins now or later?

[Lewisohn] We'll get 'em over
with now, I think, yeah, okay.

[Saltzman] In fact to clean
up your karma.

- [Lewisohn] Yes.
- [Saltzman] You know,
lifetimes of karma.

[Lewisohn]
Have you bathed in it before?

- [Saltzman] It's cold.
I don't bathe in it often.
- [Lewisohn laughing]

[gentle music]

[Saltzman] Well, I can see you
getting more pure.

[Lewisohn] By the second.

[Saltzman]
Well, you've just been kissed
by Gangama of the Ganges.

Ashram is actually right
across there in the hills.

So we'll just come down,
get a boat.

[Lewisohn] The footbridge
must be around here then.

[Saltzman]
There it is right there.

[Lewisohn] This is the one that
we have photographs

of Paul and Jane and Ringo
and Maureen walking across.

[Saltzman] That's right.
When they first arrived.

[bright Indian music]

[water splashing]

[indistinct chattering]

This is the strip
that leads to...

- To the ashram.
- To the ashram.

So they would have
had to walk down here.

They would have walked, yeah.

[bright Indian music]

[Saltzman]
This is the new gate.

- [Lewisohn] The new gateway.
- [Saltzman] Yeah.

[Lewisohn] Not at all like this
back in '68 then?

[Saltzman] No, '68 was a very
plain wood picket fence.

- [indistinct chattering]
- [Saltzman] Hey!

- [Gusain] Hey, how are you?
- How are you?

- I'm fine.
- [Lewisohn] Hello.

This is Mark, this is Raju.
Raju Gusain, Mark Lewisonh.

Oh, my god.

- [Lewisohn] We're going to
be garlanded.
- [Gusain] Yeah, yeah.

Thank you very much.

Shukriya.

- This is for you.
- Thank you.

Raju got in touch
with me in 2004.

It was you that kept writing...

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kept saying to the government,
you have a gem here,

you should fix it up,
not just 'cause the Maharishi

and his movement of
meditation came out of here,

which was world-changing,
because The Beatles came,

which was world-changing, and
the government didn't notice,

didn't notice, and finally,
you did it enough times

they noticed and
now it's happening.

Well, well done you.
Put it there.

[slow Indian music]

Meditation in the morning
and then meeting me

to understand the
experience of meditation,

and then lunch and then
meeting me again, afternoon,

and then meeting me in the night

after their evening meditation.

It's a mutual thing.

The whole world movement

has to be a complimentary
enterprise. [laughs]

The whole point of this course

is to come to do
long meditation.

Normally people don't do
meditation this length of time

because they're too involved
with day to day activity.

So when we go back home,

we meditate just maybe
an hour in the morning,

an hour in the evening,
or whenever we have the time.

The Maharishi's
philosophy of action

is particularly good for us.

It's to get maximum effect
with minimum effort.

[John whistling]

[Lapham] When I first arrived,
I had announced myself
to Ragvendra.

Tell him I was from
theSaturday Evening Post.

I never got to really talk
to George Harrison or Lennon.

Harrison inclined to
stay in his own bungalow

and work very seriously
at the sitar,

but the person I got to talk
to most often was McCartney,

whom I really liked.

He had a sense of humor and
he also smoked cigarettes

which was, God forbid,
not looked upon

as the right thing to do
by the Maharishi people.

I can remember
we had a good time

sitting on the roof
of the bungalow

and admiring the view
of the Ganges,

and I think that's
where I met you.

You had come on
a mission of your own.

[slow Indian music]

[Saltzman] As I walk
through the ashram,

I feel the impact of
my time here years ago.

I discovered I could
find a different me.

I could consciously
change who I was

by discovering
a deep inner peace.

Instead of looking for
approval outside myself,

I now feel a deep inner
approval in sync with my soul.

[Ross] So yesterday,
we had a beautiful opening

and it was attended
by the Minister

- of the Forestry Department.
- [Saltzman] Right.

[Ross]
So this is the exhibition,

The Beatles Visit
Maharishi in Rishikesh.

A photographic journey
by Paul Saltzman.

Great to see them
all up on the wall.

Interesting how The Beatles
and their partners

were put there front center.

Maharishi obviously
wanting to capitalize

on the fact he had such
well known disciples now.

My own take is
it's an innocent effort

to have people
come to meditation...

- Yes.
- Come to the inner journey,
and of course,

we know that The Beatles'
visit to the ashram

was actually a turning point
in 20th century consciousness.

And then "Bungalow Bill,"
which of course, in a way,

was a bit of a joke although
it was quite serious.

[Saltzman] Mm-hmm, and
we went to Moloka'i, Hawaii

and we sat and talked with
Bungalow Bill.

- No!
- [Saltzman] Yes.

I... do you know, I've always
wondered if he ever realized

that that song was about him.

So he's alive, is he?

[gentle rock music]

[Cooke] I didn't go to India
to go to the ashram,

I went to India to go hunting

with a white hunter friend
of our family.

I remember sitting there in
the tree and all of a sudden,

uh, you can hear
the banging of the elephants

and they're walking
in the bushes,

and there's monkeys, there's
mongoose, there's... every...
every small animal

in the jungle started to
come out in front of us,

and that's because
the tiger's coming.

And then the tiger did
come out in a flash

and I remember,
you know, shooting.

I can still remember just
the color of the tiger

through the scope.

It turns out Avi,
who was quite a ways away,

we had both shot
at the same time.

So we really never knew
who shot the tiger.

At this point, we returned
to Maharishi's ashram.

Mom so wants to tell
the story to Maharishi.

We see him in that afternoon

and John Lennon is
already in there,

and her version of the story
and my version of the story

are probably a little different.

Her phrase was, you know,
"It was us or him."

You know, she thought, you know,
tiger never saw us,

but to her, it was charging us

and it was just
trying to get away.

Mind you, there's these two sort
of real strong paths in my life.

One is hunting and meditating,
and they're both very strong.

I remember John Lennon said,

"Oh no, this is life
destruction."

This is... you know, this is...
he was just horrified
at this story,

and I remember Maharishi,
incredibly cold,

about one of the only times
I've ever seen Maharishi

with really cold demeanor,
saying,

"Life destruction is
life destruction."

You know, so, like,
end of story.

[Saltzman] How did you
feel in that moment?

I have no idea.

I mean, you know,
it's 50 years ago.

I was a different
human being then.

I never owned a gun after that.

I grew to photographing animals
was far more challenging,

and I would say about a year
later, my sister tells me,

"Oh, you know there's a song
on TV and... I mean, on the radio

and it's called 'Bungalow Bill'

and it's all about, you know,
your tiger hunt."

And, you know,
I was staying in the bungalow
next to The Beatles

and I guess, being, you know,
he describes me as white,

Anglo-Saxon bullheaded or
whatever, son with my mother,

you know, and definitely
a very strong mother. Uh...

Total antithesis to everything

that The Beatles
represented at that time,

and so I became
Bungalow Bill in their eyes.

- And, uh...
- And what did it feel like to
hear the song the first time?

It's kind of a catchy tune.

- [slow music]
- You know, I mean...

- It is.
- You know.

[Saltzman] And he became
a conservationist

and aNational Geographic
photographer.

He learned meditation
and he loved hunting,

but after the ashram,

I suspect that was when
it all changed for him.

How wonderful.

How wonderful!

I'm very happy to hear this.

[Saltzman]
That's a lovely picture of him.

And we also have, over here,

the famous songs that
talk about TM.

From Stevie Wonder
and The Beatles

and Donovan and other things.

He was responsible for
about six million people

to learn transcendental
meditation.

[Saltzman] So you have something
on the David Lynch Foundation.

[Ross] Oh yeah, oh yeah.

You know, Maharishi was very
concerned that his knowledge

not be just, not be thought of
as some abstract,

mumbo jumbo kind of thing.

He was coming to the West,
the West are intelligent,

rational people, and so he
wanted to open this to science,

and when he did,
the results that came back

were quite striking.

For example, the National
Institute of Health

in the United States
have already given

about 24 million dollars
just to study

one benefit of
transcendental meditation.

It's effects on
cardiovascular disease.

- So that's pretty impressive.
- And does it effect it?

Yes, yes!

It's the only studied
meditation technique

that has been shown to
reduce high blood pressure,

- normalize high blood pressure.
- Mm-hmm.

Improving a man so that
he may have direct support

from nature and
at the same time,

he should unfold his
inner potentialities.

And this transcendental
meditation

is a very direct to
the inner involvement

and also gain
support from nature.

Maharishi, I always say,
has two missions.

One, enlightenment for the
people, peace on Earth.

And he will use anyone and
anything to get this job done.

[slow Indian music]

[Saltzman] So this was
where [indistinct]

and had a beautiful view
of the [indistinct].

And I heard that he would
come out in the evenings.

[Lewisohn] So this was the
Maharishi's bungalow.

[Ross] Mm-hmm.

[Lewisohn]
Was this where you told
that story of "The Inner Light"?

That George would have said?
Was that here?

Yeah, after a couple days,
Ragvendra came and said,

"Okay, it's time to meet
the Maharishi."

So we went to the
Maharishi's bungalow

and we took off
our sandals outside

and we went into the
large meditation room,

and there was low dais
with an antelope skin on it

where the Maharishi would sit.

Ragvendra and I sat down
in front of the dais

and as we were waiting,
I hear voices outside

and I hear people taking
off their sandals,

and in walked John and
Paul and George and Ringo,

Cynthia, Patty,
Maureen, and Shane,

and we all say hi
and they sat down.

So now the 10 of
us are all clumped

in front of the Maharishi's
and the Maharishi came in

and he said namaste and
we all said namaste back,

which is a greeting
of recognition.

And George had brought in a
little black tape recorder

and the Maharishi, who had
a lovely sense of humor

and had a lovely laugh.

He said to George,
"Is that a new song

or would you like me to
recite the Bhagavad Gita?"

Which of course is
a very long book

and he laughed and we all
laughed, and George said, "No,

it's a new song,"
and he leaned over

and he pressed the play button

and out of
the little tape recorder
came "The Inner Light,"

which I learned later he
had just recorded in Mumbai

in the EMI studios,
and he starts singing along.

So this new song,
George is singing it,

he's singing along with it,
he's sitting right next to me.

The Maharishi
never did notice me

and I never did have a
conversation with him,

but it was okay 'cause
here was this amazing

new Beatles song of George's

and a beautiful,
beautiful moment.

[upbeat piano music]

[Saltzman] So you're 91
and to me, you look 70.

- [laughing]
- [Saltzman] And to me
you feel like 50.

So maybe 91 is the new 50,
as they say.

I don't know.

Maybe I've just got good genes.

[piano music continues]

One doesn't want to
feel the generation gap

with one's children.

One wants to relate to them,

and The Beatles really
brought us together

because I could
unconditionally admire them.

I didn't say well,
it's okay for them

and I can kind of say it's
nice, but I didn't feel that.

I was, I waited for Rubber Soul.

I waited for
The White Album, you know?

With this expansion
of consciousness,

these three states that
we live in at the moment,

like sleeping and
waking and dreaming,

they're all known
as relative states

because it's all relative.

Transcendental
meditation takes you

to that transcendental
level of pure consciousness

but by going there often enough,

you bring that level
of consciousness
out onto this level.

I'm always
fascinated by the fact

of their endless creativity,
their endless invention.

So you could immediately
name 10 famous Beatles songs

and they could have been
written by 10 different groups

because they're so
different, and yet,

they embraced a huge world
that was the kind of amusing,

slightly primitive
songs that Ringo wrote,

the wonderful songs of George.

I mean, I think...

[playing "Something" on piano]

[humming]

[vocalizing]

Wonderful song.

And Paul had such
an incredible melodic gift

you know, like "Yesterday"
and "Michelle,"

and then also such wonderful
ideas like "Eleanor Rigby."

What an idea for a song!

Who writes songs like that?

It's just, they... they...

Well, you're looking
at a fan. [laughs]

[bell ringing]

[Saltzman] On another day,
we were all sitting

at the long table by the cliff
and everyone got up to leave

to get ready for dinner
except George and I,

and the monkey in
the tree above us

dropped down onto the table,
grabbed some food,

and darted off, and George
and I had a great laugh.

And I said to George,
"I love the way

you brought the sitar
into "Norwegian Wood"

and into Beatles music,"
and he just lit up

and he told me about how
he had first found a sitar

on the set ofHelp.

How he then started
studying with Ravi Shankar,

the world's foremost
sitar maestro.

George Harrison's
relationship with Ravi

was an extraordinary one.

It went very deep very quickly.

They're like father and son,
wrapped in the same shawl,

and you have Ravi, the man
of the East looking West,

and George, the man of
the West looking East.

George called himself
Ravi's disciple.

On another level, George's
embracing of the sitar

made the instrument suddenly
popular in a new way

amongst young people in
the Western hemisphere.

[Saltzman]
And then George said,
"I was just gonna go practice,

do you want come?"

And I said, "Great."

I didn't even think
of getting my camera,

but we went to a
small meditation room

and it was just futons and
we sat quite close together,

and he picked up the sitar
and he started to play.

[sitar music]

[Saltzman]
And I closed my eyes and
I honestly don't know

if he played for 10 minutes
or for 40 minutes.

Time shifted and I just
was transported

on the sounds of the sitar,
and after a while,

when I heard the last
note fading into nothing,

I slowly opened my eyes
and I was buzzed.

I was stoned.

I was in a state of bliss again

like after the first meditation.

I could see the energy in
the room and in that moment,

George and I had a really
amazing conversation.

Just two young men.

I was 24, he was 24.

He said,
"I get higher meditating
than I ever did on drugs,"

and I knew what he meant
'cause I'd already
experienced it

a couple of days earlier.

And then he said something
to me life changing

and that explained exactly
why The Beatles were in India.

With profound humility,
there was this superstar

and he was so centered
and so modest and so kind,

and he said,
"Like, we're The Beatles
after all, aren't we?

We have all the money
you could ever dream of.

We have all the fame
you could ever wish for.

But it isn't love,
it isn't health,

it isn't peace inside, is it?"

And it was life changing for me.

[gentle Indian music]

[Saltzman]
Sharing time with George,
I discovered not a star

but a truly gentle man.

His thoughts helped me see
that my father's lack of love

was his own failing.

An insight that helped
me see myself as worthy

of having my own child

and loving her
without reservation.

How did you interact with them

and what kind of
experience was it for you?

They were very generous.
They were very kind, playful.

[stammers]
Not a whiff of fame and
fortune in terms of any...

Somehow they remained
remarkably down to Earth.

From what I saw, there was
no swelled-headness at all.

There was no attitude.

There was no I'm a Beatle
and you're not.

I worked with Disney once
and a senior executive

actually said to me in
seriousness, actually said,

"Well, after all, we're
Disney and you're not."

[everyone laughing]

So there was no Beatles,
we're Beatles and you're not.

Negativity is the
enemy to creativity.

Ideas, you know, I picture ideas
falling through a conduit

and stress and negativity
squeeze that conduit

and the ideas can't get through.

And so when you
start meditating,
that conduit just opens up

and ideas start
flowing more and more.

When you talk about
The Beatles in Rishikesh

and that period of time,
I'd like to go on my own retreat

and sit in an ashram
and be in creative flow,

and I think it's so important.

I men, I think David Lynch
talks about kind of, you know,
creating space

to fish for the big fish
in terms of ideas,

and I think to
get that big fish,

here we are sitting
at Santa Monica Pier,

you do need to be in some form
of creative meditative state.

I, you know me,
that I sometimes think

your meditation stuff's
slightly hokey but I love you.

[Saltzman laughing]

But I do agree with you,
that there's some magic

in time and space to
delve into the unconscious

and search for that big fish.

There.
Right next to the building.

This is, this is the bungalow...

- Yep.
- [Saltzman] ...where I shot
those pictures.

Who was staying
in this bungalow?

[Ross] Our Dear Prudence
and John and George

and Mike Love and Donovan.

[Saltzman] One afternoon,
I was walking back to my tent

and I passed the bungalow
where Ringo and John

and Paul were staying,
and they were sitting

on the front steps
and Paul and John

had their Martin D28 acoustic
guitars and they were playing,

and I went and got my
camera and I came back

and I took a shot
through the gate

of the three of them
sitting there,

and I went through
the gate and we said hello.

[gentle guitar music]

[Saltzman] And then John went
to scratch his ear

and I just lifted the
camera instinctually

and just fortunately,
luckily, I got it in focus

'cause in those days,
there was no automatic focus

and there was no
automatic exposure.

And then I went over and
I sat down beside Ringo,

and they started singing,
"Ob la di, ob la da bra,

lala how the life goes on."

And they were singing it
over and over again

and they were playing with it,
they were bending it.

They were going faster,
slower, they were laughing,

they were having fun.

They were in joy
and in that moment,

I had another understanding of
where their music came from.

It came from that joy 'cause
creativity is a joyful state,

and joy is state of creativity.

So they're singing it
over and over again

and I looked down and
under Paul's sandal

is a little piece of yellow
paper that's torn at the edges

and it says, "Ob la di,
ob la da, bra la la,

how the life goes on," and
Paul was looking down at it

as he's strumming
because he clearly

hadn't yet memorized the words.

So it was new to them,
and they sing it over
and over again

and then I took
a picture of Paul,

and as I took that picture,

they paused and
they took a little break.

They went back to it but Paul
looked up at me and he smiled

and he said,
"That's all there is so far,

we don't have any
of the words yet."

So that was really
lovely, lovely moment.

And do you know who
was in what room?

I believe that Prudence
was in this room,

Our Dear Prudence.

I believe George
was in this room.

- Right.
- [Ross] And I believe Paul
was in that room.

- [Saltzman] Uh-huh.
- [Ross] And John was apparently
in this corner over here.

- [Saltzman] Right.
- And I think Mike Love and
Donovan were on this side.

- [Saltzman] Right.
- Yeah, so the song
"Dear Prudence,

won't you come out to play,"
which was sung to her

depending on whose
account you observe,

either through the door

or actually they went
into the room

and sang it to her in
person, that was here?

- [Ross] Yeah.
- That's right in the corner.

[upbeat Indian music]

[instructor speaking
indistinctly]

[music continues]

[Saltzman] The time at the
ashram here with The Beatles

seemed to be their single
most creative capsule of time.

My understanding was
that they wrote 48 songs

in about 48 days.

[Lewisohn]
The Beatles themselves,
when they got back to England,

John and Paul separately,
a couple of weeks apart,

both said they had written
30 songs here between them.

So I reckon 30 is
about the right number

and obviously, I wasn't here,
but what I do have access to

is pretty much everything
they've ever mentioned

about their songs in any
interview at any time.

I guess that's the challenge
of being a historian,

about who says what.

I know that when I met
Denis O'Dell in New Jersey,

he had been the
head of Apple Films

and he came actually
the day I left,

and I said to him, "Do you
know how many songs

The Beatles wrote
at the ashram?"

And he said, "I know
exactly how many songs,"

and I said, "How many?"

And he said, "48," and
I said, "How do you know?"

And he said, "Well,
as soon as John and Paul

were back from India, I was
sitting with them together

and I said, 'How many songs did
you guys write at the ashram?'

And Paul said, '48.'"

- Right.
- [Saltzman] So that would seem
to be a truth.

Now, from the historian
point of view,

you're trying to
find what they are

and then it becomes murky.

It does become murky, yeah.
I mean...

Memories are fallible.

That one sounds quite
precise and obviously,

one respects the fact
that Denis, who I know,

that he remembers that,
but at the same time

as they were telling Denis 48,

they were saying 30 to the press
and it is about 30 songs

that can be found.

Now, I have here the catalog
of a John Lennon Museum

which opened in
Japan a few years ago

with items from his
personal collection,

and this is John's
Rishikesh notebook

in which he wrote the lyrics
to the songs he wrote in it,

and it reads as follows:

"Julia," "I'm So Tired,"
"Child of Nature,"
"Cry Baby Cry,"

"Take it Easy,
"Mean Mr. Mustard,"
"Goodnight,"

"The Continuing Story
of Bungalow Bill,"

"Polythene Pam,"

"Give Me Some Truth,"
"Yer Blues," "Dear Prudence,"

but also "Revolution."

George, let's look
at George's songs.

"Circles," "Deharadun,"
"Sour Milk Sea."

Paul's notebook can be seen

in the book of
The Beatles Anthology.

"Back in the USSR," "I Will,"
"Jump," "Martha My Dear,"

"Silly Girl," "Mother Nature's
Son," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,"

which is the one you saw
them writing, "Rocky Raccoon,"

"Teddy Boy."
There are some possibles.

"Cosmically Conscious,"
"Honey Pie,"

"Why Don't We Do It
in the Road?".

People often look at
The White Albumand say

those are the songs they wrote
in Rishikesh

but in fact, it looks to me
like 16 of the 30 were here,

12 were not, and two may
or may not have been.

[Saltzman] And what do you make
of their creativity here?

[Lewisohn] So I think the number
of songs is not surprising.

Undoubtedly the atmosphere here

and the fact that
they weren't going

to London nightclubs,
you know, in the evening,

they weren't going into
the office in the daytime.

You know,
they had almost nothing else
to do here but meditate,

read, sleep, and write songs.

[Jenny] We would sit on
the rooftop of our bungalow

and John would come sometimes,
you know, there'd be Paul

and George and John
mostly with their guitars,

and what I was aware of

is that the things
that they were
finding words to describe,

what they were describing,
was everyday things

that were going
on at the ashram.

Um, so they would take anything
and make a song of it.

So John, the fact that he
didn't sleep well at night

or a particular night,
that became a song.

Or Prudence, you know, trying to
get her out of her, the state

that she was in,
that became a song.

And so that's what
I was aware of then,

that it was the everyday things

that were going on around us

that were inspiring
them to create.

They just couldn't not.

So in that way,
I mean, how often
does one get two months

where there are no distractions?

And especially for them.

You know,
especially for The Beatles.

That would have been probably

something they
had dreamed about.

We've always done a lot of work

and we've always had very
little time, free time.

So the meditation helps us

because we can do more
work in less time.

Get more free time to relax.

[Interviewer] Do you
plan to possibly have

any active part

in the propagation of
transcendental meditation?

We'll do everything we can,
anything that's possible.

Everything we can.

And we might be
able to do a lot.

[birds chirping]

[Lewisohn] How did the
group photo happen, Paul?

At one point, I just noticed
that there was a gathering

and I went and got my camera
'cause everyone was dressed up

and everyone was
wearing garlands

and someone put a
garland over my head.

And then Mal Evans
said, "Can you take
some pictures for me, Paul?"

And gave me his camera and
then George and Patty

seeing that said, "Can you
take some pictures for us?"

And then Ringo said,
"Can you take some pictures?"

So I had four cameras
around my neck.

I had my pretty cheap,
bottom of the line Pentax,

which I could afford, and
their four high end Nikons,

which was quite appropriate.

So I just took quite
a bit of shots.

[slow Indian music]

[Lewisohn] I can't think of
anywhere else other than here

where the famous group
photograph was taken.

Such a great photo.

See all the plants
in front there.

That is just like the
Sergeant Pepper album cover

where they had an array
of plants in the front.

[Saltzman] Sure.

Ringo was shooting film
to promote meditation,

but he was always
behind the camera.

So he taught me how
to use his camera

and I shot for a couple of days

so he would also be in the film.

[music continues]

[Saltzman] When I first saw
them taking pictures,

it was like a family outing.

You know, they took pictures
of each other.

I did ask them
each individually,

and it was literally like I
wasn't thinking of Beatles.

Within 30 seconds of
sitting down with them,

The Beatles went away,
and as odd as it sounds,

they really were there
just themselves.

And I think that's
one of the reasons

they were so candid with me,

- was that I didn't want
anything from them.
- [Lewisohn] Yeah.

You know, when you're that
famous and that rich

and everyone wants a piece
of you, you're on guard.

You must be very,
very strong or you'll get
kind of caught up in it.

[Lewisohn] So there was
an element of trust.

They must have sussed you,
as the English would say,

they sussed you out.

[birds chirping]

[Saltzman] The day
I left the ashram,

Ringo and Maureen
also headed home.

I asked them, "Hey, how
come you guys are leaving?"

And Ringo said,
"We're missing the kids

and Maureen doesn't
like the flies."

They'd been there 11 days.

Paul and Jane talked about
visiting the Taj Mahal

and left after five weeks.

And George and John
stayed for 55 days.

[Lewisohn] It seems that when
they got back to London,

that things were never
quite the same again.

From what everything we can
see and that they've said,

that they were never as close
again post-Rishikesh

as they were pre-Rishikesh.

You know,
it's pretty esoteric stuff.

To talk about god or
goddess and meditation

and what happens.

I think it's about
being able to ground it

in something...
something more real.

So do we really have a soul?
Does it exist?

And if so, what's our
relationship with it?

You're speaking to a cynic, dad.

[Saltzman laughing]

I love you, but you know
my response to this.

Go ahead, what is your response?

I think proselytizing
one stop shopping

around spirit is scary.

Well, no, I'm not... [laughs]

I have to be your daughter.
This is me.

Do you think there's an argument

for never having children?

- No!
- Because they get to
be smarter than you!

No, because they challenge
you, it's great.

Yeah, and they
get to be smarter.

The kingdom of heaven
is within you, yeah.

That's all it means.
You can have a peep inside.

- [Interviewer] Anybody?
- All you've gotta do
is be interested in it,

whether you're interested
in it to knock it

or to do anything, but if you
just want to try to find out,

that's all you need. You know.

The full potential of every
single one of us human beings.

It's our birthright to one day
enjoy supreme enlightenment.

It just needs unfolding and
it's time, on this planet,

to start enjoying life,
unfolding that full potential,

and, you know, getting along.

Having a peaceful,
beautiful world

where people are
just happy campers.

Just zooming into a
beautiful future together.

[slow music]

[Freeman] And what
of the now 24 year-old

who went in search of himself
and found The Beatles?

[Saltzman] As I sit here
looking out over the Ganges,

I know without India,
I would never have learned

to embrace my inner self and
I'm filled with much gratitude

to Paul and Ringo
and George and John

for opening their hearts
and taking me in.

I realize that seeing them
embrace the joy of creativity

infused my own courage
as a filmmaker
to explore and trust.

As Mark said, they
weren't message givers,

but their music and their words

have enlivened so many of us.

They encouraged me to
receive what the world offers

and learn from it.

Like the privilege of
having a lovely daughter

who reminded me
I had these photographs.

And my soul asks, knowing
what you know now,

do you wish you had
taken another path?

Sitting here, I know
I took the right path.

In their words, "And in
the end, the love you take

is equal to
the love you make."

The Maharishi and
The Beatles helped me

wake up my ability to love and
it's been the greatest gift.

[upbeat Indian music]

[no audible dialogue]

[music continues]

[slow Indian music]