AT THE HEART OF ELVIS PRESLEY’S LIFE WAS HIS SPIRITUAL QUEST


	“It seemed as if Elvis was always off alone reading esoteric books or deep in discussion with Larry about God’s master plan for the universe.” Priscilla Presley

From Paramahansa Yogananda and Krishnamurti to Kahlil Gibran and other great sages and mystics, Larry brought Elvis many hundreds of these books, building an amazing and extensive metaphysical collection. They sat together in meditation; they shared their deepest beliefs. And so, Larry became one of Elvis’ closest confidants. He knew a side of Elvis that few others knew, and fewer understood.

YOU WILL SIT AT THE FEET OF THESE SPIRITUAL MASTERS WITH ELVIS, AS YOU EXPERIENCE THEIR TEACHINGS AND THEIR IMPACT ON HIM.

Elvis and I read many hundreds of esoteric books together. We studied and discussed, searched and probed, always looking for answers to the unanswerable, each looking for his own purpose. Elvis and I learned many things from each other, as together we studied ancient wisdom and philosophy, religions of both East and West. Nothing was off bounds for our hungry minds. We practiced meditation and spiritual healing. We loved to play with numbers and words, creating new ways of finding mystical meaning in the ordinary. Mysticism spoke directly to Elvis’ fundamental desire to know what life was about, and thus it emerged naturally from the very marrow of his being.

Of all the books, it was The Impersonal Life, by Joseph Benner, a Western mystic who wrote inspirationally about the divine consciousness in man, which was to become Elvis’ favorite book, the one he continually went back to over the years. The very small, pocket-sized volume was a brilliant awakening for him.

The Impersonal Life would become his constant companion and a gift he would share with hundreds of others he met.

Elvis’ deeper, philosophical side is light-years from his image as a sex symbol. Everyone assumes he seduced all of his costars. The truth is, while he did have romantic relationships with a few of these beautiful starlets, he engaged in spiritual conversations with most of his costars and other coworkers on the movie sets. Elvis gave them all books, many of them underlined, some with marginal notes he had handwritten. As Peter Guralnick wrote in his Elvis biography Careless Love:

“…He gave Diane McBain an underlined copy of The Impersonal Life and spoke to her of the spiritual precepts of (Paramahansa) Yogananda; and he set out to save Deborah Walley, who had played the leading role in “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and was at that time lost in a sea of spiritual doubt and confusion. He told her, “Look, we’ve only got this moment together, so let’s have it completely. No holding back. No wasting time on trivialities. I’ve got the word; I want to give it you. I’m not a man, I’m not a woman—I’m a soul, a spirit, a force. I have no interest in anything of this world; I want to live in another dimension entirely.”

It was, according to Walley, the turning point in her life.

“Leaves of Elvis’ Garden is the most important book yet written on the sensitive, spiritual man behind the myth. It is the inspiring story of Elvis Presley’s greatest adventure-his quest for Self-realization.”

Leonard Perlmutter
Author of The Heart and Science of Yoga

This passion of his for the deepest possible understanding of religion and spirituality wasn’t new in Elvis’ life. Even at an early age he instinctively knew that the Bible held truths that were veiled by its symbols and stories. While his church preached acceptance of the exoteric teachings as literal, Elvis wanted something more, something he would only find later in life in the esoteric aspects of the Christian religion. He never rejected his religion, only its rigid adherents and their intolerance of any deviation from the accepted word.

After the powerful experience of his vision in the Arizona desert (which is explained in detail in my book) and our studies and conversations, he came to believe the universality of Christ was embodied in all of us, not just those who profess or practice a particular religion in a prescribed manner.

Elvis believed that the divine light is embodied in all of humanity, since we are all made “in the image of God,” that the image of God is hidden within everyone although most people remain unaware of Its presence.

Elvis and the science of numbers

Elvis and Yogananda

“I feel God brought you onto Elvis' spiritual path at just the right time.”