‘The Answer’: Seeking Truth at the Awareness Film Festival
‘The Answer’ will play at The Awareness Film Festival on Sept. 20 at 12 p.m.
It’s been an inspiring and awakening week for many at the Awareness Film Festival in Los Angeles. The festival opened September 10 and has drawn hundreds to see powerful films on humanity topics ranging from health and wellbeing, to political and ecological, to psychological and spiritual.
Among Awareness Festival’s spiritual films is The Answer, an epic motion picture that vividly illustrates the true-life story of Donald J. Walters, a disciple of the great yoga master, Paramhansa Yogananda (author of the bestselling spiritual masterpiece Autobiography of a Yogi). The film will be shown at 12 p.m. on September 20 — the final day of the festival.
Swami Kriyananda and The Answer
The Answer, directed by Pavan Kaul and produced by Kaveeta Oberoi Kaul, tells the tale of the late Walters’ (known as Swami Kriyananda) moving spiritual quest for truth, which led him from his birthplace in Romania to Hollywood, California, where he met his guru, Paramhansa Yogananda.
The uplifting film is imbued with undeniable joy, but also highlights moments of anguish during Walters’ (Leonidas Gulaptis) search for truth, which brilliantly plants a seed with viewers to never give up. Walters’ inner and outer battles showcase the triumph that can emerge from resiliency and determination, making this film universal and with meaning for all. More importantly, The Answer delicately captures the vibration of Paramhansa Yogananda (Victor Banerjee).
“I believe this film has the vibrations of the gurus (of Yogananda’s lineage) and will forever alter the lives of every viewer seeking a positive change,” director Kaul said.
The Story of The Answer
The film is a beautifully detailed period piece taking place in the 1920s through the 1950s. It proves to be a pioneer in the spiritual film cannon, creating a new genre with focus on the guru-disciple relationship.
The Answer also shows the inspiration behind Walters’ founding of Ananda Sangha Worldwide, a spiritual community with locations across the globe (including at Ananda Los Angeles), that came to be after Yogananda proclaimed the need for spiritual community in the modern world.
The Impact of The Answer
In addition to inspiring viewers, The Answer also had a profound impact on its cast and crew during production.
“Living vicariously through the life of this great soul Swami Kriyananda during the making of this movie, revealed to me that every other form of happiness is but a mirage,” said producer Oberoi Kaul. “It is in seeking that we truly live. (I feel) the joy of finding ‘the answer’ is the purpose of life.”
Indeed, Walters’ day-to-day experience with one of the most renowned spiritual teachers of our time — from selfless service at the Self-Realization Fellowship monastery to assisting Yogananda with editing some of his greatest works at his legendary Twentynine Palms desert retreat — is likely to inspire clarity and compelling drive within viewers to seek their own highest aspirations.
“My life is not important, but what is essential to consider (in The Answer) are the things I have been through in seeking what everybody seeks,” Walters said before his passing in 2013. “People might think they are looking for money, for love, success, fame and so on, but beyond that, everyone is looking for happiness, since ultimately we all come from bliss.”
More information on The Answer and Ananda Sangha
Find out more information at:
Awareness Film Festival: http://theawarenessfestival.wix.com/awarenessfestival
The Answer: www.movietheanswer.com
Ananda Sangha Worldwide: www.ananda.org
Ananda Los Angeles: www.anandala.org
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- Donald J. Walters was full of curiosity as he sought truth even as a young boy (played by Jyotish Atwell).
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- Donald Walters took a bus to from New York to Los Angeles immediately after reading ‘Autobiography of a Yogi.’ It was in Los Angeles that Walters would meet his guru, Paramhansa Yogananda.
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- Donald Walters found ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ in a New York bookstore—a book that forever changed his life.
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- Paramhansa Yogananda takes Donald J. Walters as his disciple.
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- Leonidas Gulaptis plays Donald Walters.
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- Victor Banerjee plays Paramhansa Yogananda.
Melissa Hoon is a journalist currently training to become a Yoga instructor. She is a devoted graduate student of cultural studies and is passionate about her volunteer work, including in Vietnam on medical missions, in New Orleans rebuilding Hurricane Katrina victims’ homes, and in South Africa at a home for abandoned, abused, and neglected children. These experiences have led Melissa to seek a lifestyle of helping and healing, namely through various meditation practices.
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