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David Lynch, the visionary filmmaker renowned for works like Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive, passed away on January 15, 2025, at the age of 78. His family announced his death on his official Facebook page, expressing deep regret and requesting privacy.
In August 2024, Lynch revealed he was suffering from emphysema due to years of smoking, which had rendered him housebound and reliant on supplemental oxygen. He mentioned that even walking across a room had become challenging.
When David Lynch Landed In India
It’s a Beautiful World is a documentary created by Richard Beymer, chronicling David Lynch’s journey through India alongside Bob Roth and a film crew. The trip retraced the path of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Lynch’s spiritual teacher, as part of a project for a documentary Lynch planned to make about Maharishi’s life and teachings. Beymer captured the early stages of this endeavor, providing a behind-the-scenes perspective on Lynch’s process.
Lynch’s journey began in Jyotir Math, where Maharishi served Guru Dev for 13 years. After Guru Dev’s passing, Maharishi spent two years in meditative silence in a small, cave-like room in Uttar Kashi, also known as the Valley of the Saints.
Lynch explores this sacred space and takes viewers inside the very cave. Maharishi’s silent period ended with a journey to Rameshwaram, a renowned temple, and then to Kanyakumari at the southern tip of India, where the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Indian Ocean converge.
While traveling back north, Maharishi was invited to speak at the Trivandrum Public Library, marking the beginning of his teaching career. This event led to the start of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement. The documentary retraces these historic locations, condensing Maharishi’s two-year journey into a 10-day exploration filled with inspiration and discovery.
When David Lynch Met Maharishi
Before Lynch’s trip to India, he met with Maharishi at the latter’s International Headquarters in Vlodrop, Netherlands. During this visit, Lynch conducted a recorded interview with Maharishi, which may have been intended for his documentary.
Beymer included segments of this interview in the film, focusing on Maharishi’s explanation of his decision to leave his Himalayan retreat to share his teachings. Maharishi expressed his belief that his knowledge could benefit humanity, emphasizing that life’s essence is bliss and that individuals are inherently cosmic.
In an interview, Lynch stated, “I’m going to make a film on Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It won’t be a so-called David Lynch film, really; it will be about Maharishi and the knowledge he brought out. It’ll hold a lot of abstractions. We’re on our way to India in December to start the India part of it.”
Lynch added, “It’ll have to go in the documentary department, I think. I don’t think it’ll be a talking heads kind of thing, but we’re going to do a lot of interviews with people. We’ll interview — I hope — in India, a 97-year-old man who was with Maharishi from the beginning and get stories of times that weren’t so well recorded.”
Decades of teaching TM have supported these ideas, as numerous scientific studies highlight its transformative effects and contributions to higher states of consciousness.
The film also provides a rare glimpse into David Lynch’s personal life. Through the journey, Lynch reflects on his filmmaking career, offering viewers a personal and professional portrait of him as a director, a dedicated meditator, and a passionate advocate for Transcendental Meditation. His commitment to sharing the practice through his Foundation is evident throughout the documentary.
The trailer for It’s a Beautiful World offers a compelling preview of the film. To experience the full story, visit the official website to stream or download the film.
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