All You Need Is Love: An Eyewitness Account of When Spirituality Spread from the East to the West

Nancy Cooke de Herrera

Nancy has packed three or four lifetimes of living into one. From riding the desert with Sir Edmund Hillary, meeting the Dali Lama, to friendships with many prominent people in politics and Hollywood… Nancy’s is an amazing life story.

About 85 percent of this fascinating autobiography deals with the early beginnings of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement in the US. There are many personal stories of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (the founder of the TM Movement) and as I am a long time practitioner of TM myself, I was totally enchanted by this intimate history of my spiritual movement.

Nancy spent many precious moments with Maharishi and was able to ask many fascinating questions… this alone I feel is worth the price of the book. Nancy was also in Rishikesh, India at the time the Beatles, Donovan, and Mike Love were there. This section is like opening a time capsule for readers of my generation.

This is a wonderful book filled with many priceless photos. Even if you do not practice Transcendental Meditation I would still highly recommend Nancy’s book as a first hand account of the advent of Eastern Spirituality to the Western world and, if you are a practitioner of TM and have yet to read this… well what are you waiting for?

Reviewed by Tony Kainauskas.

This is one of my all-time favorite books. The author led an incredible life, both hobnobbing with "the rich and famous", and partaking in a unique spiritual quest. This is one of those books that has something for everyone. On the seeking side, she was very early on with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and, at times, very close to him. Her stories are a must for those who have never been up close and personal with this great master. She reveals the authentic "lowdown" and really is a spellbinding storyteller. She spent part of 1968 on a teacher-training course with Maharishi in Rishikesh. It so happens that this was the course attended by such luminaries as Mia and Prudence Farrow, Donavan, and of course, the Beatles. The chapters on this adventure are rated "can’t miss." The book has great recollections and priceless pictures. If you have not read this book you are in for a real treat.

Review by Len Oppenheim.