Elvis Presley Wanted a ‘Shortcut’ to Enlightenment

Elvis Presley spent much of his life searching for enlightenment. While he had achieved unprecedented success in his career, he felt unfulfilled. Elvis turned to various spiritual and religious texts and seemed to want to cultivate this part of his life. When he met with one religious leader, though, he didn’t appear to be all that willing to put the work in. He asked her if there was a shortcut he could take to enlightenment.

Elvis Presley sought enlightenment, but he didn’t want to work too hard for it

On the recommendation of a monk, Elvis met with Daya Mata, the president of the Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. He came across as shy and polite to her, and he expressed his interest in spiritual fulfillment. While his interest seemed genuine, Daya Mata said Elvis was impatient for results. He asked her for a “shortcut” to the enlightenment of Kriya Yoga.

“Oh, well that I didn’t give him,” she said in the book Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick. “I wouldn’t do that. I’ve had that come to me from so many people, and I just said, ‘Well, that’s — just set back a little. Just because someone has a name, that doesn’t impress me. I’m not interested in that side of your nature. I’m interested in your soul.’”

She believed that while Elvis was genuinely interested in that moment, his dedication would wane.

“There was one point where he wanted to wholeheartedly [join the movement], he wanted to teach the teachings, be more involved — but I told him that wouldn’t be right because I could see his nature. He might be enthusiastic for a while, but then he would cool back and lean toward his other activities, [because] that was his life, he had another mission than that.”

Daya Mata said the singer was naïve

Though she gently turned Elvis down, Daya Mata liked the singer. She felt she understood him.

“I saw in him someone who was full of innocence, if you can understand the way I mean that,” she said. “He was a naïve, somewhat childlike individual who was caught up in the adulation of the world and enjoyed it, but, more than that, he felt a deep bond with his public; he was carried away by them and didn’t want ever to disappoint them.”

Still, the widespread adoration for Elvis didn’t do much to fulfill him. For much of his life, he felt rudderless.

“He had done some reading. He was sinking,” she said. “Here was someone who had everything the world could offer, [but] it didn’t satisfy him. There was still an emptiness, and the only way to fill it was to turn within.”

Elvis Presley’s spiritual studies caused problems in his personal life

Elvis’ spirituality remained a major part of his life for years. This caused many problems for him. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, believed his focus on the subject distracted him from his music. His friends couldn’t understand why it interested him so much. Priscilla Presley felt it took his attention away from her.

“Although I was striving to be his soul mate and subtly becoming more aware of myself as a spiritual being, my heart longed for the very temptations he was fighting to conquer,” she wrote in her book Elvis and Me. “While I patiently waited at home at Graceland for his returns, planning romantic interludes, he was attempting to overcome worldly temptations and believed he was going through a cleansing period, physically and spiritually. Any sexual temptations were against everything he was striving for, and he did not wish to betray me, the girl waiting for him at home who was preparing to be his wife.”

She said that because of his spiritual development, Elvis felt he should resist her. Their relationship suffered as a result.