Paul Mason became a fan of The Beatles at an early age, and recalls that as an 11-year-old he listened to a live broadcast of them playing, picked up on his transistor radio set on Boxing Day, 26th December 1963. Living in London, Paul got to see many of the major acts live in concert, met a lot of colourful characters on the fringes of the music business, and enjoyed good times together with them, occasionally brushing shoulders with those close to the core.

In 1970, Paul hitchhiked to India where he visited Maharishi's ashram at Rishikesh and learned the technique of Transcendental Meditation.This spurred him to dig deeper into the history of the teaching of meditation, which led to his being commissioned to write 'The Maharishi: the Biography of the Man Who Gave Transcendental Meditation to the World'. Later he translated the teachings and life story of Maharishi's master, 'Guru Dev' - Shankaracharya Swami Brahmananda Saraswati - from Hindi and Sanskrit into English.

In 2000, at a little ceremony on the banks of the River Ganges at Swargashram, Rishikesh, Paul was given the honorary sannyasi name of 'Premanand'. More recently, a chance meeting with singer/songwriter Donovan Leitch proved the necessary spur to bring to fruition a project that had been bubbling under for years - the compilation of the detailed account of The Beatles, involvement with Maharishi, and their clear endorsement for the practice of Transcendental Meditation:-