ABOUT
Life is still possible through it all.
A life shaped by spiritual seeking, war, monastic practice, storytelling, and service.
INTRODUCTION
Her life has crossed worlds that rarely meet.
Sadhvi Siddhali Shree is a spiritual teacher, U.S. Army combat medic and Iraq War veteran, award-winning filmmaker, author, international speaker, and the Spiritual Director of Siddhayatan Tirth & Spiritual Retreat Center.
From military service and monastic life to Oscar-qualifying documentaries, retreats, and social-impact campaigns, her work has remained rooted in one purpose: helping people recognize that pain does not have to define the rest of their lives. She speaks from what she has endured, questioned, practiced, and transformed.
EARLY LIFE & MILITARY SERVICE
A Search for Strength.
Spirituality was present in Siddhali’s life from childhood. She began meditating as early as six years old, naturally drawn toward silence and a deeper understanding of life. When her mother died at thirteen, grief became part of her inner world, alongside other childhood pain and trauma.
By her final year in high school, she was seeking spiritually again with greater intensity while also drawn to the discipline, community, and sense of purpose represented by the military. She enlisted in the U.S. Army during her final year, wanting to become stronger physically and mentally—and to build an independent life. Approximately four months before deploying to Iraq as a combat medic, her search led her to H.H. Acharya Shree Yogeesh, giving her lifelong spirituality a living teacher and clearer direction.
Her time in Iraq brought previously suppressed pain to the surface. She returned home feeling lost, angry, and alone, trying to numb what she was carrying. Healing required time, honesty, and disciplined practice. Through Acharya Shree’s guidance and his Purnam Yoga breathing system, Siddhali gradually reconnected with her soul, her voice, and the spiritual calling she had sensed long before the war.
MONASTIC LIFE & SIDDHAYATAN
A Calling Remembered.
Siddhali completed her degree in Communications, with a focus on public speaking, at California State University, Long Beach in 2008.
A few weeks after graduating, on September 7, 2008, she took her monastic vows in California and was initiated by H.H. Acharya Shree Yogeesh into the Siddha Sangh Order, which he established. Becoming the first North American female Jain monk—and the first Jain monk initiated outside India—marked a historic moment in the Jain tradition.
A few days later, she moved to Texas to help establish and build Siddhayatan Tirth & Spiritual Retreat Center into what it is today. Now serving as its Spiritual Director, she helps carry forward its mission as a 250-acre ashram, monastery, retreat center, and meditation park dedicated to spiritual growth and transformation.
FILMMAKING & SOCIAL IMPACT
Storytelling as Service.
Filmmaking entered Siddhali’s life unexpectedly. While preparing for a visit to the Philippines, she was considering how she could serve women and connect with children living in poverty. As she watched a documentary about the poverty surrounding Smokey Mountain, one thought arose: Why don’t I make a documentary?
That question opened an entirely new path.
Siddhali began using film to bring attention to difficult stories too often ignored. What began as an instinct to help grew into the ability to carry ambitious projects from an initial idea through production, distribution, partnerships, and social impact.
She has since directed and produced award-winning documentaries addressing human trafficking, animal welfare, and women’s health, including Stopping Traffic, Surviving Sex Trafficking, For the Animals, and BALANCE: A Perimenopause Journey. Her work includes three Oscar-qualifying documentaries and a Primetime Emmy campaign for BALANCE.
SPIRITUAL TEACHING & SPEAKING
The Work Today.
Today, Siddhali brings together spiritual teaching, lived experience, public speaking, filmmaking, retreats, books, and social-impact work. Her teachings explore spiritual awakening, discovering who you really are, navigating pain and trauma, living with greater awareness, and finding inner freedom.
Acharya Shree remains her spiritual teacher and the foundation of her path. Through her work, Siddhali helps make profound spiritual teachings accessible and relatable to people encountering them for the first time.
Her memoir project, The Making of a Monk, is currently being represented.
At the heart of Siddhali’s work is a simple truth: no matter what someone has endured, another way of living is still possible.
SELECTED MEDIA
Featured In
CONNECT
For speaking, media, films, podcasts, and collaborations.
Choose the area that best fits your inquiry and reach the right person directly.
SPEAKING INQUIRIES
For keynotes, panels, screenings, retreats, and conversations centered on spirituality, women’s health, resilience, purpose, and social impact. Click here.
PRESS & MEDIA
For interviews, podcasts, press features, commentary, and other media requests. Click here.
FILM & PARTNERSHIPS
For screenings, film collaborations, educational initiatives, impact campaigns, and aligned partnerships. Click here.
GENERAL CONTACT
For retreat inquiries, personal messages, and anything that doesn’t fit within the categories above. Click here.