My Spiritual Journey

In 1997, Radhanath Swami was about to speak to a thousands of people when Azan was sounded on loud speakers from a nearby mosque. He closed his eyes and waited for the Azan to finish, and only then did he start speaking. He said "He was also calling out to God." In this and many ways, Radhanath Swami has always taught his followers to have deep respect for all noble purposes and all bonafide religions aiming to bring one closer to God. He follows the Bhakti tradition, which was has been based in India traditionally, but his followers are spread all over the world. He has thousands of disciples in USA, and a few hundred in countries like Russia, Australia, UK, France, etc., stemming from all religions, races and creeds.

Often when people dedicate their lives to a particular faith, making this faith the central focal point of their lives, there is a tendency to grow antagonistic towards other faiths or doctrines. Also, those who follow secularism are often known to stop believing in God because they start believing that all religions cannot possibly point to the same God. Radhanath Swami demonstrates though teachings, behavior and practical action how a true spiritualist respects all religions and sees unity of purpose in them - the purpose of uniting the lost souls back with their eternal Father.

His teachings often speak of secularism, and he covers the topic of many faiths extensively in his book. I highly recommend anyone reading this post to visit his website, download a lecture or read his book in order to have a look at the compassion, tolerance and humility decorating the heart of a true spiritualist.

I first saw Radhanath Swami in 2005. He was speaking to a crowd of a hundred youngsters between 15 and 35. His message of love and sacrifice was in stark contrast to the mass-consumerism propaganda youngsters are bombarded with nowadays. A simple man wrapped in an orange loincloth with a shaved head held hundreds of youngsters in rapt attention for hours with his simple message of love and humanity. His message was so engaging because it touched my heart - He spoke about sacrifice and universal love. As I sat there listening to him, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of connection and gratitude - How could this person whom I have never met, so far apart in age - tell me something what would touch me and move me so much? I looked around and everybody felt the same. It was really inspiring to hear him speak.

As the months progressed, I met people who have known Radhanth Swami since decades. I asked them about his personal nature, and all of them told me that he was an extremely simple person who was honest and genuine from the core of his heart. He practiced what he preached - He epitomized the principles of tolerance and humility. Many people also told me about his personal story - How he had hitch hiked in his youth all the way from America to India in search of God - and how he had dedicated his life to serving humanity.

Read this link to read a story about him:
Radhanath Swami

Visit these websites that tell more about Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami

Visit these websites to hear/ read Radhanath Swami lectures or extracts from spiritual teachings:
Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami

Visit this website for his autobiography, "The Journey Home"
Radhanath Swami

Here is Radhanath Swami's Wikipedia page:
Radhanath Swami

Some pics of Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami

Some videos of Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami

Radhanath Swami's Facebook page:
Radhanath Swami

register on this forum to interact with Radhanath Swami disciples
Radhanath Swami

Visit this website to view famous quotes by Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami

We had been eagerly waiting for months with a lot of enthusiasm and anticipation. I had already heard his story in bits and pieces from his disciples. Radhanath Swami was not very eager to share his personal story - as it had a lot of his personal feelings and intimate thoughts involved - only those close to him had heard his story in full from himself.

The publishers had delayed it again. Everyday we used to hear the news that it might come the next day - and eagerly waited, but then the shipment was delayed too. Me and my groups of 50 friends were leaving to Mayapur (a small town in East India ) for 2 weeks for helping organize a huge spiritual retreat for thousands of people from many countries including USA, Canada, Russia, China, UK, Ukraine, Australia, Germany, Spain, etc. And then 4 hours before we were scheduled to leave, the books arrived! We left all our packing and arranging and sat down reading - engrossed in Radhanath Swami's story.

His story starts in suburban Chicago where he grew up, like a common teenager dealing with the social issues that gripped America during the 60's decade - yet there was something different about him - he had a thirst for spiritual knowledge - it was something which was above what occupied the minds for common youngsters in that time - and he made many sacrifices for that thirst - ranging from demonstration against apartheid to leaving his home in search of spiritual knowledge. As Richard Slavin (Radhanath Swami's old name) traveled on foot from Europe to India, he had various experiences which are amazingly entertaining, yet carried very deep meaning and lessons for him. eg: A frenzied attack by gangsters in Iraq teaches the Monk (his nickname in his group of friends because of his spiritual inclinations)about gratitude and the value of life - as the story unfolded we saw the world through Radhanath Swami's eyes, and how God led him from a seemingly common American young boy to a sage wrapped in loincloth dedicating his life to preaching about God consciousness and universal love and brotherhood. We experienced His joys and sorrows and how his experiences with various holy saints like Mother Teresa, Baba Ram Dass, Tat Wala Baba, The naga babas, The Tibetan monks, the Muslim religious leaders of the middle east showed him a deeper and richer meaning to life. Radhanath Swami almost lost his life in search for spiritual truths many times. We were taken on that journey in the matter of a few hours sitting comfortably in our rooms, and we were transformed and amazed by his life story. I would recommend everyone to read his book at least once - it is a life changing and transforming experience that leads one towards spiritual discovery of his own inner faiths, purposes and principles of life.

Once Radhanath Swami was traveling with one of my friends Ujwal in his car and on a traffic signal some beggars came up to their window. Radhanath Swami asked Ujwal "Do you have some rice puffs or pancakes to give to them?". Then Radhanath Swami cupped his hands and said "Give me some money"after he gave the money, Radhanath Swami said to him "Now you give this money to them". As the car drove off, Radhanath Swami said "It is a very humiliating experience to be begging" and then lowering his voice further " It is even more humiliating when you do not give". Then in a mood of instruction and pleading Radhanath Swami said " You must carry some food item like pancakes, rice puffs, grain biscuits etc. And as a last resort you can give money but know well that money may get misused"

Read this incident in detail on this link: Radhanath Swami

Such is the nature of the true spiritualist - who is in union with his own divine nature - he is compassionate towards all, living entities, humans, animals, insects alike as he knows them all to be parts and parcel of the same supreme God. His compassion extends beyond the boundaries of his own caste, country or even species, as these are based on the bodily platform. Spiritual compassion applies to all living entities, as they are spiritual in nature, irrespective of what their current bodily conditions are.

Radhanath Swami is such a spiritualist. when he was 19, as soon as he arrived in India extremely hungry and thirsty after days of walking on foot and inconceivable troubles on the Pakistan border, a man offered him some meat to eat and he declined it, with tears in his eyes, thinking of the poor animal that must have been slaughtered. Such a person is dear to all, those who are gentle and those who are ruffians, those who are highly intelligent (like humans), and those who are not (animals etc), as they are not envious towards anyone.

After I associated more with Radhanath Swami's disciples, they invited me for 2 week trip with them to South India - covering the Srirangam, Vishnukanchi and Rameshwaram. It was the winder of 2005, and it was incredibly cold. My trip did not start off well, as soon as I got into the train, I was affected my severe diarrhea, fever and cough and cold. But the spiritual vibrant and festive atmosphere around me made me forget my sickness and actively participate in the discussions, music going all around me. I found a special caring nature in Radhanath Swami's disciples which would make any newcomer feel at home.

As the trip progressed, my health got better, and hearing Radhanath Swami speak was a source of joy and inspiration. I realized that the caring nature of Radhanath Swami's disciples was due to the teachings of Radhanath Swami, in which he taught about universal love, religion and peace. He taught that one should respect others, and maintain ones integrity and dedication to principles under all circumstances. He often said that one should be more tolerant than a tree and humble like a blade of grass. It was amazing to see a genuine saint inspiring so many different kinds of people on the path of spirituality and moral integrity.

During one talk, he also taught that many material difficulties may come upon a person sincerely endeavoring to practice a spiritual life, but such difficulties should not deter us from our goal of spiritual perfection and enlightenment. That talk was especially encouraging, as I was facing a lot of problems due to my health. It was also amazing to see how he treated everyone with respect, and he was very dear to the local people as well because of his godly qualities.

That yatra was a memorable experience for me and after the trip, I was very much inspired to be a more moral, spiritual and honest person in all aspects.Thousands of others had similar experiences on associating with Radhanath Swami.

The original audio lecture by Radhanath Swami can be found at :
Radhanath Swami

Radhanath Swami conveys a very important message through his teachings - the message that every human needs to know; as it is intrinsic to his fundamental nature and would go a long way in enabling him to identify with his true nature and attain lasting peace. The core of this message describes the true nature of the living entity - that we are all fundamentally spiritual, but our forgetfulness of this fundamental fact about ourselves leads to dissatisfaction and misery. This forgetfulness also means that we do not know the cause of our miseries, and we keep searching for happiness in objects of this world, which ultimately turns out to be a wild goose chase. Every religion since the ancient days has proclaimed the same message, but it has been diluted by sectarian views and personal ambitions - it is indeed wonderful to find a modern day saint preaching the same fundamental and universal message of all religions which has been washed away and covered by sectarianism and groupism.

Radhanath Swami also teaches about controlling the mind and how our purpose and ability to act in ways against the dictates of the mind and senses are what makes us human, different from animals. Indeed, it our morality and conscience and the ability to rise above personal gain and immediate sense gratification is what primarily constitutes our humanity. This humanity is being lost nowadays in many ways, due to increasing worldy mindedness and selfishness. This tendency of not caring about the general well being of society has grown during the past many years, with people moving away from their faith in God and the feeling of being answerable to some supreme force. This has led to a decline in collective responsibility, which is further accentuated by the mass consumerism propagated by the media today. In this day and age, a spiritual leader like Radhanath Swami is needed to guide the masses spiritually. There is a lack of spiritual leaders whose example can be followed, and there is an even deeper lack of leaders who can inspire people to follow a path of self restraint and austerity, which is completely against the media propaganda spread all over the world nowadays.

To quote Radhanath Swami, "however, beautiful our cloths and our cars, and our scientific technology is, if we are not pursuing the purification of our consciousness and self realization we are living in an uncivilized word." This self realization , this understanding of our true nature - is what makes us human, different from animals and hence civilized. We need to look deep into ourselves and understand our true spiritual nature in order rise above the false pride, egotism and selfishness that is rampant today around us. Radhanath Swami is a person who has studied many religions and has realized the fundamentally similar essence in all of them - that we are spiritual in nature and a part and parcel of God, and hence servants of the same universal supreme being. I only hope that people will be able to appreciate and act upon the age old yet fundamentally important message that Radhanath Swami preaches - the message of true spirituality.