‘Irrespective of profession, everyone seeks to harmony’

Being one of the most famous contemporary ISKCON gurus, Radhanatha Swami bears the responsibility of representing the global Vaisnava society of ISKCON as well as the bhakti yoga method. While many of us are travelling our own paths, you are viewing prayer and love. Then, at the age of nineteen, Radhanath Swami decided to embark on his own spiritual journey, hitchhiking all over the world. He landed in India, where he was robbed at knifepoint, attacked by wild dogs, and even held captive by a snake charmer.
He claimed that all of this was part of his destiny, and now he is here as the author of a new spiritual book called The Journey Home. Radhanath Swami was born Richard Slavin to a Jewish family in Chicago in the 1960s, and this is what he became. “Well, I was a teenager in the 1960s. There were a lot of questions; the civil rights movement was underway, the Vietnam War was raging, and I was confused. I saw so much hatred and division in the name of God, and I saw that, despite America’s claims to be a free nation, African Americans did not actually have equal rights. I joined the counterculture and began to demonstrate in support of the civil rights movement because I saw so many people’s hearts full of ego and greed, which was driving them to harm others. Eventually, I realised that the counterculture was not really addressing the real issues, and I heard someone say that if you don’t have an idea you are willing to die for, you have nothing really meaningful to live for. I wanted to find that ideal, and then I learned from Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings that we should try to be the change,” he begins.
Mahatma Gandhi’s life was very different from most of them, but the interviewee believed that his spirit endured, and they were aware of what he said. Radhanath can only picture people watching now at home, interested in spirituality, having read “Eat, Pray, Love,” and possibly even seeing Julia Roberts on her quest. “What we must give up is greed, conceit, and ego. Regardless of one’s profession—business, medicine, law, politics, or even spirituality—everyone seeks to harmonise their body, mind, and soul. After all, everyone wants to be loved, regardless of their status in society or place of employment. To truly be spiritual, one must establish a connection with their own spiritual essence. To be honest, I never intended to write either of them. I went on a spiritual quest when I was 19 years old and moved out of my Chicago area home. I made the decision to hitch-hike across Europe, starting in London and travelling via Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and the Himalayas. I stopped at synagogues, cathedrals, holy places, and monasteries along the way. I studied Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. I eventually travelled to India to study Buddhism, Hinduism, and yoga in their different forms,” he continued.
He arrived in Vrindavan, a very sacred woodland where devotees of the one God—who took on the name and form of Krishna—consider it to be their sacred site. He felt like he was home there! “I met Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, my guru, there. I observed that he stood in for a long line of wonderful, enlightened humans. His kindness had such an impact on me that I wanted to help him. Many have urged me to publish a book on my voyage, which I took in 1970, over the years. “No” was my go-to response every time. I simply wouldn’t think about it. Firstly, I am not a writer; I have never written a book. Two, I honestly didn’t think anyone would believe me if I revealed the truth about what had happened to me since it was so different. The third question was, isn’t it conceited of me to produce a book about myself in which the terms “me” and “mine” appear on every page? I’m attempting to overcome my haughtiness,” he says, offering some fascinating anecdotes.
The Journey Home is, at its core, an inward journey that explores how personal events, both in good and bad times, changed him on a personal level. It takes the reader through some amazing and intriguing locations. Another publisher who had read The Journey Home after it was released persuaded him to write a book explaining the universal lessons he had learned on this road through anecdotes and analogies that would make them simple to comprehend. So Radhanath Swami built his spiritual headquarters at Radha Gopinath Ashram in Chowpatty, despite his years of relentless travel throughout the world. Over the course of the last two decades, he has led the community’s development and launched several highly regarded social action initiatives too.