At Janakpur, Richard (now Radhanath Swami) met Vasudev, a handsome sadhu in his early thirties. Vasudeva had the manners of an aristocrat and his speech rang with the distinction of the Queen’s English. He wore immaculately clean robes. Richard had never met such a well-groomed mendicant. He was learned in both spiritual and material subjects, and when he invited Richard to travel by foot for three days to reach an obscure holy place, Richard agreed. They journeyed through countryside the whole way, and whomever they met along the way was charmed by Vasudeva’s gentle nature. But something puzzled Richard.
Behind a mask of cheerfulness, Richard (now Radhanath Swami) sensed that this man was tormented.
Vasudeva shared with Richard that he had been born to a well-to-do family in Calcutta and received a Ph.D., becoming a popular, celebrated professor. However a leader of the powerful black tantric cult controlled Vasudev’s life, and demanded him to surrender. Tantric mysticism, Vasudev explained was extremely powerful, and could be either beneficial or sinister. There are the white tantrics who use their powers to serve humankind. Then there are the black tantrics who use their powers to exploit people’s lives for their own diabolical purposes. They gain terrible influence through unspeakable sacrifices, tantric sex rites, and yoga. This guru was an extremely powerful black tantric, endowed with the power to control people’s minds and manipulate their lives. Vasudev had by the power of the holy name saved himself from the tantric’s effects, and although the tantric was killed, his soul sought revenge and in his astral body he sent his men to hunt for Vasudev, and seek revenge. Vasudev led a tormented life, constantly running in fear of the tantric and his evil men.
For most moderns black magic is part of fiction as in Shakesphere’s Macbeth or the more recent J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. But there’s more to it. I had heard of a lot of cases of evil spells on different people by tantrics. Radhanath Swami’s memoir reminded me of what my grandfather would tell me about these tantric spells. Tantric spells are ineffective on us if we follow two principles- develop confidence in divine, and cultivate strength of the mind. Radhanath Swami encourages people to be under the shelter of the divine. It’s important that we keep our external surroundings clean and also our mind pure by cultivating positive thoughts of love, and service. Reading spiritual books and associating with people aspiring to lead a pure life gives us the immunity from black magic spells.
One sure method that Richard (now Radhanath Swami) discovered was mantra yoga, chanting of the Holy names of God. Radhanath Swami gives interesting logic, “Since God is absolute, His names are non-different from Him. Therefore associating with the Holy names gives us the same benefit as associating with the Lord Himself.” Radhanath Swami’s advice therefore is, “constantly remember God and chant His Holy names.” This not only removes evil spells, it also helps keep them away.
Since we are associating with the Supreme Lord by chanting His names, our lives are filled with spiritual happiness. The occult phenomenon relegates to the background in the face of divine joy that springs from a loving relationship with God.
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Founder-acharya of the International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
“Go to India” a sweet but commanding voice; spoke up in the heart of young Richard (later Radhanath Swami) who was immersed in meditation, his search for meaning in life has brought him to the Isle of Crete. Today he was ordered to go to India. Born and raised in the middle class suburbs of Chicago, Radhanath swami grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s era when popular musicians protested war, prejudice and social injustice. Radhanath swami would listen to these songs again and again, but their lyrics referring to God stirred his soul. Peter, Paul and Mary- the folk trio from Greenswich village sang in their debut album
“Early in the morning, about the break of day
I ask the Lord, to help me find my way”
This simple prayer was to guide Radhanath swami in the coming years of his life........
Holy name of Lord is the only protection from ‘black magic’ of Maya!
View CommentVery nice.
View CommentDifficulties, sufferings etc are a part and parcel of each of our lives, the degrees may differ. Radhanath Swami through his experiences and deep spiritual understanding of Vedic scriptures mercifully shares simple yet effective ways of conducting our lives.
View CommentKrishna’s holy name has potency to remove all the Black magic
View CommentThank you Radhanath Swami for this magic
View CommentWonderful lessons to learn from this incident. Being brought up in village , I have also heard about Black Magic.
View Commentthe statement “Since God is absolute, His names are non-different from Him. Therefore associating with the Holy names gives us the same benefit as associating with the Lord Himself.” really gives the simple solution for such nasty problem of black art. Thanks to Radhanath Swami
View CommentBecause Lord is so accessible thru sound vibration, Kali is worshipped by great sages. It is easier than ever to associate with the Lord. Supreme bendiction to supremely fallen junta
View CommentThank you Radhanath Swami for sharing this wonderful passage.
View CommentLot of people doing black magic or the ones onder the spell will benefit after taking the shelter of the Holy Name.
This sublime solution is seldom appreciated by most men. They feel it’s too simple to be true. But a slight association with pure souls can supply them with that crucial faith.
View CommentWhat a wonderful statement by Radhanath Swami – “Since God is absolute, His names are non-different from Him. Therefore associating with the Holy names gives us the same benefit as associating with the Lord Himself.”
View Commentthank u very much.
View CommentBlackmagic and other tantric things won;t affect a person who has taken compelte shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord.
View CommentMany people are fascinated by black magic……….but everything achieved thru black magic is ultimately temporary…….so why not, as recommendedby Swamiji, take shelter of Lord’s holy names & achieve spiritual success
View Commentimporatnat to know
View Comment“constantly remember God and chant His Holy names.” This not only removes evil spells, it also helps keep them away.
Thank you swami ji
This problem can be so terrifying, and is unacknowledged in the west. thank you for printing the remedy, and I’m grateful to Maharaj for sharing his experiences to help us on our paths.
View CommentThanks to Radhanath swami for reminding us that the Holy Name of God can only help us when faced with evils such as Black magic. I hope and pray that I can sincerely chant the Holy names of God every single day.
View CommentThe purity of bonafide saints such as Radhanath Swami transcends the power of all black magic spells & evil spirits.
View CommentChanting of Holy name is the medicine of all miseries..
View Commentconstantly remember lord…very nice thing suggested by Radhanath Swami..as by doing so anyone can become fearless & happy..thanks
View Comment16 rounds of mahamantra a day, keeps all the tantric spells away. But yes, it helps keep Krishna in our consciousness throughout…
View CommentRadhanath Swami Maharaj has given us the ultimate instruction to become free from the black magic of illusion.
View Commentjai narsingadev!
View Commentvery wonderful
View CommentH.H.Radhanath Swami’s experiences gives us so much faith in God.
View CommentThanks for sharing
View Commentthere is hope in chanting the Holy Name
View CommentPower of holy name.Thank you for sharing.
View CommentAgainst black magic, Krishna consciousness is simply magic! Harer naama eva kevalam!
View CommentHoly Name is God Himself and there is no difference. If we take shelter of Holy Name, no tantric power can inluence us.
View CommentThank you for this nice article.
View CommentThanks you very much for sharing..
View CommentThank you Radhanath Swami for teaching us how we can cure the black magic of maya by associating with devotees and reading spiritual books…
View CommentReally wonderful and faith giving that how holy name of the lord can always keep us aloof from the negative forces of this world.
View CommentAssociation,Books,Chanting and deity worship are the ABCD of ‘Bhakti’ which Maharaj has taught us and which has the potency to keep away all evils at all times. Thanks Maharaj for this mercy.
View CommentHoly name is the only cure for all the problems of this material world including Black Magic – Thank you so much Maharaj for sharing wonderful realizations.
View Commentthank you for sharing
View CommentThank you Radhanath Swami, hope your article reaches the author or Hary Potter soon
View CommentKrishna is non different from his holy name. Hence holy name is powerful. When chanted properly, it has the power to shatter the illusion and bring us to the reality.
View CommentVery instructive
View CommentThrough the book “The Journed Home” Radhanath swami Maharaj has given us His experiences of all the difficulties which a person can go on in life and still face it with a positive attitude with the help of divine intervention of the Lord to the degree of our surrender to Lord.
View CommentThis is a really incredible story I have heard about Blank magic. Vasudev must be a great devotees to be protected like this.
View CommentRadhanath swami is a spiritual revolutionary who has got the mercy of Srila Prabhupad and Krishna who helps us to bring us closer to the service of the Lord. Just by following in his footsteps we would be able to improve our spiritual conciousness.
View CommentWhere is chanting of Hare Krishna is going on, there is no maya.
View Commentvery nice article.Thank you for sharing
View CommentRadhanath Swami stresses the importance of Holy name as it cleanses the heart & also protects us from evil effects.
View CommentMaharaj emphasizes the importance of Holy name and how it is non different then Supreme lord himself.
View CommentThank you very much for sharing
View CommentThank you for sharing this.
View Commentyas satyam
If we don’t get attracted to krishna’s magic, then we will get attracted to Maya’s magic. So, we have to always be Krishna-Conscious.
View Comment