Meditations on The Journey Home – Lesson from Chapter 1
Radhanath Swami’s parents Gerald and Idelle Slavin expressed their faith in God through acts of kindness and gratitude. Having survived the hardships of the Depression of 1930’s, his parents worked hard and arranged the best for Richie and his brothers. They were also careful not to spoil Richie, and taught him to thank God for all the gifts bestowed upon them. Richie’s grandfather left a deep impression on him; his quiet, unassuming nature and offering of prayers touched Richie’s heart.
In building a spiritual community in Mumbai, Radhanath Swami has repeatedly emphasized on a similar need to implant spiritual training to children. This he sought by encouraging the parents to set exemplary standards, and to be ideal example themselves, for the children to emulate. He personally practices and teaches the principles of simplicity and humility, imbibing the values of his Grandpa William Bill Slavian.
Under Radhanath Swami’s leadership, an orphanage of fifty children is flourishing at the outskirts of Mumbai. All the needs of the children- physical, emotional and spiritual- are cared for by a team of full time dedicated and trained teachers, managerially supervised by a trust consisting of respectable members of the society. Living in a rural setting, close to Nature, the children learn practical skills that would help them earn a livelihood later. They also learn the ancient literatures and the moral lessons taught in them. To help assimilate the spiritual principles deeply, the children perform regular dramas at the nearby villages, for the spiritual edutainment of thousands of villagers. Once I wondered why the children are staying at a village hundred kilometers from the city, when the happening place is the city of Mumbai, and that’s where we have the temple, and the two thousand plus flourishing community. I then recalled that Radhanath Swami’s parents had also done something similar in 1955. When Richie was four, they moved from Chicago to the tranquil village of Sherwood Forest. They did this so that they could raise Richie and his two brothers in an environment free from the pollution and dangers of the big city. Yes, the children in this rural setting are also learning the virtues of pursuing a pure and noble life, centered on service to God and society. Of course, there are examples of parents who have successfully trained their children in cities, and implanted a spiritual culture in them.
Recently in a programme of guests and friends who have known Radhanath Swami for over twenty five years, heartfelt appreciation was showered on him. He too spoke for over two hours, recalling in great detail, the kind acts of all the members present, over the last two and a half decades. He remembered which friend had cooked for him rice, chapattis, and idlis (a special Indian cuisine) in 1988, and who had offered help in 1991. Many of the past exchanges, recollected with great happiness, seemed insignificant to my mundane intelligence. A couple of days later, I personally expressed to him my wonder at his extraordinary memory, and his emphasizing on minute details of human interactions. His answer humbled me. With deep gravity, he replied, “If I do not remember the services of all these great souls, the men and women who have done so much for this community in Mumbai, and the related projects, my life is verily condemned.” I now knew for sure, he meant each letter of the appreciation and gratitude he for all community members.
On another occasion, in a monthly festival lecture for over a thousand youth, a man got up and spoke on the merits of good health, and he warned all the assembled youth to avoid sin. A discussion then ensued on what the greatest sin is. Radhanath Swami expressed his understanding of the greatest sin, “To be ungrateful for all the wonderful gifts bestowed upon us by God, parents, friends and Mother Nature, is the greatest sin.”
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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........
Wow, wonderful article, especially for mothers. I really liked the last few lines on the greatest sin. Opened my eyes about how gratitude is such an important virtue. I also recommend readers to visit http://radhanathswamiquotes.com – Some very inspirational quotes.
View CommentHeart touching article about raising of HH Radhanath Swami’s by his parents. In this day and age, very few parents are able to take up the bold decisions to secure the future of their children.
I pray to God, may He grant the good intelligence to all of us to do something good for the society.
View CommentI found some ways through some lecture transcriptions of HH Radhanath Swami available on http://www.radhanathmaharaj.net/.
Please go thru them when possible.
Radhanath Maharaja has taken great harships to reach this point of life. This article reveals us that how much Radhanath swami is concerned about every one, children, youth and the old. Even today he strives to give a strong pillar to the society, by giving the best to the children, personally and through their parents. Thank you Maharaja!
View CommentYes, you are right, Yogita Didi, Maharaj very nicely describes that one of the natural qualities of a devotee should be gratitude towards all Krishna’s gifts and instruments like parents, relatives, friends, spiritual mentor. They are also part and parcel for us in maintaining us in Krishna consciousness.
View CommentI recently saw this video on Simple Temple, where Radhanath Swami has brought up Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Temple as a humble offering to Srila Prabhupada.
http://krishnatube.com/video/233/The-Simple-Temple–Radhanatha-Swami
Radhanath Swami has positively changed so many lives.His last lines are quite emphatic!
View Commentwonderful article.
View CommentParents play the most important role in molding a child’s character……Thanks to Radhanath Swami’s parents for gifting us such a potent personality………
View CommentAlso, Maharaj’s memory is really powerful to have remembered even the minutest details in his autobiography ‘The Journey Home’
Radhanath Swami, being completely established on the spiritual platform sees every living entity as a child of God and therefore can reciprocate with a person beautifully.
View CommentRadhanath Swami goes to the root of all problems & he has very nicely described the greatest sin is to be Ungrateful to GOD ! Simply superb !
View CommentRadhanath Swami has a grateful heart.so he never forgets any little service done to him in any way by anybody.
View CommentWonderful Article!!! All credit goes to Radhanath Swami…
View Commentvery powerful words of radhanath swami maharaj, once again at his best, bhakti
View Commentradhanath swamis words once again changing lives, regards, rajesh karia
View CommentRadhanath Swami says a wonderful thing, that is one should be always grateful for all the wonderful gifts bestowed upon us by God, parents, friends and Mother Nature.
View Commentvery good article. many things to learn from it.
View Commentvery nice article it teaches us how we shd be grateful to each and everyone
View CommentRadhanath Swami Maharaj really remembers the minute of the details of the incidents happened over even decades and this can also be seen in his book where he gives such intricate details of the incidences occured right from his childhood.
View CommentThank You very much Radhanath Swami on this enlightening statement about what is the greatest sin.
View CommentRadhanath Swami himself sets exemplary standards, and an ideal example for others to emulate.
View Commentvery correctly explained by HHRM that we must be thankful to GOD firstly for providing us with all these gifts and to our parents and friends and one must always respect the mother nature, regards, rajesh karia
View CommentHHRM has rightly said to respect GOD and to always be grateful to mother nature and strive to try and give back something to the mother nature, bhakti
View CommentYes that is greatest sin if we are not grateful for whatever god has given us. That is the root cause of all sin when we are dissatisfied and hanker for more and more. Thank you for showing it us Radhanath Maharaj. We should first and foremost learn to be grateful for every person who helped us in the process of krishna consciousness.
View CommentRadhanath Swami is truly grateful. I wish I can emulate a fractions of this quality of his
View CommentWe can learn so many wonderful lessons from this post, the most important being the importance of gratitude.
View CommentRadhanath Swami has given a deep message for us to inculcate that how important it is to acknowledge everyone’s help/service done for us and once we acknowledge that, our bonds with those people increase more and more. In case of God also it’s our duty to acknowledge how merciful the Lord is, Who is out eternal Father.
View CommentI like the definition of the greatest sin that Maharaj has given. It is so simple, truthful and practical.
View Commentspiritual and devotional services rendered by HHRM at its best, haribol, bhakti
View Commentvery rightly explained by HHRM that we as parents must set ourselves as examples for our childrens so that they can imbibe these qualities and follow them, thank you Maharaj, regards, rajesh karia
View CommentThank you Radhanath Swami for reiterating the importance of family and like minded friends for spiritual progress.
View CommentWonderful article of how family roots and upbringing plays a major role in shaping the character of a person. It is also so important to be grateful to God for all that he has given us and also to everyone who have helped us in our lives.
View CommentWonderfully explained how upbringing plays a vital role in shaping a child’s heart. Also that gratitude is absolutely essential.
View CommentThanks a lot prabhu ji for posting such a wonderful article. We must pay gratitude to God, our parents, mother nature and fellow beings for the things that we receive but hardly acknowledge.
View Commentvery true,maharaj, i always forget to feel grateful for whatver i have received through people (not devotees) in life,eg,friends, relatives, parents,grandparents etc.
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