One night a huge scorpion fell from the ceiling of the cave, inches away from Richard. He also noticed deadly cobras occasionally, and remembered the fatherly Kailash Baba in developing the proper consciousness. He prayed to God to help him overcome judgment, fear and hatred. Once a reclusive mystic from Egypt offered to read Richard’s destiny. Through elaborate occult rituals, he prophesized that a divine power will direct Richard. Like a leaf in the wind, he will be led to the path he must follow. He advised Richard to persevere with patience and then by a power beyond his own, his master will come to him.
Earlier at Goa, Richard began to realize the limitations of his travelling from place to place and from teacher to teacher. Although a popular idea in the 1960’s was to learn as much as possible from various paths, Richard now began to see the superficiality of it; he began to see many spiritualists with this idea, but the depth of their realizations seemed vague. Those who impressed Richard as advanced had committed themselves to a particular path. The fear and uncertainty of choosing a path was becoming painful for him.
Vedas, the ancient spiritual guide, encourages a seeker to commit to a particular path. Self study and arm chair commentary maybe permissible for subjects such as history, and politics but Vedic wisdom is transformational in its potency, and requires careful tutelage and practice of spiritual practices. Just as an untrained surgeon causes more harm than good, an untrained spiritualist confuses people and takes them further away from enlightenment. Imagine a young man claiming to be an ophthalmologist, and he seeks to surgically operate your eyes. As you wonder about his qualifications, he beams, “I have studied the books on my own and am confident of performing an operation.” Or worse, he claims the knowledge of surgery was revealed to him in a dream. Will you volunteer to be operated by such a ‘knowledgeable’ eye surgeon? A surgeon has to study and practice under a bonafide surgeon before qualifying himself. Similarly the Vedic scriptures encourage a seeker to approach a guru, and commit to a path for deeper revelations of the Absolute Truth.
At the same time, the Indian philosophical thought also encourages a seeker to see good and learn from everyone. The Rig Veda, one of the oldest of Indian books of wisdom, encourages assimilation of spiritual knowledge from all sources, “let noble thoughts come to us from all sides.” Under the tutelage of a guru, a spiritualist respects all forms of life and learns from every aspect of God’s creation.
The ancient Indian classic, Srimad Bhagavatam reveals the story of one saint who learnt from twenty four teachers. By his careful observation of the nature, he received various instructions from the earth, the wind, the sky, the water, fire, and so on. Because of the knowledge he had gained from them, he was able to travel about the earth in a liberated state. For example from the earth he had learned how to be sober, and from the two manifestations of earth, namely the mountain and the tree, he had learned, respectively, how to serve others and how to dedicate one’s whole life for the benefit of others. From the water he had learned how to be naturally clear and purifying. From the moon he had learned how the material body undergoes growth and dwindling. From the sun he had learned how to avoid entanglement even while coming into contact with sense objects, and from the pigeon he had learned how too much affection and excessive attachment are not good for one seeking spiritual enlightenment.
Radhanath Swami’s commitment to one path for over four decades has filled his heart with rich realizations. At the same time, the deep internal connection to God through a systematic path has helped him see the universality of all other paths, and has led him to appreciate the various spiritual teachers that have graced the world.
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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........
Vedic wisdom is transformational in its potency-applies perfectly to Radhanath Swami
View CommentGreat article. Wonderful expression of the experience of Radhanath Swami
View CommentThere is just so much we can learn from nature – just as the story from the Srimad Bhagavatam. Radhanath Swami is a blessing to this world having learned from all these great teachers and sharing those pearls of wisdom with us.
View CommentMaharaj has just descended from the spiritual world to deliver fallen souls from this world.. It shows how compassionate he is !!!!
View CommentRadhanath Swami took a long time to decide on a path but once he decided, he was firm on that and he went deep and deep into it. Then there was no looking back for him. This shows two qualities …(1) his serious attitude towards a spiritual path. He did not want to take whatever comes his way because he was looking for something which is real and he knew that he will not go away from it later on. (2) Commitment to his chosen path.
View CommentHow nicely Radhanath Swami has given understanding of whether to choose one path or follow all through his own example. He is following one path with complete commitment at the same time respecting and learning valuable things from other paths.
View CommentJust as in the story a king learned from various forms of nature, similarly Radhanath Swami, on his spiritual quest, got important lessons from nature, like mother Ganges, mountains & so on…….
View CommentBefore becoming a great teacher, Radhanath Swami was one of the best students. Radhanth Swami had learned the spirituality by undergoing severe austerities. After coming across so many spiritual paths, Radhanath swami met his Guru who had shown that one path of real perfection, the Bhakti Yoga. Thank you for sharing this wonderful article describing the best realisations of Radhanath Swami.
View CommentSpirituality is not about acquiring knowledge. It is more about practice and realization. Hence it is transformational.
View Commentwonderful article!
View CommentWonderful. Thanks for sharing.
View CommentThis proves 2 very critical points:
View Comment1) dedication of Radhanath Maharaj
2) the perfectly Genuine path he chose for his spiritual progress
I think the need to really follow a proper accredited spiritual path while respecting and appreciating all good. The general misconception about institutionalizing one’s faith is very nicely dealt herein. Following one particular path doesn’t mean one looses access to outside knowledge rather what one looses is superficiality in spiritual pursuits. Unless one goes deep, how can one fathom the self and supreme. So, nice understanding. Wonderful article. Thanks
View CommentAmazing!
View CommentThanks for sharing .
View CommentRadhanath Maharaj travellled on this transcendental journey in seacrch of the right path to God. He studied all the religions of this world and then he decided on his path which he was loyal to all his life. That is the meaning of committment.
View CommentToday lot of people are hesitant to accept right spiritual path, although every experience is potentially bringing us closer to Lord
View CommentRadhanath Maharaj was in the begning observing who is real guru and he was very distinctive about self called guru-that an analogy of untrained docter is perfect.
View Commentradhanath swami is fully committed and has dedicated his life fully to the mission of his spiritual master.after all his search he is now committed to the spiritual path.we too need to be committed to the spiritual path then only we will get spiritual bliss.
View CommentRadhanath Swami Maharaj embodies the rare quality of appreciation for all spiritual paths.
View CommentUltimately we have to use our God-given intelligence to test and choose a spiritual master, who is pure and coming from a disciplic parampara.
View Comment“Vedic wisdom is transformational in its potency, and requires careful tutelage and practice of spiritual practices. Just as an untrained surgeon causes more harm than good, an untrained spiritualist confuses people and takes them further away from enlightenment”.This explains that one must practice strongly to see the results and to be able to speak about that practice. Thank you radhanath swami for sharing.
View Commentvery nice
View CommentOne may learn from many paths for spiritual progress but ultimately one must depend on his intelligence and God’s mercy to choose a bonafide spiritual master who will give him a bonafide process based on ‘Guru,sadhu & shastra’ and guide him.He must stick to this process sincerely, seriously and without any ultirior motive to make spiritual progress.Radhanath Swami is teaching us this by his own exmple.
View CommentRadhanath Swami’s intelligent inquires to choose the right path and a right spiritual master to ssurrender are truely inspiring.
View CommentVery nice article. Thank you very much for sharing the same.
View CommentH.H.Radhanath Swami alone is the answer for the present conflict and confusion prevailing all over the world about understanding of God. Because he has gone around and seen everything and found that all messages are actually saying the same thing.
View CommentThe point that an untrained spiritualist causes more harm than good strikes me as some times we may have good intentions to contribute to the society but without proper training and guidance it will land up in dis-service.
View CommentRadhanath Swami’s commitment to one path for over four decades gives so much hope, strength and encouragment to others to take up to the same path with renewed commitment and enthusiasm.
View CommentMaharaj is the one person whoes entire life is full of spiritual realisations which not only enlightens his life but also each and every indivudal who comes in contact with him directly or indirectly…Maharaj ki Jai.
View CommentTo appreciate other spiritual paths and teachers is an austerity, but Radhanath Swami has successfully done that.
View CommentRadhanath Swami’s seriousness towards commintment & surrender puts many of us to shame (me in particular), as we have taken several things & facilites for granted.
View Commentvery nice article,thank you for post
View CommentIt is amazing how the spiritual guides encourage us to take wisdom from all sources. Yet it takes a qualified teacher to help us understand and assimilate our learnings. Thank you very much for sharing this valuable lesson.
View CommentEvery aspect of Radhanath Swami’s action are so deep and teaches us so many important lessons.
The best & easiest way we can understand vedic scriptures is by observing the lives of those who have dedicated themselves in a bonfide vedic paramapara.
Radhanath Swami is one such person and that is why when we read his book “The Journey Home” and meditate on the events there, we get to see most important vedic teachings applied and lived by…so that we understand and quickly (without spending a lot of time…which anyway we dont have in our life styles today) and progress in our Spiritual lives
View Commentinspiring article
View CommentExperiences Maharaj went through gives chills in my spine.
View Commentwonderful book
Spritual knowledge is available from so many different path, but to have realization and transformation of the heart we must put that knowledge in to practice. To do this we must choose one path and Guru very sincerely to whom we can surrender our life completely.
View CommentYes, this is truely very important when we come to spiritual path. Often people are confused about which spiritual path one should take. By beccoming commited to one path which offers us spiritual direction under the direction of banafide spiritual master then our life becomes successful. Thanks for sharing this wonderful meditation.
View CommentThis article shows the importance of commitment to a particular path and the dangerous of an arm chair spiritual practice.
View CommentRadhanath Swamis commitment of four decades is glorious example which one must follow as a sincere spiritual practitioner
View CommentAll religions have the same underlying principle of universal brotherhood. But without the spiritual guidance of bonafide gurus like Radhanath Swami, the holy scriptures get misinterpreted & misused by people with vested interests who then create sectarian divisions within the society & even forment communal violence. Lack of bonafide spiritual leaders such as Radhanath Swami is one of the reasons why the common people are fearful of commitment to a spiritual life.
View CommentOnce we come across bonafide spiritual gurus such as Radhanath Swami, then it becomes very easy to commit to the spiritual path because such saintly people inspire others by actually practicing what they preach.
View CommentBecause Radhanath Swami has committed himself to and learnt about the Absolute Truth from a bonafide spiritual teacher, his realisations are very deep and perfect.
View Commentgreat realization!
View Commentvery nice post from Radhanath swami’s book. I hope and pray that I can follow sincerely in the foot steps of great souls like Radhanath swami
View CommentThanks for this encouraging account from the life of Radhanath Swami. I hope to keep following lessons: 1)Let the noble thoughts come from all side. 2)Let me ever remain committed to the path God revealed to me.
View CommentReally HH Radhanath swami maharajs encounters before he committed himself are very much to learn from.
View CommentThank You for sharing this. The analogy about the surgeon, makes it very clear about committing oneself and gaining spiritual knowledge from a bona fide teacher.
View CommentRadhanath Swami’s commitment to one path for over four decades gives so much hope and encouragement to all his students to tread the same path.
View Comment