The Journey Home: Autobiography of an American Swami

by Radhanath Swami

Overview

Within this extraordinary memoir, Radhanath Swami weaves a colorful tapestry of adventure, mysticism, and love. Readers follow Richard Slavin from the suburbs of Chicago to the caves of the Himalayas as he transforms from young seeker to renowned spiritual guide. The Journey Home is an intimate account of the steps to self-awareness and also a penetrating glimpse into the heart of mystic traditions and the challenges that all souls must face on the road to inner harmony and a union with the Divine. Through near-death encounters, apprenticeships with advanced yogis, and years of travel along the pilgrim’s path, Radhanath Swami eventually reaches the inner sanctum of India’s mystic culture and finds the love he has been seeking. It is a tale told with rare candor, immersing the reader in a journey that is at once engaging, humorous, and heartwarming.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781601090560
Publisher:	Mandala Publishing
Publication date:	01/19/2010
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	397,417
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

New York Times best-selling author Radhanath Swami was born in Chicago in 1950. At age nineteen, he traveled overland from London to India, where he lived in Himalayan caves, learned yoga from revered masters, and eventually became a world-renowned spiritual leader in his own right. His acclaimed memoir, The Journey Home, has been translated into over twenty languages and sold in over forty countries worldwide. Radhanath Swami presently travels in Asia, Europe, and America teaching devotional wisdom but can often be found with his community in Mumbai, where he works tirelessly to help develop communities, food distribution initiatives, missionary hospitals, schools, ashrams, emergency relief programs, and eco-friendly farms.

Editorial Reviews

An American swami recounts the days he spent wandering through India in the 1960s in search of his true identity. Swami grew up near Chicago during the '50s as Richie Slavin, a middle-class Jewish kid. In his teens, he discovers the '60s counterculture, takes part in civil rights demonstrations, grows his hair long, smokes pot and takes LSD. His best friend, Gary, invites him to Europe for three months during summer vacation after attending his first year at Miami Dade College. The author leaps at the chance; it's the power of destiny calling. Swami tells the absorbing tale of his travels through Europe and his many adventures and wanderings through India. The intriguing coming-of-age story follows Swami on his spiritual search as he encounters saints, gurus and holy people. He meets Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama and stays with the fearsome Naga Babas, who, the author says, float in midair. He becomes a sadhu, a mendicant beggar, who goes from cave to temple to ashram in a ceaseless quest to find his true teacher. Most yogis he encounters want to be accepted as his master, but time after time he refuses, for he has a special fate. Swami is a simple, ingenuous narrator, and he tells a straightforward tale adorned by brief descriptive passages that convey the magic and mystery of India during the early '70s. The author spices his narrative with intriguing stories that will not only amuse readers, but also convey his deeper yearnings and uncertainties: Is God personal or impersonal? What is the role of meditation, humility and service in spiritual life? A straightforward, engaging spiritual quest and life adventure.

Kirkus Reviews