Friday, November 3, 2017

The Journey Within by Radhanath Swami

Well, I had this very good friend of mine who pinged me on FB messenger one day asking me to buy this book because she is a great fan of Radhanath Swami, and also because the prequel The Journey Home was exceptional. I mentioned that I will only read it after reading the prequel but the prequel seemed very elusive: I couldnt find it anywhere - not even in libraries. So, this friend ended up gifting this book to me. At about the same time, I heard about this Swami from my colleague's wife. Added to this, my wife was watching some videos of Gaur Gopal Das who is a direct disciple of Radhanath Swami. So, all of a sudden, the stars were aligned for me to get acquainted by this Swami who happens to be a native of Chicago! 

Coming to the book - it is a very interesting read. Some of the passages are mind-blowing while some of them are not so much. I liked the part about how the 'I' is the owner-passenger, the 'charioteer' is the mind and the 'chariot' is the body - and how the chariot goes where the charioteer takes but not where the owner wants to, unless instructed/practiced. Well, read the book to understand it - and many more such concepts - better!