I read the first chapter of the book and believe that indeed Radhanath Swami, then known as Richard Slavin, was destined to become a 'sadhu'. I mean his habits and demeanor were not typical of a Westerner.
The chapter talks about Richard Slavin's (now known as Radhanath Swami) childhood and how he was constantly drawn towards inner/deeper meanings of life. The chapter is divided into further sections and each section is stimulating - making it clear that that there was nothing that aroused his interest in deeper meanings of life, so to say. The interest was there from the beginning, as if impressions from the past life. The chapter brings out how at different phases of life, from childhood to youth, different factors brought him closer to the point of seriously pursuing his interests.
The first section demonstrates Richard Slavin's innocence, as a boy, and the simplicity of his heart. Once he went to his friends home, Danny's basically, and something happened there that troubled him. He found out that Danny had at his home an alter with a framed photograph of Adolph Hitler and there were other weapons too. Richard was moved bu this. But he was troubled when he came to know from Danny that his parents hated him for being a Jew. Danny's father used to tell Danny that even God hated him. Poor Richard went to his home and asked his mother "Does God hate me?" Answer was obviously 'No'. Richard believed that God did not hate him. He would like to pray secretly to God and would feel a sense a of shelter by doing so. He believed that God heard him and was with him. Although a child, Richard used to wonder about the form of God. I'll put it as is in the books... its so beautiful
"Is he like an enormous cloud or a shadow nearly invisible? Or is he a friend who hears every prayer, so real that I can almost touch Him with my thoughts?"
The next section is relatively short, none the less very interesting. It shows how Radhanath Swami had saintly qualities from his very childhood and how his parents and grandfather were always a source of inspiration. His parents trained him in gratitude, generosity and kindness, and thats how they expressed their faith in God. As for Radhanath Swami, his parents would speak of him as being sweet but also strange. Truly, Radhanath Swami's nature/behavior was so alien to that culture. He would not sit on the chair to take food and would rather prefer to eat sitting on the ground: the traditional/Vedic Indian style. He would not like new things: no new clothes, new shoes, new car. New things, better than others embarassed him !! He had a very soft corner for the poor. Once he went to a restaurant with his parents. But ran from there when he saw that one of his friends was working there as an attendant. Radhanath Swami was also very inspired by his grand father William 'Bill' Slavin who expressed his deep rooted faith in his religion through his unassuming and loving nature. Radhanath Swami's genuine simplicity and eagerness to know about got moved the heart of a Rabbi when he asked him to explain the meaning of a prayer. The Rabbi taught Richard (Radhanath Swami) a very important principle that its 'better to pray to God for the strength to overcome temptations, difficulties, and doubts in order to do His will, rather than to pray Him to do our will'. Its taken directly from the book. Beautiful and profound... isn't it?
I just read the 3rd part of the 1st chapter. I get a general feeling that Radhanath Swami found recourse in sad and soulful music. This section portrays that deep philosophical questions would rankle in Radhanath Swami’s mind, even at a very young age of 14 or 15 and how music intensified his desire to find the answers. The lyrics of the trio Peter Paul and Mary referring to God would stir his heart. And he acknowledges that one of their songs “Early in the morning, about the break of day-I ask the lord to help me find my way” guided the coming years of his life. Folk musicians like Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan would stir the rebellion in him and in the blues he would pour out his grief, as if looking for lost love but not knowing who that was. The simple and idyllic life of Highland Park would not contain him as he would be worried about the African Americans and his older friends who were drafted into the Vietnam War. Looking for purpose of life he would burn with passion for the civil rights movement and would por into the books on social reforms. But the death of a close friend of his really shook him. Listening to ‘A Day in the Life’ by the Beatles churned his longing to look for a meaning to life beyond the superficial. ‘Within You, Without You’ sung by George Harrison made him cry for inner peace. He grieved for the plight of the downtrodden listening to Ray Charles’ soulful ‘Old Man River’. But perhaps Johnny Rivers’ ‘Look to Your Soul for Answer’ was the best that he found and was most inspired by. Finally he and his friends threw themselves in the spirit of counterculture of the 1960s, and grew long hairs to experiment with LSD and marijuana. But there was something that was holding him from fully going for his way of life so to say. It was his position in the wrestling team and he did not want to disappoint anyone: the coach and the teammates. But he prayed for a way out. In one of the wrestling tournaments he was badly hurt in which his shoulder was yanked out of its socket. Although he was plunged into pain, he silently thanked God… Fantastic isn’t it. How one can be so focused and conscious of his aim/goal that he finds good even in the most distressing conditions? Radhanath Swami puts it in the most appropriate words - “What I didn’t have the courage to give up myself had been cast aside, I felt, by the power of destiny” … hmm looks like ‘God helps sincere souls’.
