The Journey Within: Exploring the Path of Bhakti

The contents in the book look adorably decent, well-polished and fine-tuned to suit more or less every section of reader who attempts to read it. The author has a remarkable way of approaching his readers through an immaculate spectrum of warmth and friendliness. Reading a book as gentle as "The Journey Within" makes us feel as if every word is smiling upon us. Yes, the book has a lot deeper meaning in its every single phrase. Looks like the author is an immensely experienced personality in knowing the life intimately and, so far, according to his reflections, he certainly has a heartwarming, sweet and creamy answers to the inexplicable intricacies of our contemporary lives. For the readers who are new in exploring spirituality, this is the book which can easily and lucidly impress upon them the necessity and genuineness of spirituality in every small things that we do. Through the author's noteworthy realizations, he emphasizes us to embed love, compassion, truthfulness on every small act at every moment. The author states this continual mindful practice as "bhakti yoga". Not a physical form of exercise but an emotional, holistic and a compassionate exercise of love. For the reader who are well into spirituality, this book may, at first read, look very pleasing and gentle, but upon reflecting deeply the thoughts of Radhanath Swami, one may realize that the revelations are far more profound. The author has a rather rare knack of delicately striking a chord with the impact of a thunderbolt! The beautiful rhythms of quintessential food for thought sprinkled throughout the book by Radhanath Swami make way for a pleasing experience of reading a spiritual book having deep insights and yet having a seemingly neutral, non-sectarian, and more importantly, a universal undertone. This book is consistent throughout in its contents. It can absorb readers cheerfully into a divine and a homely feeling, a feeling of inner harmony and tranquility. In fact, you feel the same freshness even if you lose your track or read the book after a long break.

His Holiness Radhanath Swami shared the depths of his heart and, in turn, the depths of Bhakti-yoga. What an immeasurable fortune it is to have read this book and taken inspiration from it. I will repeatedly come back to it.

The Journey Within is a long awaited follow-up to The Journey Home, the journey from Richard Slavin to Radhanath Swami, the journey from a routine life to a life of fulfilment and happiness, the journey from an external desert to an internal oasis. Radhanath Swami, from his personal experiences and interactions with others very lucidly explains that to attain true happiness we don't need to change our externalities, we just need to change our consciousness. Fans of The Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda or Thomas Merton’s Seven Story Mountain, will especially appreciate The Journey Home. The Journey Within is full of inspiration and gives me joy and shelter whenever I open it. I have learnt the principles of a wholesome life of inner peace and joy. I could see both in this book, The universal treatise on humanity's search for meaning and an intimate guide to tread the path of love and peace in this age of personal and social anxiety. It is a fascinating book that expresses the depth, vitality, and non-sectarian aspects of contemporary Indian devotional spirituality. I truly second the review given by Janet Bray Attwood (New York Times BEST-SELLING AUTHOR of The Passion Test and Your Hidden Riches) - "The wisdom is this book has opened doors within my heart, and I believe it can do the same for any sincere reader." To conclude The Journey Home gave me a gripping account of his geographical and spiritual itinerary whereas in The Journey Within, he summarizes the content of the wisdom he achieved.

The Journey Within is a book that gave me the key to a secret about inner reality that I had been looking for all along, but couldn't grasp. I could get spiritual experiences sometimes, but it was not sustainable and I would eventually lose the connection with my inner self, not knowing why it was lost again. None of the practices I had tried out before yoga, especially bhakti yoga, gave me lasting satisfaction. To me, this book is a rare treasure that shines a light on the path to the hidden, mysterious inner landscape that we all long to experience fully, mostly know about theoretically, may even have some glimpses of, but don't know how to actually hold on to that experience in the long-term. I tried looking for answers in knowledge about chakras and reading ancient scriptures, but I couldn't find a way to maintain that continual inspiration from within. The simple practices described in this book are easy to incorporate for one looking to go deeper into yoga and enjoy its many spiritual benefits. Also, I could relate to the thought-provoking stories presented in the book and they changed my world-view and perspective considerably, opening up a wider scope for me to be a more loving and compassionate person, despite any circumstances that life may throw at me. Overall, this book is a must-read for seekers who want to experience the much-famed Inner Reality in a more sustainable way and take a step deeper into the ocean of yoga.

This book, with its mesmerizing stories of various encounters of Radhanath Swami, has a potential to change your entire inner world!

The book is very fantastic.Feeling very glad and enlightened after completing the reading of Master piece "The Journey Within". This book really offers a road map to peace, happiness and love. Through simple but meaning loaded words Radhanath Swami churns our emotions. While reading you feel that Radhanath Swami is speaking to you directly. When Radhanath Swami backs up philosophical points by scriptural references from world's major faiths our intelligence gets nourished and we get answer to all our questions and when he narrates his own story we feel emotionally enriched to the extent that one can't stop one's tears when story of Tarabai is narrated. While reading you don't feel like stopping reading it ( I could complete in 2 sittings in 11 hours.) Taking essence of Shrila Prabhupada's books, this book covers everything you need on the journey within right from basic philosophy of Gita to the five most potent aspects of devotional service and five prominent rasas and various narratives from Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrita. This book will certainly attract many people towards path of Bhakti and will act as oasis in the desert of material world filled with stress and anxiety. Thanks to Radhanath Swami for giving this Matchless Gift to society when it was needed the most.

The bhakti yoga saint Sri Caitanya compared the subject of bhakti yoga to an unlimited ocean and said that the most that any of us could possibly do would be to try to describe just one particle of one drop of that ocean and yet that one particle of one drop would be so great that it could completely drown all of creation. In “The Journey Within”, Radhanath Swami presents the universal nature of bhakti yoga’s basic teachings and practices. The book weaves lessons from all spiritual traditions to illustrate our potential for unity in diversity and most effectively uses stories of ordinary people with extraordinary devotion to illustrate how the practices of bhakti yoga are relevant to our lives. The stories of Dhruva, Sindhutai, Hladini Dasi, Varsha, Sridhar the banana seller, and Tarabai have both touched me and inspired me. While the 300 pages of ‘The Journey Within” represent just a particle of the extensive collection of work published on the topic of bhakti yoga, it most perfectly summarizes the vastness and the richness of the bhakti yoga tradition and makes it relevant, easy, and inspiring to readers of all backgrounds. The ocean metaphor is used to encourage us to go deeper beyond just the surface of our lives. Like that drop of water in the vast ocean, “The Journey Within” has quenched my thirst for greater meaning. I highly recommend this book.

This book has inspired me to write my first review. I picked "The Journey Within" up to learn more about the path of bhakti yoga. In this, it most certainly did not disappoint. Through the beautiful storytelling of Swami Radhanath, I learned how strong my love for the Truth of The divine actually is. Though I am not, by technical accounts, a Krishna, this book still revealed the art of loving God to me. It taught ways to selfless service of God and all Its creatures, as well as to myself. In this book, I have found a gift that will continue giving throughout my life. To those who want to understand how to continue and greatly improve their relationship with God, I highly recommend this book. If you seek a sense of peace and knowing in tough times, I recommend this book. And, if you seek more knowledge of yourself, as you really are at the core, I highly suggest this book to you. Those who truly seek God will be highly pleased by the authors words and spirit. I serve your servant... don't we all, in one manner or another? Eternal blessings to you for your sweet guidance, Swami Radhanath.

Bok med egna upplevda erfarenheter och berättelser.

Tout d'abord, il s'agit là d'un très beau livre. La couverture est très jolie, le papier est de bonne qualité et la décoration des chapitres est visuellement plaisante. En ce qui concerne le contenu, je l'ai trouvé simple mais touchant. C'est un très bon livre à lire quand on ne connaît pas bien le sujet. J'aurais aimé commencé par celui-là, plutôt que par les livres lourds et théoriques/dogmatiques que j'ai pu lire dans le passé. Les anecdotes partagées par l'auteur sont parfois plus intéressantes encore que les concepts développés et illustrent très bien ces derniers.

Radhanath Swami ist der demütigste und mitfühlendste Mensch, den ich je kennen lernen durfte. Das kommt zur Gänze auch in diesem Buch zum Ausdruck: Er schafft es, mit viel Mitgefühl und Liebe, bebildert durch unzählige Erfahrungen aus seinem mehr als ungewöhnlichen Leben (siehe "The Journey Home"), den Leser die spirituelle Realität als eben Realität anstatt die Spinnerei derer, die mit der Welt nicht klarkommen, verstehen zu lassen. Und gerade jenen, denen die Welt zu kompliziert ist, sei dieses Buch erst recht anempfohlen, bietet es doch ein tiefes, praktisches Verständnis dessen, was uns umgibt und dessen, was uns geschieht.

Jamás me llegó y me marca como que lo recibí.

Snel geleverd. Goed boek.