— Radhanath Swami's Journey

Cidananda Saraswati

Meeting with Cidananda Saraswati After sitting for an hour in that lonely place, Radhanath Swami walked along the riverbank and came upon “The Divine Life Mission,” which is the ashram of the renowned Himalayan saint, Swami Sivananda. This was the ashram where Swami Shivanand performed his meditation and established his teachings. This was the guru of Swami Satcitananda, the regal Woodstock guru Radhanath Swami had met in Delhi. Sivananda’s prolific writings, humanitarian efforts, and personal example had attracted world fame. Radhanath Swami had already read some of his writings and was delighted to come across this place.

Entering, Radhanath Swami learned from some of Swami Cidananda followers that before Swami Sivananda left this world in 1963, he chose as his successor Swami Cidananda Saraswati from among his accomplished disciples. Swami Cidananda happened to be at the ashram when Radhanath Swami arrived. For a couple of days, Radhanath Swami simply soaked in the peaceful atmosphere of the ashram. He learned that ashrams, so prevalent throughout India, were supported by their gurus’ followers, who maintained ties to the everyday world of business and commerce. After the fourth day there, Radhanath Swami asked if he could meet Swami Cidananda. He was led into a simple room where he was greeted by the Swami, an extremely friendly, respectful, and humble man who invited Radhanath Swami to sit on the floor with him. Swami Cidananda, Radhanath Swami had learned from disciples, was born in South India in 1916 as the eldest son of a fabulously wealthy landowner. Around the age of twenty he heard a calling to live as a renounced monk, giving up all material comforts to serve God.

It was at that time that he began to serve lepers, building huts for them on the vast lawns of his home and looking after them personally. In 1943 he finally left his home and moved into the Ashram of Swami Sivananda in Rishikesh where he was quickly recognized as a brilliant lecturer. Each morning Radhanath Swami attended his lectures. He was a thin man with a shaved head and saffron robes who was revered by both Himalayan ascetics and seekers from the West. Swamiji sat in a cross-legged yogic pose, speaking eloquent English, with precise hand gestures. “Life is meant for the realization of God,” he emphasized. “If you die without attaining God-realization, your life is invain. You have wasted away this precious gift of human birth given to you by God.” He identified a common problem among spiritual practitioners—that one can do meditation in the morning and evening, but during the activities and dealings of the day, show petty-mindedness and selfishness. This, the Swami explained confidently, undid whatever one accomplished in the hours of meditation.

Swami Cidananda placed a great emphasis on the cultivation of virtue as a fundamental part of one’s spiritual evolution. He compared this cultivation of virtue to the work of removing stones, pebbles, weeds, and brambles, therein making the soil fertile so that one could plant a garden. Throughout the day, he taught, one must sacrifice for others. Morality and high ethics, he said, were like roots on the tree of yoga. Swami Cidananda stressed that the disciple should have complete faith that in this age one could achieve God-realization through mantra japa, the recitation of God’s holy names. “You should practice chanting the Lord’s name,” he said, “until you reach a state in which the japa goes on uninterruptedly in the mind even while sitting or standing, eating or drinking, walking or working, waking or sleeping.”

Radhanath Swami didn’t know how to chant the Lord’s name, but He was very impressed by Cidananda’s teaching. One evening, while he and Radhanath Swami sat on the floor of his lantern-lit room overlooking the Ganges and the Himalayan valley, the Swami enthusiastically described the details of Radhanath Swami travels with uncanny accuracy and even voiced his most intimate thoughts. Swami Cidananda told him how he had left home and discovered a burning passion to journey to India, risking his life along the way to get here. Radhanath Swami had never told him these things, but he knew everything so perfectly. While he poured his blessings upon Radhanathn Swami, Cidanand Swami sat in awe. It was rare to encounter someone with such power and fame who could remain so simple and kind.

Longing to be in seclusion and purify himself, Radhanath Swami thanked Swami Cidananda and left the ashram.

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