I was born in Sydney, Australia, to Catholic parents, on May 5th, 1970, on the auspicious Appearance Day of Sri Gadadhara Pandita (Srimati Radharani in Gaura lila). From younger age I dreamt to go to India. Onetime when I was 7 or 8 years I thought, I\u2019ll do meditation. I closed my eyes and immediately everything became like lights, red \u2013 I became very afraid and never did meditation more. I went to a Catholic school, and after graduation went to Sydney University to study Economics, but I didn\u2019t last long, as I packed my bag and went to India on a one way ticket when I was 19. I spent around two years in the Indian and Pakistan Himalayas, trekking, before ending up in Calcutta as a volunteer for mother Teresa for three months or so. Gradually became interested in Eastern religion, and ended up in Tamal Nadu, South India, where I stayed with a Guru for another year and a half. After a mystical experience, I left there, caught malaria, and ended up back in Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I went back to Australia and by the grace of Krishna I received a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, written by Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami. I read Bhagavad-Gita and in one night my life has changed. Finding everything I had been looking for I joined the ashram of the Hare Krishna movement there. But being bitterly disappointed by the relations I found there, I prayed very much to Krishna for a helping hand. In two days I received lectures of Srila Gaura-Govinda Swami, the top-most disciple of His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja. In 1994 he came to Melbourne, by his grace I could meet him. I asked him to give me initiation, but he said me: \u201cDon\u2019t hurry, what\u2019s your name? Where are you from\u2026\u201d Then he put his lotus feet in my heart and said: \u201cThe relationship with guru are eternal and based on love and faith. I accept you as my eternal disciple, but don\u2019t hurry with the initiation, Srila Prabhupada was also waiting for 12 years\u201d. At that time I was amazed by his statement and only when he left this world, and I took initiation from Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharadj – I understood his intention. I left again for India, again on a one-way ticket, and stayed in his ashram in Bhubaneswar for almost two years. He gave daily lecture on the Srimad Bhagavatam for 3 to 4 hours. From him I developed a great interest in hearing the scriptures and the past-times of Krishna and Sriman Mahaprabhu, who appeared in this world to teach and taste the process of devotion, through the chanting of the Holy Names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Srila Gaura Govinda Swami left this world in the beginning of 1996, I went for guidance to His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharaja. In two weeks he gave me initiation and name Sri Radhanath das brahmacari. I stayed with him there in Mathura, India, in his ashram for six years, until I began travelling and teaching what I had heard from Him. In the year 2003, I was given the renounced order of sannyasa, lifelong celibacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like to give everyone I meet an interest in real spiritual life. I like people, and try to help them by giving them the same chance I had to hear the instructions of the Vedic scriptures. I feel this is an all-encompassing and non-sectarian philosophy that can be practiced by anyone of any culture, as it is based on purely chanting the names of God. I try to make my lectures humorous and applicable. I travel mainly to China, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Guyana, Venezuela, Europe and USA, which sounds a lot, but it really is just a drop in the ocean. All is the grace of my spiritual masters, and I hope to always represent them as best as I am able.
The Upanisads state,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare\nhare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare\niti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam\nnatah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate<\/pre>\n\n\n\nThe sixteen names of the Maha-mantra destroy the pollution of this age of Kali. Throughout the entire body of Vedic literature one cannot find a more sublime means of spiritual religion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was born in Sydney, Australia, to Catholic parents, on May 5th, 1970, on the auspicious Appearance Day of Sri Gadadhara Pandita (Srimati Radharani in Gaura lila). From younger age I dreamt to go to India. Onetime when I was 7 or 8 years I thought, I\u2019ll do meditation. I closed my eyes and immediately … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-326","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","latest_post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bvdamodara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bvdamodara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bvdamodara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bvdamodara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bvdamodara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/bvdamodara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":460,"href":"https:\/\/bvdamodara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/326\/revisions\/460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bvdamodara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}