At the town of Erzerum, Richard (now Radhanath Swami) suffered from dysentery and an angry mob threatened to kill him. Later they apologized and served him tea. Another scary incident that took place here was the preaching of a powerfully built man who grabbed Richard and commanded him to roar ‘Allaah!’ Despite many attempts Richard couldn’t satisfy him and felt the angel of death hovering inches from his head. In one final gust of energy, Richard roared ‘Allah’, and the man seemed satisfied. At Tehran he smiled at a boy of four and the boy glared back with such intense hatred that Richard lost his breadth. Richard was to be haunted by repeated nightmares of his stare. Richard realized that children can be conditioned to hate, love or fear even before they are able to reason. And this impressionable child had hatred all over him.
In stark contrast to this Richard received a wonderful reception at a home in Tabriz. The family didn’t speak a word of English, yet made Richard feel a part of their family. Their ten-year-old son offered dates as gift to Richard. Richard thanked God for this experience; he was touched to see the family’s kindness to a wayward stranger.
Radhanath Swami has created a family atmosphere at the different spiritual centres. He gives a great deal of importance to make every member feel loved. He is particularly concerned that children feel protected and loved in the society. Once Radhanath Swami saw a six year old girl play at the courtyard of the temple in Mumbai while her parents were talking to other devotees. Radhanath Swami went near her and pointing to her he said, “She is my friend.” The little girl was delighted that Radhanath Swami loves her. The parents thought Radhanath Swami knows many children and has thousands of followers; he may not really know their daughter. Ten years later once again when they were at the temple complex with their now sixteen year old daughter, Radhanath Swami once again turned to her and said, “She is my friend.” To the parents this was a revelation that Radhanath Swami loved their daughter and the relationship was indeed deep.
Radhanath Swami has also emphasized to his householder disciples to give great deal of importance to being united in a family. If the family focuses on giving their children spiritual values then the family is non-different from the spiritual world. As a young traveller Radhanath Swami saw hatred in a child’s face, and now as a leader of a world-wide community of devotees he strives to plant strong and favourable impressions of love in the minds of children. “We should show our children by our example that we love God. Children when they are young they may not intellectually understand so much but the impressions that they see go deeply into their consciousness and mould their whole lives. What you do will influence them, not what you say” are the golden words of wisdom from Radhanath Swami.
