My dear family,

I am presently dwelling in the same part of India as I was at my last writing to you (RISHIKESH). I hope this letter finds you all in a pleasant frame of mind. I am attending a small course in meditation. I will continue here until about the 1st or second week of February. From here I will head south to the city of BENARES.

With this letter I send my love to all family, relatives and friends.

WITH LOVE

Richard

PERHAPS IT IS LATE,
BUT, TO MARTY I WISH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
I HOPE AL IS WELL WITH YOU (MARTY).
HELLO ALSO TO BILL + KHAZAR THE TERRIBLE.

14th Dec 1970

My dear family, my dear relatives, my dear friends, I sit upon a sandy beach, heat from the sun, breeze from the sea. A gull flies by bringing with it a memory of a different age. An age left behind by the never ceasing vehicle of time. The mind lingers forever within the realm of the present state, Often this state is forgotten due to memory.
As all the stars appear separate, they all rest in one sky, So it is that as we appear to be separate, we rest in the oneness of love.
--- bodies apart - souls together ---
As we often see influence causes desire, desire causes greed, greed causes speculations. What is the meaning of the word RELATIVES? that which is relative cannot be separate. are we not relatives (inseparable)?
Love cannot be put into a letter and mailed like a package. Only words can be put into a letter, words mean nothing in themselves. If there is trust or what is called faith there is no need for words. For the truth of love eternally remains within the silence of the heart.

Richard

DELIVER THIS LETTER
TO BROTHER LARRY,

Bless you my brother, all material possessions which I once called mine I now call yours. Within these is a HOHNER SOLOIST HARP which belongs to a brother in California it was given to him by the late BLINO OWL of Canned Heat. It means a great deal to this person please safe keep, this harp until I turn to deliver it.
I hope you are doing well and finding the stillness of peace.

JAI GURUDEVA

Richard

FEB. 10, 1971

all is well,
Today I will leave the academy of Meditation.
With this letter I send my love.

bless you,

Richard

13th Aug 1971

More than five-thousand years ago the Lord took the embodiment of human form in India. Lord Krishna was his sacred name. The mission of Sri Krishna was to establish the religion of divine love upon this earth. More than five-thousand years ago the Lord took the embodiment of human form in India. Lord Krishna was his sacred name. The mission of Sri Krishna was to establish the religion of divine love upon this earth.
Krishna – Hari Krishna
So is the story of a saint highly worshipped throughout India. On August 14 his birthday is elaborately celebrated in Mathura (his birth-place) and Brindiban (his childhood home). I am now amidst the thousand temples of Mathura + Brindiban. Thousands of Devotees of Krishna have come for the joyous event.

TO MOM -

As birthdays tell us of our mortality, we celebrate them as worship to our beloved. So I write this letter intoxicated in worship for the beloved mother who nursed me from birth with the nectar of care.
In my heart I celebrate the birthday of you mother. I wish you a happy birthday and I wish you peace. Let us worship our loved ones always. Please think of me with love in your heart then I will be with you on your blessed day of birth. Again I wish you peace, again and again

Richard (Radhanath Swami)

4th Aug 1970

We stayed in a camping ground in Luxembourg, we are going to head north through Germany. I hope everything is cool at home. I will write again in a few days.

Love

Richard(Radhanath Swami).

Dear Family,

I now dwell in Athens, Greece. I am sorry that I did not write sooner but I was on an island where the post office was about a 15 mile walk from where I was. There were no cars or buses to take me. I have been doing much reading and studying of eastern philosophy and religion. It is so beautiful and so peaceful where I am, that I am able to do much thinking. Without a doubt I am learning more about the world and about myself, than ever was able to before. Traveling through these countries is the most worthwhile thing that I have done in my life (and I know this). I send my love to all of you, I would like to end my letter with this thought. Regardless of how many miles apart we are, we are still together. For the closeness between us is in our hearts.

Love,

Richard (Radhanath Swami)

November-1970

My dear family,
Everything has been going very well with me. The roads get bumpy at times but there fine roads. I hope all is well at home. I have been doing much thinking and I have found that now is the time when I will do something I have been longing to do. Much thought and much contemplation has gone into making it clear that this the right way. Through the world people look at life through several different windows. For twenty years I have been seeing life through the eye of a western man from the western world. For I have seen and experienced the laws of philosophies, religions, arts and overall way of life of the west and now I will see how life is lived in the east. As you know I have been much concerned with the east. The fact that I am going is more valuable to me than being a multi millionaire. I do this not to escape my previous way of life. But merely to see another. It is something I cannot see through schools because school could only tell me about them through slanted points of view. So I will be there and what greater education is there than that? I am not doing this to worry you so please don't hurt yourselves by worrying. It is impossible for me to write as often as you would like. Sometimes I simply cannot find a post office. Gary is no longer travelling with me, he is in Israel. I always have companions.

Give my love to all friends and relatives,

Richard (Radhanath Swami)

1st Dec 1970

HELLO my family, how is life? I am now in Herat, Afghanistan. It is amazing to be here in a country with people that are naturally friendly and humble, Poor but peaceful. Now it is late but I will still wish happy birthdays to Dad and Larry.
I would appreciate it if you would please write to
AMERICAN EXPRESS,
NEW DEHLI, INDIA.
I will be there in the near future. I would like hearing from you. So if anyone in the family would like to letter to me, mail them to the same address. I would like to get a letter from everyone. Tell me how everything is going. How is my situation with the draft? I will be writing to you again soon. If anyone wishes to write to me, do so quickly because it takes a long time.

BEST OF EVERYTHING TO ALL,

Love,

Richard (Radhanath Swami)

7th Dec 1970

Dear family,

Everything is cool on my 20th birthday. I am in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
I will be in New Delhi, India in about 2 weeks. I am looking forward to hearing from you at the American Express office there. Please have Marty and Larry and Mom and Dad write me. All is well. I hope the same goes for all of you.

Richard (Radhanath Swami)

26th Dec 1970

MY DEAR FAMILY,

I have just arrived in New Delhi, India. I am looking forward to the day your letters arrive. The way India is affecting me is beyond words. This is all that could be said.

Deep love lies in my heart for all of you,

Richard (Radhanath Swami)

I am well

1st Jan 1971

My dear family,

Today I am leaving Delhi to go into the mountains to study. I do not know if I will be able to write often where I am going. Please do not worry if I do not write for a while. With God on my side what can harm me?

With love & thought

Richard (Radhanath Swami)

11th Jan 1971

My dear family,

I now dwell near a town which is in the Himalaya Mountains of northern India. The name of the town is Rishikesh. I am doing just what I think I should be doing here. Rishikesh is a holy city on the banks of the Ganges River. I feel there is much to be learned in the peace and tranquility I have found here.

Please give my deepest love to all,

Richard (Radhanath Swami)

22nd Jan 1971

My beloved mother;

I cannot express to you how pleased I was to hear from you. I received letter from you and Larry the day that I left Delhi. I am most sorry to say that there was nothing from Dad or Marty. Perhaps I left Delhi too soon (before their letters came). The letters from you and Larry spread much sunlight in my life. Larry's letter was not only beautiful but poetic as well. It takes a soul of great sensitivity to compose such a letter. I hope that you become his friend as well as his mother. As he travels the path of life do not stand in front of him and try to block his road but be by his side and travel it with him. Give him love, give him companionship, do not try to give a road to follow, for as an individual he is entitled to choose his own road. It is quite difficult for me to tell you what I have been doing. I am not so much a tourist or a sightseer; I am more a seeker of my own soul. Living in the east is an entirely different way of life than living in America or Europe. Everything is completely different. It is very difficult to say when I will return. But I will say this: I deeply miss all of my family and all of my friends and I long to see all of you. But you must understand that I must carry out what I set east to do; find the true meaning of life,

YOUR LOVINNG SON,

Richard (Radhanath Swami)

Monk

Its kinda sad in a way, we are each going his own way - n search for himself. I'm sure you win find it. I just hope we meet again and see and communicate on a different level. It's best and suppose to happen Love always

JEFF
(Radhanath Swami's brother)

4th Mar 1971

My dear family, I am presently residing in BUDDHA GAYA India. This is the place where Lord Buddha reached his enlightenment. There is great beauty here. In one week I will take a train across India to BOMBAY. In BOMBAY I will be taking a course. I truly regret that our communication has only been one sided. Our absence from each other has caused me to miss you all greatly. WE MUST BEING TO CORRESPOND WITH EACH OTHER. Please, will you ALL write to me in Bombay. I will then correspond with you all individually, this includes, DAD and MARTY (whom I haven't heard from yet) and MOM and Larry. Write me air mail IMMEDIATELY, I will not stay in Bombay long. I would be home by your sides right now if I could learn there what is in India and east. When you write me send me the addresses of MARTY, MOM+LARRY, (I would have written to the address at 1080 140th STREET, but I felt that it was only temporary, write me and clear this up.) Also you have contact with any of my friends, ask them to write to me here:

WRITE TO:
RICHARD SLAVIN
C/O AMERICAN EXPRESS
BOMBAY, INDIA

LOVE, (son and brother)
Richard (Radhanath Swami)

16th Mar 1971

Dear family, I am now in Goa, Goa is on the west coast of India, on the arabian sea. This is the first tropical place I've been. I will head up to Bombay on a boat (about 24 hours) in about 10 days. I hope to have mail waiting there. I wish you all the peace which you deserve,

Love
Richard

2nd May 1971

The rise of spring time unfolds us with the blossoming of each flower. The humming of the bee brings the mind to a state of tranquility - The small, quaint Tibetan village of Upper Darmasala, home of the Dalai Llama of Tibet. This is where a letter is written, a letter which is inspired by the compassion of those who will receive it.

Be with the truth my family, my friends, my brothers

Richard (Radhanath Swami)
May 2,1971

19th May 1971

Above & beyond the realm of thought lies truth - its' nature is pure, unlimited, boundless peace & it calls to us -

Richard (Radhanath Swami)