Ниранджана Свами - Начало моего духовного пути

Niranjana Swami (Neil Byers) was born on December 10, 1952, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. One day, he saw a copy of the Bhagavad-gita on a bookstore counter. This became a defining moment in his spiritual quest. Having learned the address of the ISKCON temple, he immediately went there and almost immediately became a devotee. This happened in 1972. In 1973, the future sannyasi moved to the Boston ashram, adopting the monastic lifestyle. On May 27, 1974, he received spiritual initiation from Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the Sanskrit spiritual name "Niranjana dasa." A few months later, he also received brahminical initiation. Having completed his study of the Bhagavad-gita, he continued his exploration of Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy by studying other books by Srila Prabhupada. And the more this secret knowledge revealed itself, the more it completely changed his outlook on life and his worldview. He began to understand that Prabhupada's books convey the naked truth, without any diplomacy or embellishment. And if a person has even a modicum of honesty, then upon reading Prabhupada's commentaries, he will understand: "I must be a devotee. This is the true Guru. I must surrender to Him." And that's exactly what happened. His primary service was book distribution. When his group became one of the leading in the United States, he was asked to manage a training center for new distributors. Niranjana Swami successfully completed his task, and many remarkable devotees soon emerged from this center. In the early 1980s, Niranjana Maharaja was involved in organizing Nama-hatta preaching centers in the Boston region and later became a member of the GBC. On March 26, 1986, at the Gaura Purnima festival in Mayapur, during the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance, Niranjana Swami accepted sannyasa (renounced order) initiation from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, receiving the title "swami." Since then, desiring to please his spiritual master, Niranjana Swami has traveled extensively throughout North America, the former Soviet Union, and India, lecturing on the teachings contained in the books of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Desiring to please his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, Niranjana Swami tirelessly preaches Krishna consciousness in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, several provinces of Canada, and Boston, USA. Anyone who had the good fortune to associate with this spiritual master through his lectures, personal instructions, or letters could touch the purest nectar of Krishna consciousness philosophy. "I am happy because I have the opportunity to serve. Service is my life. Without service, I am dead." Niranjana Swami