Radhanath Swami, author of The Journey Home: Autobiography of an American Swami, is a spiritual leader and author who has been practicing bhakti yoga for nearly 40 years. Born Richard Slavin in Chicago, Illinois, Radhanath Swami left the United States in 1970, at the age of 19, on a spiritual journey that led him through Europe and ultimately to India where he lived for many years as a sadhu, or wandering monk.

From his headquarters at Radha Gopinath Ashram in Mumbai, India, Radhanath Swami runs a number of service programs, including Midday Meal, a food program that provides more than 200,000 meals a day throughout India; the Gopal Garden School; Barsana Eye Camp; Bhaktivedanta Hospital; Govardhan Ecovillage; and Vrindavan Hospice.

Radhanath Swami was a student of the spiritual activist A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, from whom he learned a contemporary version of bhakti or devotional yoga, which teaches that those who have found their true spiritual nature have an imperative to reduce suffering in the world.