In my twenties, my path drifted. Travel, drinking, drugs, chasing girls \u2014 you know the story. I lived in London for a few years and lost touch with any spiritual practice. But as I now understand, that was part of the path too.<\/p>\n
In my thirties, I devoured Dawkins and Hitchens. I became a loud, logical, sarcastic atheist. I enjoyed tearing down religion with precision. And while I was still a kind person, I was drifting \u2014 running a business, raising kids, drinking too much, and losing purpose.<\/p>\n
Something shifted around 2017. My wife encouraged me to try a yoga class. In shavasana, the teacher played a chant I\u2019d never heard: \u201cJai Siya Ram, Jai Jai Hanuman.\u201d I didn\u2019t know what it meant, but I was deeply moved. That was the spark.<\/p>\n
Around the same time, I became fascinated with psilocybin mushrooms \u2014 not recreationally, but as a doorway to deeper understanding. I was also reading about Ram Dass, and the dots began to connect. The man behind that beautiful chant \u2014 Krishna Das \u2014 was friends with Ram Dass. They both had the same guru: Neem Karoli Baba.<\/p>\n
I remember the first time I saw Maharajji\u2019s photo. Just a regular old Indian man in a blanket. But something stirred. I couldn\u2019t stop looking at his face. I started skipping ahead in Ram Dass\u2019 talks just to hear the stories about him.<\/p>\n
I had my first deep psilocybin experience not long after, and it was utterly transformative. It was as though Maharajji had been guiding me the whole time \u2014 gently, patiently. I read Miracle of Love<\/em>, Be Here Now<\/em>, and anything I could find about this quiet saint who didn\u2019t teach in words but through love and service.<\/p>\n In September 2023, on the 50th anniversary of Maharajji\u2019s mahasamadhi, I found myself in Vrindavan \u2014 the only Westerner at his temple that day. I sang the Hanuman Chalisa, meditated, and just sat in awe. Later, I spent peaceful days at Kainchi Dham. I felt like I had come home.<\/p>\n Since then, my life has simplified. I don\u2019t drink. I\u2019m more patient. I\u2019m trying to serve. I\u2019m trying to remember God.<\/p>\n This site \u2014 The Modern Bhakti<\/em> \u2014 is a way for me to honour that path. A place to share insights from Hinduism, Buddhism, Stoicism, Christianity \u2014 wherever truth shines through. Because, like Maharajji said: \u201cAll religions are the same. They all lead to God.\u201d I didn\u2019t grow up religious. I was baptised in the Church of England, but my family was more spiritual than doctrinal. My mum was a seeker \u2014 exploring Christianity, Buddhism, Zen, and transcendental meditation \u2014 and our home was filled with crystals, incense, and spiritual books. My dad, on the other hand, was a self-proclaimed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/modernbhakti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Kainchi-Dham-wide-1--300x200.jpg\")
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