Kirtanananda Swami - After Imprisonment

After Imprisonment

For four years after his release from prison, Kirtanananda (now confined to a wheelchair) resided at the Radha Murlidhara Temple at 25 First Avenue in New York City, which was purchased in 1990 for $500,000 and maintained by a small number of disciples and followers, although the temple board later attempted to evict him.

On March 7, 2008, Kirtanananda left the United States for India, where he expected to remain for the rest of his life. “There is no sense in staying where I’m not wanted,” he explained, referring to the desertions through the years by most of his American disciples and to the attempts to evict him from the building. At the time of his death Kirtanananda still had a significant number of loyal disciples in India and Pakistan, who worshiped him as "guru" and published his last books. He continued preaching a message of interfaith: that the God of the Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Vaishnavas is the same; and that men of faith from each religion should recognize and appreciate the faith of men of other paths. "Fundamentalism is one of the most dangerous belief-systems in the world today. Fundamentalism doesn’t promote unity; it causes separatism. It creates enmity between people of faith. Look at the Muslims; Mohammed never intended that his followers should spread their religion by the sword. It is more important today than at any other time to preach about the unity of all religions."