God is the infinite ocean of love and in knowing Swami Tathagatananda, many of us were able to get a taste of that divine love. He pulled us to him. Not all, but many of us. It's not that we earned his love. It was just there. This, I suppose, is the way it is with God. How fortunate I am to have been a recipient of his love. I loved to go on walks with him. I used to spend one night each week in a room on the top floor of the Vedanta Society. Eventually Swami T, as we loved to call him, asked me to sleep in his study, a room adjoining his bedroom, so we could be close. There he kept an eye on what I was reading and called me to him to chat, to share some teaching, or even to get something off his chest. Thus, I, like many others, felt very close to him. He became my Upa Guru. (Swami Pavitrananda was my guru). Whatever Swami T said to me became a command even when I couldn't understand why he was giving a particular instruction. This book, written by Namita Deo at the request of Swami T, gives an account of the intense journey that led to Swami Tathagatananda taking the vow of sanyas and then his life as a monk in the Ramakrishna order culminating with his becoming the minister at the Vedanta Society of New York from 1977 to 2016. It also has the memories of the author of her service to him as he was suffering from kidney failure and requiring dialysis. It charts her spiritual growth arising from her close association with him, describing his amazing spiritual power. Like many of his devotees, she considered him not just a highly advanced soul, not just a God realized man, but actually a divine being. The bulk of the book contains his teachings selected by Ms. Deo that he delivered in his Sunday talks as well as question-and-answer sessions. There is plentiful spiritual food in these talks. It was a joy for me to edit this book. I was marinating in the holy presence of my beloved Swami. Readers will also become steeped in his holy atmosphere. When Ms. Deo asked me to edit this book I was in a quandary. On the one hand it would be good to bring out another book about him (in addition to Remembering Swami Tathagatananda). On the other, I was quite angry at her. Without going into details, let me just say that she and I were on opposite sides of a battle that took place over the question of whether Swami T should go on dialysis in 2014. At first, he didn't want it and I supported this wish of his. In the end Swami T accepted dialysis. He told me, "Spiritually speaking, suffering is a blessing." He was ready to suffer to answer the call of the devotees who wanted him to remain. When she made this request of me, I was able to tell myself that I needed to practice forgiveness and thus, difficult as this was, by Thakur's grace I was able to forgive, and I accepted Ms. Deo's request. In the end I'm very glad I did. Bill Davis