Swami Mukundananda is a world-renowned spiritual teacher from India, and is the senior disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. He is the founder of the Yogic system called "Jagadguru Kripaluji Yog."

Swamiji is a unique sanyasi (in the renounced order of life), who has a distinguished technical and management educational background as well. He completed B.Tech. from the world-renowned Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. He then did MBA from the equally distinguished Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata. After that, he worked for some time with one of India's topmost industrial houses.

However, distinguished material education and a promising corporate career did not quench his thirst for knowing the Absolute Truth. The longing for God was so strong that he renounced his career and traveled throughout India as a sanyasi. During these travels, he got the opportunity to closely associate with many elevated Saints of India, read the writings of the great Acharyas of the past, and reside in many famous holy places.

Ultimately his search took him to the lotus feet of his Spiritual Master, Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj (who is lovingly called "Maharajji" by his devotees). He was overawed by the unfathomable scriptural knowledge and ocean of Divine Love that he saw manifest in his Spiritual Master. About this first meeting, Maharajji later remarked, "He recognized me as one would recognize his mother."

Under the guidance of Shree Maharajji, he practiced intense sadhana while residing at the ashram. He also extensively studied the Vedic scriptures, and the Indian and Western systems of philosophy. Upon completion of his studies, his Guru entrusted him with the key task of propagating the ancient knowledge of the Eternal Truth, the world over.

For the last quarter of a century, Shree Swamiji has been traveling far and wide, awakening hundreds of thousands of seekers. Wherever Swamiji goes, he attracts huge audiences. Hearing the profound secrets of the Vedas from him is a rare privilege, for he is able to explain the ancient esoteric knowledge with rigorous scientific logic, in the modern context. Using perfect logic, and a simple-yet-scientific approach, Swamiji offers new ways of understanding and applying the knowledge of the scriptures in our daily lives. The hallmark of his lectures is the ease with which he dispels various myths and misnomers associated with the various paths of God-realization, and his ability to penetrate even the toughest minds and convince them with depth of understanding and scriptural veracity.

Swamiji's lectures cover the teachings of the Vedas, Upanishads, Srimad Bhagavatam, Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayan, and other Eastern scriptures and Western philosophies. Like the true Disciple of a true Master, Swamiji masterfully quotes from the scriptures of all the great religions, to satisfy even the most discerning of knowledge-seekers. He also reveals the simple and straightforward path to God-realization that can be practiced by anyone.

Although Swamiji started preaching in India two decades ago, he now preaches both in India and abroad. He has inspired innumerable devotees in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, where his visit is always anxiously awaited. Since 2008, on the instruction of Shree Maharajji, Swamiji has increasingly begun spending more time in USA, where his educational background and command over the English language make his programs particularly charming to the intelligentsia, professionals, and academicians.

Shree Swamiji has founded many organizations in India with permanent centers and ashrams, such as Jagadguru Yog Trust, India, Radha Govind Dham in Delhi, Radha Krishna Bhakti Mandir in Cuttack, Radha Govind Dham in Berhampur, Shyama Shyam Dham in Jajpur, Radha Govind Dham in Parla Khemundi, Radha Govind Dham in Karanjia, etc.

In USA, Swamiji has inspired the formation of Jagadguru Kripaluji Yog, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. In the space of a few years, JKYog centers have opened throughout the length and breadth of USA.

Swamiji cares deeply about imparting Hindu cultural and religious values to the younger generation, especially in the West. Toward this end, he has conceived a special Personality Development program for children and young adults. This program is called "The Bal-Mukund Playground for Vedic Wisdom." It includes character building, yog, meditation, devotional singing, and religious training. Many Bal-Mukund centers have been started for the benefit of children, both in USA and in India.

Shree Swamiji has a God-gifted ability to keep all kinds of audiences enthralled and entertained through wisdom-filled anecdotes, humorous stories, and irrefutable logic. He has inspired innumerable people, of all ages, toward the path of God Realization, the world over. Swamiji's warmth and humility touch all those who have the fortune to have his association. In fact, his very presence radiates grace and bliss.

While conducting spiritual programs, I have often found the question-and-answer session to be a highly awaited item. People look to it anxiously for removing their inner cobwebs of lingering doubts regarding life, duty, philosophy, and the scriptures. Many a time, resolution of the doubt creates an experience that is nothing short of an epiphany, a sudden enlightenment, or an intuitive leap of realization. The satisfaction of having a troubling question answered after many years of intellectual discomfort is much like the gratification of taking off a tight shoe after wearing it all day, except that the latter is a physical relief while the former is an intellectual deliverance.

Over the last two decades, I have observed the questions follow a repetitive pattern. Throughout the cross-section of society, the basic doubts are often similar. This observation led to the idea of writing this book, and making the discussions available as a reference source for sincere seekers worldwide, who are looking for answers to their own questions.

With this plan, I invited questions through the JKYog Google discussion group, Facebook, and Twitter. The deluge of questions that followed was then filtered, classified, grouped, and finally sequenced in a topical flow. The result is the book "Spiritual Dialectics" that you are holding in your hands.

I wish to convey my heartfelt thanks to all those who generously supplied the questions for this book. Special thanks to the group members who took the pains of putting on their thinking caps and sending as many questions as came to their minds. The criteria for selecting the questions for inclusion in this book were simple: I would ask myself: "Does this question exist in the minds of many people? Have I been asked similar questions multiple times in the past? Would this be of common interest to many readers?"

Many questions had to be left out in the fear of making the book too voluminous. Some questions were not selected because they were not of general interest. In many cases, based on the request of the questioners to maintain anonymity, their names and location were changed. To those whose queries got left out, I do not guarantee an individual reply by email, but I do assure that if you come and meet me at any of my forthcoming program venues, I will make time available to clarify your doubt before or after the program.

I would like to express my gratitude to the members of my Indian team, especially Pragnyan Vaidya, for undertaking various tasks related to the publishing of this book, from proof-reading to typing the Sanskrit and Diacritical fonts. A special thanks to Shreya Bhat of Dallas for going through the text and offering invaluable suggestions. Thanks to Shailee, the master designer of our team for providing the cover design. A special appreciation for Anand and Pankaj, who diligently supervised the composition and the printing process.

I hope the book will fulfill the sincere objective with which it has been written, and help seekers in their quest for the Absolute Truth and their journey to God-realization.