Radhanath Swami on shelter

One must according to their sincerity and capacity must restrain our senses on those things, which are unfavourable for devotional service, and simultaneously we must fix our consciousness on Krishna by engaging in positive activities of devotional service. In all situations we can shelter of Krishna by chanting His name, by associating with His devotees, reading His books and hearing His message. By channelising our physical energy in something that is productive service. The ideal mind is devils workshop, when the mind is idle, it is very easily subjugated by Maya or the force of illusion. Therefore if we keep our mind busy with Krishna with sincerity with proper association then gradually we become purified. And if we are sincere as it is said god help those who help themselves, if we try according to our sincere best, Krishna will help us. But we need the association of devotees, we need the blessings of great souls and then we can overcome all obstacles.

-H.H.Radhanath Swami

H.H.Radhanath Swami on Surrender and Devotion

Rupa Goswani explains in Krishna consciousness this type of detachment (to become indifferent; not attracted, not averse) we can use in for Krishna’s service that is the highest platform for self-realization. In India it is a tradition that sanyasis cannot leave if a sanyasi leaves India he is doomed to be drowned in the ocean of Western material enjoyment and all the propaganda around it. Srila Prabhupada experiencing the highest taste of Krishna consciousness; he was truly detached on the order of his Guru Maharaj, he left alone with no company, no servant,s no bramacharis, no Godbrothers; New York city the very heart of Maya’s fortress of illusion. He just started right in alone, he was not attracted, he was not averse, he was to the principle of self gratification, he was attracted to the principle of surrendering and devotion that we must have and by and by his compassion and mercy those people that were considered most untouchable became transformed into great Vaisnavas by the power of
Krishna coming through his devotional service.

– H.H.Radhanath Swami

take shelter of Krishna

Krsna is creator, maintainer and destroyer of everything. He is the Absolute Truth. He is the goal of life. We should take shelter of Him through devotional service. All kinds of knowledge, all kinds of austerities we may perform; the conclusion is that if we do not take shelter of Krsna, (then) it is all simply a waste of time. Just like a devotee; a devotee may work very hard to make money and with that money he decides that they are going to cook a wonderful feast and work for days to prepare the preparation but then he never offers it to Krsna, he does everything but does not bring it to the alter and never offers it, (then) it is a waste of time. Once you offer it to Krsna then everything else you have done, the process, is glorious; it is devotional service. Materialistic people, they are performing so many activities which are simply ugra karma, just foaming in the mouth, working so hard, waste of time. Sometimes devotees do the same activities but in the end they offer it to Krsna and therefore everything are auspicious from the beginning to the end because the conclusion is right. So the final conclusion of understanding everything about this material existence, God and the living entity is to take shelter of Krsna whole heartedly.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

calf maharaj

Illusion

There is one Supreme Eternal Being, Krsna, and there are innumerable living beings, the jivas. The jivas are always eternally dependent on the mercy of Krsna, it is our constitutional position. And knowledge means to always remember that and act with that understanding. And the source of all ignorance is to forget that principle and act according to that forgetfulness. So the liberated soul is the person who never forgets that I am the humble dependent servant of Krsna. And the conditioned soul forgets, thinks I am the doer, I am the controller, I am the enjoyer, by my strength, by my intelligence, by my wealth and influence, I will find the real solution to my sufferings – impossible ! This is illusion!!.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

maharaj flowers

die before you die

Die before you die..

For a devotee, death is not the end, for a devotee, death is the beginning, death is begging of entrance into a realm of eternity, knowledge and bliss. But for a materialist, death is simply the end of everything that we identify with, the end of our entire existence. So therefore a devotee doesn’t mind getting old. Because he knows he is utilizing this body, this mind and this intelligence in Krishna consciousness. As the body gets older the soul is getting closer and closer to that eternal spiritual youthful form, therefore it is said, die before you die. If we do that before we die we can attain eternal life. Devotees do not fear death. A sincere devotee only fears forgetting Krishna, forgetting Krishna means spiritual death.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

maharaj hug

Radhanath Swami on the nature of the mind

What to speak of the mind, what type of battle is taking place in the mind, one day you think I like this and then the next minute – I do not like this; I want this, no I do not want this; it should be like this, no it can’t be like this; I want to go here, no you should go there, but I already been there, but you should not go again, but if I go there then I will miss what is here but if you go here then you will miss what is there (laughs). In this way the mind is always fighting, we need not convince you of this reality; it is a constant battle even of the simplest things. In the United States of America they are so highly advanced in materialism that if you go into a store there are so many varieties to chose from of the same thing, you want to buy toothpaste – there are 75 brands of toothpaste all saying we are the best and you are thinking which one. oh my god, maybe this one is a nicer colour but this one has a nicer package, but this one may taste better and your mind is fighting over the simplest things of brushing your teeth, this is the nature of the mind, it is always accepting, rejecting, hankering and lamenting and then the intelligence tested to do with this mind and the intelligence is battling against itself, so many nice ideas but then those ideas rejected.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

Radhanath Swami on spiritual life

FOUNDATION OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

 

To the degree we serve our own ego or the ego of others, to the degree we are intolerant to others, to the degree we demand respect or disrespect others, is to the degree we are servants of our false ego. And we are bereft of our understanding of our real Krishna conciousness. So this is what Krishna conciousness really is.

 

It is an internal revolution of our inner conciousness for the sake of bringing about the awakening of our real humility, devotion and our desire to serve. As devotees, it is our goal of life to present ourselves in a way that Krishna can enjoy. We want to present in our own life, beauty that Krishna can appreciate and take pleasure in. Vaishnava etiquette is a process in which devotee deal with one another, relate with one another and it is based on those relationships that we make real spiritual advancement and really attract Krishna. It should be second to nothing else. However much pressure, however much necessity there is in our practical service, if it is at the expense of proper devotional relationships with our godbrothers and godsisters and other devotees, we should know that we are defeating our own purpose. Sometimes we see that devotees are so busy, they have so many deadlines, so many quotas, which are good to keep us fixed in our devotional service to accomplish many necessary goals. But oftentimes we are so much preoccupied by these things that we neglect the most important part of our spiritual life, which is our sadhana and our relationships with other devotees. Offending Vaishnavas is the greatest impediment to spiritual progress. If we offend devotees, Krishna withdraws his mercy. And all our devotional service is performed only to attract Krishna’s mercy. So this is very important. We can learn philosphy of Krishna conciousness in a wonderful way, we can memories thousands of shlokas, we can memories entire scriptures and can be able to present them so wonderfully to others, but if we do not know how to deal with Vaishnavas, if we do not know how to serve Vaishnavas, scriptural study becomes null and void. Because none of this is pleasing to Krishna. So this is the foundation in which our spiritual lives, individually and collectively can grow and develop. So there is nothing that is more important to put emphasis on than this.

 

 

-submitted by Gopinath Das

 

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Radhanath Swami on achieving True Happiness

Radhanath Swami on illusion

There is one Supreme Eternal Being, Krsna, and there are innumerable living beings, the jivas. The jivas are always eternally dependent on the mercy of Krsna, it is our constitutional position. And knowledge means to always remember that and act with that understanding. And the source of all ignorance is to forget that principle and act according to that forgetfulness. So the liberated soul is the person who never forgets that I am the humble dependent servant of Krsna. And the conditioned soul forgets, thinks I am the doer, I am the controller, I am the enjoyer, by my strength, by my intelligence, by my wealth and influence, I will find the real solution to my sufferings – impossible ! This is illusion!!.

H.H.Radhanath Swami

Radhanath Swami on pride

 

To be proud of one’s sinless ness in front of God is also sin. Knowledge means to know that I am helpless in this world and only the power of God can save me.

 

Inability to find faults in ourselves is a sign of pride, and it is a wall between God and us. Desire to enjoy separate from Krishna is Ravana (kama)

 

– H.H.Radhanath Swami