Monday, August 16, 2010

Radhanath Swami on Arrogance vs. Respect

We should see every living being with veneration. But when selfishness becomes prominent, we start thinking only in terms of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. There is no service attitude left in us. We always want to be the master and enjoyer of all we see. When the desire for our own prestige and enjoyment becomes foremost in our minds, our fellow beings appear insignificant. Due to egoism, we think, “I can judge others. I never make mistakes. If you stand between me and my aspiration of success and appreciation, you are my enemy.”


This arrogance destroys everything sacred within us. We need to show our love for the Lord by how we cooperate with each other. But we cannot do that unless we follow the Lord’s teachings of being tolerant, patient and respecting everyone. We must be on guard at all times, to not be judgmental or offend anyone, to be eager to serve, uplift, encourage, and sacrifice for the benefit of all.

46 comments:

  1. Radhanath Swami wants us to give up our false pride & arrogance and instead develop humility so that we can make rapid spiritual advancement

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  2. HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj is once again very nicely explaining trinadapi sunichena pricipal.

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  3. Radhanath Swami is always eager to serve, uplift, encourage, and sacrifice for the benefit of all.

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  4. I dont know when will i get that humility. Radhanath Swami is great.

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  5. The lead in a pencil though useful cannot function without the wood covering. Also to be of real value the pencil has to go through the painful process of being sharpened. Similarly even though spiritual life may seem punishing, we can only experience the benefits when we learn to accept 'Krishna' and not 'Us' to be the center. Visit http://radhanathswamiquotes.com for more words of wisdom.

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  6. Material fame, beauty, wealth, family heritage makes one proud & arrogant......but if one sees presence of god in everyone, then the respect will come for evryone

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  7. Tolerance is one quality without which Lord will also not welcome us to HIS abode.

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  8. Thank you Radhanath Swami Maharaj for teaching this great values

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  9. Very true arrogance destroys good within us , manytimes it happens with me that in arrogance I do something which is not pleasing to others and when I come back to normal i myself realize that i behaved wrongly. To avoid this we must strive to develop qualities mentioned by Radhanath swami here so that we can co-operate and show our love to our eternal father-GOD. Thanks to Radhanth swami

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  10. Most of the time we donot accept our mistakes becasue of our false ego and that makes us arrogant,which in turn destroys whatever sacred within us

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  11. Arrogance is greatest enemy for the aspiring soul. One must understand that there can be no spirituality when pride and arrogance predominate.

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  12. There is famous statement from Maharaj"Co-operation means willing to sacrifice for the sake of others" and again Maharaj is remind us.Jai Gurudev!!!

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  13. When today's leaders are hell bent on proving how they are better than others, taking credit for other's work, this teaching by Radhanath swami is certainly a beacon light for us.

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  14. beauty of spiritual life is lost when practiced with arrogance

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  15. What a true statement, in deed humility and respect for others is what we lack in society.
    My sincere gratitude for Radhanath Swami for inspiring us all to imbibe these wonderful qualities in life

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  16. Pride is one of the most toughest traps to escape in Spiritual life. Radhanath swami is so expert catching the subtle symptoms that have their roots in pride and lead to disastrous results.

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  17. Radhanath Swami Maharaj himself is so selfless that we can see he is speaking due to great realization.

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  18. Radhanath Swami very nicely explaining the significance of service attitude

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  19. Wonderful post and such realised comments by readers.. just want to add - this like by Radhanath Swami - "We should be on guard not to be judgemental" this is very important to help us to respect everyone in all situations

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  20. Its so difficult to give up arrogance but by following Radhanath Swami things can become very easy

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  21. hrishikesh mafatlalAugust 17, 2010 at 8:06 PM

    Not to be judgemental is one of the most difficult things in life. I realize now from Swami's statement that we judge because we feel ourselves superior.

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  22. If we give up arrogance, then we will automatically receive genuine respect from others without having to seek it. However Radhanath Swami is guiding us to give up arrogance not to get respect but to develop humility which is the most important quality that is required to attract the mercy & blessings of the Supreme Lord

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  23. There are three terms used by Radhanath Swami which are sometimes confused and misused. These are pride, arrogance and respect. When we respect others we are not belittling ourselves. Rather, we can improve only by seeing the greatness in others. Being arrogant makes us closed. We have disregard for others and disproportionate sense of worth for ourselves. This causes social friction. Pride is good when it is respect for oneself considering that we are children of God. But it becomes polluted when it assumes the form of arrogance. In most of the lectures, His Holiness Radhanath Swami highlights these differences.

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  24. Very true. It is arrogance/ false pride who destroy our all good qualities. Ant to save us Radhanath Swami teaches us the principle of trnad api sunicen... of humility by his personal example.

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  25. Thankyou for such a wonderful explaination

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  26. Very nice differentiation between arrogance and respect!Thank you so much

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  27. Radhanath Swami always practices before what he preaches. One amazing quality which is most appealing in Radhanath Swami is His treatment of other with equal vision and guide them equally.

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  28. It is so difficult to follow this tall order. Only Shri Radhanath Swami with years of austerity and service could follow and be an inspiration to follow this profound statement.

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  29. All Glories To H.H.Radhanath Swami Maharaj

    Arrogance is so prominent, plus strife that arises is too bitter, it burns us from within. Sincerity in spirituality is what can help us tide over arrogance.

    And also as Maharaj said that unless we follow the Lord’s teachings of being tolerant, patient and respecting everyone. We must be on guard at all times, to not be judgmental or offend anyone, to be eager to serve, uplift, encourage, and sacrifice for the benefit of all.

    Hare Krishna

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  30. Co-operation is the most important aspect of success especially on the devotional path. Radhanath swmi gives the key to this-tolerance & gratitude.

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  31. That shows being the servant of the servant of the servant is so important & gives one real pleasure.

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  32. Radhanath Swami is always looking with spiritual vision and thus he is able to give solutions for the benefit of all. Hope to be able to get the mercy to follow in the footsteps of such a great pure soul.

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  33. I think i need to seriously practice this teachings of Maharaj that "We must be on guard at all times, to not be judgmental or offend anyone, to be eager to serve, uplift, encourage, and sacrifice for the benefit of all." Wonderfully explained...Thank you Maharaj!!

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  34. Nice instruction. I need to seriously practice. Thank you Maharaj

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  35. As Radhanath Swami says arrogance really destroys everything sacred within us.Because of false pride we create more of enemies and lose our friends.
    Very wonderfull explanation by Radhanath Swami.

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  36. Radhanath Swami brings out a very important aspect of our behaviour. Radhanth Swami is himself very respectful to all

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  37. Radhanath Swami's stress on co-operation has resulted in wonders at Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Temple.

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  38. Radhanath Swami has made such a powerful statement. "Arrogance destroys everything sacred within us".

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  39. Patience and Tolerance - 2 very important virtues required to progress on the spiritual path. Radhanath Swami Maharaj has so beautifully brought the importance of these in cultivating our relationship with others on the highest platform of love.

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  40. "We must be on guard at all times, to not be judgmental or offend anyone, to be eager to serve, uplift, encourage, and sacrifice for the benefit of all"
    All glories to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj

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  41. Not to be judgmental is very difficult. Need the association of people pure at heart and also constant association of hearing process.

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  42. Radhanath Swami's mood is always to show compassion towards other even our enemies. This can be taught only by the real saints like Radhanath Swami.

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  43. Thanks for this timely advice.....

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  44. Thank you so much Maharaj for enlighten us and for so much care in each and every aspect towards us like giving protection to Seedlings.

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