Saturday, November 13, 2010

Sincere devotees versus insincere devotees

A symptom of spiritual advancement is we really want to help others rather than others wanting to help us. It is easy to criticize and easy to find faults. Anybody can do that. You don’t have to be sincere to do that but you have to be very sincere to see whatever opportunity there is to solve the problem. We may see some problems; I don’t want to associate, what am I getting out of it? I am not enlivened. Forget about your enlivenment, more important is how can you enliven others. If you earnestly and sincerely desire to help others then God will empower you to do higher and bigger things in this world. When the devotees are unified in a common spirit to glorify Krishna and serve their Guru and fulfill his desires then there is no power on earth that can impede the progress of this movement. Maya creates disunity. Unity means every single individual must take it his life’s responsibility to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. There are million reasons to not want to associate. There are million faults you can find. But all is necessary is one reason to associate - To serve Guru - To fulfill the desires of Krishna. This is the great sacrifice.

There are so many personality conflicts; there are so many people we don’t like; there are so many things we don’t like; there are so many people who don’t care about me but the question is not how many people care about me but the question is how much I care about them. Saint Francis said seek not to take but to give; seek not to be consoled but to console. We have to give up our selfishness. The tendency is to feel sorry for ourselves but we should learn to feel sorry for others. Why don’t we feel sorry for others and help them rather than feel sorry for us and expect everyone to help us. That is the difference between a sincere devotee and insincere devotee. Every one of us has the capacity to be sincere and hear from the proper sources and accept and follow. That’s all. It takes any fool on the street to find fault in others any fool in the street can talk about his own glories but it takes a great man to see whatever little good quality is in another and not worry about whatever faults may be there.

- H.H.Radhanath Swami

13 comments:

  1. These are practical lessons to bring in humility into us. Radhanath Swami stresses on humility and is also giving us ways to achieve it. Thank you!

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  2. Phew! Reading this article was like getting dozens of punches on my head. There are so many elevated principles, high standards of behaviour that my present situation makes me feel ashamed.

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  3. The last lines from Radhanath Swami is very forceful - "It takes any fool on the street to find fault in others any fool in the street can talk about his own glories but it takes a great man to see whatever little good quality is in another and not worry about whatever faults may be there"

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  4. Greatness lies in seeing greatness in others. Desire to help others will empower one to contribute in greater levels. These were some of the most important take-aways for me from this amazing lecture.

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  5. beautiful,Thank you very much for this post

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  6. We have to give up our selfishness..."seek not to take but to give; seek not to be consoled but to console." And Radhanath Swami also encourages us by mentioning what happens when we are selfless. "If you earnestly and sincerely desire to help others then God will empower you to do higher and bigger things in this world."

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  7. "Why don’t we feel sorry for others and help them rather than feel sorry for us and expect everyone to help us. That is the difference between a sincere devotee and insincere devotee ". This is an eye-opener for me; Thank you Maharaj for your torchlike words that gives the right direction to strive for in our consciousness.

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  8. Swamiji never compromises on humility & gratitude in his behaviour.....& in this article his innermost heart is revealed....

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  9. Not finding faults is one of the most difficult qualities to imbibe, but most essential for any spirituality

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  10. Thank you very Radhanath Swami for the vital instructions to advance spiritually. All glories to Radhanath Swami.

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  11. Very strong words used by Maharaj so that people in general don't take devotional life frivolously which is a natural tendency due to the strong influence of 'Maya', the illusory energy.Thanks Maharaj for this very pertinent instruction.

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  12. Thank you Radhanath Swami for making us realize how important it is for us to overcome the tendency of self pity.

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  13. shows some very deep principles that every devotee has to inculcate at some point in time...lots of work to do for myself...

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