Monday, December 27, 2010

Radhanath Swami on Protecting the Seed of Devotion

Power, generally, makes it very difficult for the wielder to learn. The main reason is that the powerful are habituated to giving orders; it is just against their nature to humbly, submissively accept orders. The more power one has, the more one can be corrupted by that power unless one is fully aware of who the power actually belongs to.

As soon as one thinks of anything as one's, pride enters the heart. Even though pride is deep seated in everyone's hearts since time immemorial, if one is willing to start cultivating and nourishing it, even in the name of devotional service or helping others for devotional service, the weed of pride chokes up the seed of devotional service.

That is why knowledge on the path of devotional service is very important. Otherwise if one is just sentimental then, as one performs devotional service, unknowingly, the weeds are also nourished.

15 comments:

  1. His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj has wonderfully explained the need for knowledge on the path of devotional service.

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  2. Very nice explanation.Thank you so much Maharaj.

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  3. "The more power one has, the more one can be corrupted by that power unless one is fully aware of who the power actually belongs to."
    Thank you Radhanath Swami for sharing this point.

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  4. Pride is so deep rooted in the heart; and therefore its important not to nourish them further for which knowledge is absolutely essential. Thank you Maharaj for clearly explaining us the importance of knowledge on the path of bhakti.

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  5. Maharaj sums up the purpose of devotional knowledge in such few words- so clearly explained.

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  6. Radhanath Swami's comment brings to mind the following phrase - 'Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.'

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  7. Amazing!Thank you Maharaj for enlightening us.

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  8. Very instructive article by Swamiji....it is true power brings pride & it also makes the heart hard.......but devotional service can retain the softness of the heart.......

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  9. We have to be ever watchful against the subtle appearance of pride in our attitude.

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  10. Hari Bol.
    Thank you maharaj for sharing.

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  11. Very nice message from Radhanath Swami. As described by him, if we don't understand th difference between if we have pride or not, we will end up having pride only, because that's the nature of this material world. Very deep message from Radhanath Swami.

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  12. Such an important statement. Thank you for sharing.

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  13. Thank you Radhanath swami for warning us to be careful about the pride which comes through the power.

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