Radhanath Swami on Training Children

When we're young we develop certain very deep rooted characteristics. What the parents inculcate in the child is permanently there because childhood is the most impressionable time of life. It's foundational to the development of our character in life. So if a child is just given whatever he wants and the parents surrender to the child every time he cries then he will get spoilt. He will grow expecting to get what he wants each time. But when he grows up, not everyone will be like his parents. His desires will be more, his demands will be more but people will not necessarily cooperate and it will be intolerable for him, causing great stress and anxiety. A spoilt person can never be happy because he's always expecting to get what he wants.

Radhanath Swami on Essence of All Beings

Essentially, we are all pure. We are all eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss because we are all parts of God. We simply need to recognize, realize, and experience this very essence of our being. Then we’ll find, in every situation of life, the unlimited pure ecstasy of Love of God. This love is not sentimental bodily attraction, but the true, pure eternal love of the soul towards God.

Radhanath Swami on Transcendental Friendliness

Transcendental friendliness is to do everything possible to help a soul come closer to God. It means to feel for the physical, mental, and spiritual sufferings of others. It means to pray for the betterment of even our so called worst enemies and to forgive them even before they offend us while praying with a positive spiritual motive for their deliverance. If we are envious or seek revenge, then such feelings are the real enemies; we must conquer these real internal enemies, not the so called enemies outside.

Radhanath Swami on Power of Time

Whatever efforts we make in this world will be evaporated by time. We make money, we lose money, we get fame, we lose fame. Whatever we get will be eventually lost. That is the power of time. But any advancement we make in Krishna Consciousness - just sweeping the floor, just appreciating other devotees for what they have done, just putting a single flower on the string of a garland, or just chanting the holy name once sincerely - the benefit is never lost; it is forever. It is the only secure investment. We are told that our investments in the stock market, banks and various financial enterprises are secure, but it is all illusion because everything will be taken away at the time of death. Or many other situations may happen in between. It is for certain that we lose everything. There are only two things that are certain in this world - absolutely certain:
1. Anyone who is born will die, and
2. Any investment that we make in Bhakti is never ever lost.

Radhanath Swami on the Fruits of Illusion

To do any good to the world, we must arm ourselves with the power that can destroy illusion - the illusion which nourishes lust, greed, pride, anger, and illusion itself. By slashing away the root of a tree, the entire tree dies. Similarly, constant remembrance and chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord slashes away the roots of illusion, and consequently kills all bad qualities – the fruits of illusion.

Radhanath Swami on Recipient of Compassion

The love of the spiritual world is manifested in this world as compassion to lift the fallen souls who have rejected God, and are suffering. This compassion is expressed through great souls whose greatest happiness is to see people reconnecting with God. And this compassion is received by one who takes the order of one's spiritual master as one's life and soul and, by that process, is empowered to be the instrument of God's will. Honoring a spiritual master is not just speaking words of praise and offering garlands; it is carrying out the orders of the spiritual master according to one's capacity and pleasing him by the endeavor.

Radhanath Swami on The Holy Name Bomb

An atom bomb can hardly scratch the surface of this small planet earth. The earth remains and so does the entire universe. But just by once purely chanting the holy name of God, this entire illusion of material existence - which contains all material creation - is instantly defeated, conquered, and destroyed. This is real power – the power of the Holy Name bomb.