Radhanath Swami on Sacrifice

When it comes to making money to provide for oneself and one's family, one is willing to accept tremendous sacrifice. Just to earn some money, how much inconvenience people are going through. But because they have to feed their family, they are willing to do it. A mother will sacrifice so much for the child, she will stay up all hours of the night, she will accept so much inconvenience. Screaming all hours of the day, running around breaking everything in the house, making a completely embarrasment out of everything, the job of a mother is incredibly difficult. What if the mother thinks, "Well I won’t do, it is too difficult, forget it." The most petty things in life people are willing to endure pain and tribulation. What is the greatest attainment in life? What is the most precious treasure in life? It is the realization of one’s eternal soul. It is the fulfillment of all one’s heart desire to real awaken our eternal love of God. When we come to the greatest thing, we take it so cheaply. Can we say it is difficult, therefore I won’t do it, I don’t have the time?

Radhanath Swami on A Meaningful Life

The urgent need of every human being is to hear and chant the glories of the Lord and awaken one’s love for the Supreme Person. And in this life if one does not accomplish the feat of attaining the Lord’s mercy which reveals the pure devotional service within our heart, then our entire life is a waste. Whether you are a scholar or a king or a very very big businessman or whether you have provided to your family all the necessities, if your have not attained love of God, you have simply lived a life of a very very sophisticated animal. The difference between human life and animal life is the facility to love God, to surrender everything for the pleasure of God and thus attain that state of true ecstatic bliss.

Radhanath Swami on The Deadliest Weapon

Devotional service is based exclusively on one principle, and that is humility. To the degree there is humility in our heart, to that degree what we do is pleasing to God. To the degree we think that we are great, we are intelligent, we are beautiful, we are spiritually advanced, we are coming from a high family, to that degree whatever we do is useless in the eyes of God. The most deadly weapon against a spiritual seeker is false pride. Even if a person becomes utterly celibate, even if a person gives up his family, his home, his wealth to live in the jungles to perform severe austerities, who memorizes every verse of every scripture in the world, he is waging a great attack against the illusory nature of the world. But how does illusion defeat him? It creeps into his heart and convinces him that you are very advanced, you are very great, you are a saint. Therefore a true devotee never considers himself advanced. In comparison to the Supreme Lord, a devotee understands that he is utterly insignificant.

Radhanath Swami on Managing Spirituality

A spiritual movement is based not on management. It is not based on the principle of getting things done. No doubt utility is a principle. But ultimately the greatest utilitarian principle is when our relationships are based on love and trust. As a management technique we say one thing which isn’t what we really mean, to try to get somebody to do something that they don’t want to do, or you say various things which are not exactly the way it is so that you can get what you want form someone one way or the other. Immediately it may have a good effect but in the long run it has a disastrous effect because if we cannot be very honest, straight forward and trustworthy in the most basic ordinary activities of our relationships, then people simply cannot trust us. Especially within our spiritual circles, it is very important that we are very truthful and honest even in our ordinary activities.

Radhanath Swami on Bringing A Change

To a certain extent we have the power to change our environment. But ultimately it is very limited; we may not be able to change the whole world or how people think or how people act or why people do what they do. Of course, we can try our best to help, but there is one thing that we could always change and that’s ourselves. If we live by that power, if we live with that potential of devotion, if we carry God’s grace in our lives and express it through what we do, that’s the greatest way in which we can influence others and there will be many people you do seriously influence. And of course there will be other people you may not be able to influence so much. But you can be transcendental to that. We cannot always change everything in this world but we can change ourselves and that gives us this great strength to be an instrument of change.

Radhanath Swami on The Focus of Our Lives

Ignorance is to make the goal in life that which is temporary. And those who live by truth aspire for that which is ever-lasting, eternal. We are eternal, God is eternal and our relationship with God is eternal. That quest for eternal truth, that quest for ecstatic love which is dormant within us should be the prominent focus of our lives. And all of our occupational responsibilities, domestic needs, they should all be harmonized to fulfill that aim of life because death is inevitable. At the time of death, everything except whatever cultivation of spiritual consciousness we have attained is taken away.

Radhanath Swami on Honest Living

Human life is meant for purification. If we understand this very clearly then we will make it a priority in our life to teach our children how to be pure lovers of God, honest and earnest servants of the society, and we will lead all by our own example. That is true love, that is real knowledge and to make it a priority is intelligence. When we make it a priority and have faith in the Absolute Truth then it behooves us to balance and regulate our life in such a way that everything we do or speak is harmonized towards achieving that goal. If we are honest before God and honest with ourselves then to lead such a life is very simple. But to the degree we are duplicitous, it’s very difficult. But where there is a will, there is a way. We see throughout history, many of the most dynamic people within the world were servants of God and humanity. And they never compromised their integrity.