Thursday, January 13, 2011

Radhanath Swami on Shelter of Bad Habits

We become habituated to finding shelter in our bad habits. To various degrees, every type of material sense gratification is of the same nature.

If a person is addicted to anything for a long duration of time, it’s very difficult for him to give up that habit. For example, if a person has been smoking cigarettes for thirty or forty years, it becomes an integral part of his life. That habit, due to conditioning, creates such an intense craving that mentally as well as physiologically, every part of his being is literally just longing in separation for the experience. It becomes his shelter. It’s not because of the pleasure that the cigarette gives, but because he is addicted to it and without it there is so much pain, anguish and agitation.

Thus, because of material addiction and conditioning, we take shelter of this so-called pleasure of sense gratification, because it relieves us of the suffering of being without it.

31 comments:

  1. Wonderful explanation

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  2. All Glories To H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

    A very beautiful analogy.

    Hare Krishna

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  3. Thank you and wonderful way to say it!

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  4. "If a person is addicted to anything for a long duration of time, it’s very difficult for him to give up that habit."
    How fortunate would I be if I'm addicted to my sadhana and devotional service to please my Guru and Krsna???

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  5. Habits are formed largely on the basis of the association we keep. So if we develop good association with saintly people like Radhanath Swami, then we can keep ourselves away from bad & morally degrading habits such as drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc.

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  6. ....it relieves us of the suffering of being without it. ...

    This is quite true and HH Radhanath swami's analogy is perfect.
    I pray Lord to give me strength not to take shelter of bad habits for long

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  7. Thank you Radhanath Swami for this elaborate explanation on this very important point. We need to aspire to cultivate the right habits.

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  8. This is such a nice analogy. We should be addicted to devotional service rather than mundane subjects of this temporary material world.

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  9. So perfect and rightly said by Radhanath Swami

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  10. Thanks to Radhanath swami for stressing this important point. This is a very important reminder for many of us so that we can make progress in our spiritual lives.

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  11. we should very concious before we adicted for anything.

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  12. The powerful unscrupulous elements that control big business and media take full advantage of our bad habits and project them as a necessity!

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  13. First we create the need and then suffer when we don't find the object of addiction and then imagine happiness when we get hold of it - a severe tortuous mental concoction. Radhanath Swami Maharaj has aptly downplayed such psychological dependencies.

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  14. Yes,very true.One becomes slave his habits. Only when one surrenders to the 'Master of senses'-the Supreme Lord under the guidance of a pure devotee like Radhanath Swami, one can kick the habit.

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  15. Deeeeeep from Radhanath Swami. Once again! As always!

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  16. thank u for wonderful explanation

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  17. So true. Unfortunately the material world is full of addictions,

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  18. Very nice message here from Radhanath Swami. In our practical lives also we can see how people who are addicted to some bad habits can't get rid of them easily. However, Krishna Consciousness can give strength to even these people to come out of that habit. There is no other way by which the bad addictions can go away from one's life.

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  19. Very deep understanding of Habits by Radhanath Swami. Unless we understand these things correctly - how do we take on our bad habits and change them?

    Our only shelter to do this is exalted souls like Radhanath Swami

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  20. A very unique way of looking at this. Nice.

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  21. practice of good habits will surely take one closer to krishna and practice of bad habits will take one far from krishna.... maharaj explains it in such a detailed manner...

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  22. Thank you very much for sharing the words of Radhanath Swami "because of material addiction and conditioning, we take shelter of this so-called pleasure of sense gratification, because it relieves us of the suffering of being without it. "

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  23. We are a slave to our habits, and as Maharaj describes, it is our conditioning. We need counselling to overcome these, and the best counselling is to take shelter of God and his pure devotees, like Maharaj, on this planet.

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  24. Very nice analysis of bad habits......

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  25. The conditionings cheats us to make us think that it will give us pleasure.

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  26. Nice analysis of why people still stuck to bad habits.

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  27. Due to ignorance one becomes addict. This article is awakening one from that ignorance. All glories to Radhanath Swami.

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  28. Chanting Hare Krishna is the only solution for relieving from bad habits.

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  29. "because of material addiction and conditioning, we take shelter of this so-called pleasure of sense gratification, because it relieves us of the suffering of being without it" we simply have become toys in the hands of our conditionings...

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