In the association of Ramesh Baba, at the remote mountains of Varsana, thirty kilometres from Vrindavan, Richard (now Radhanath Swami) learnt about the power of faith in God. A young boy of seven caught Richard’s hand and pointed to a painting of Krishna and declared with simple innocence and faith, “This is my God.” Seeing this Richard remembered Lord Jesus’ words that unless one becomes like a child in his purity and faith, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Richard prayed to be blessed with such a faith.
Another example of a person with unflinching faith that Radhanath Swami met was Ramesh Baba who sacrificed a promising material career to stay in this lonely mountaintop worshipping Sri Radha. Ramesh Baba was constantly threatened by thugs, wielding guns and knives. Yet he remained undisturbed having taken shelter of God’s names in kirtan. With the power of kirtan, he carried a conviction that if Krishna is pleased with him, it didn’t matter what the dacoits did. This unbelievable faith of Ramesh Baba was once again witnessed by Radhanath Swami when at night, Ramesh Baba slept with a small three foot stick by his side, to protect himself from a leopard. When Richard asked how a little stick would help, Ramesh Baba replied that only the Lord can protect them. However he kept the stick to show the Lord that he is doing his part. Ramesh Baba taught that chanting Holy names of God is our only protection and we should cultivate faith in these names of God.
While in Varsana, Richard (now Radhanath Swami) learnt through a personal experience, the lesson on the need to have faith in the holy names. Once while responding to the call of nature in the fields, a poisonous snake crept up to his feet as he squat on the floor. As his heart pounded in fear, he softly chanted Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. He gradually began to feel peace through the power of the mantra, and his fear dissipated. As the serpent slowly slithered back into the bushes, Radhanath Swami reflected: “Today the Lord has revealed to me what a tiny child I am on the spiritual path. When a child is in danger, his only means of protection is in appealing to his mother or father. And today the mother and father of this tiny child have come in the form of their holy names to give me shelter.”
Radhanath Swami says faith is the most precious gift of God for a spiritual seeker. As I wonder how I can also get this faith in God, Radhanath Swami enlightens me through these golden words of wisdom, “Faith is not something put into you; faith is awakened from within. The soul has complete faith in God. But we have lost it. Therefore we have to long for this faith, we have to beg for this faith, we must pray for this faith and we must do the needful to get this faith.”
Radhanath Swami’s adventures have given him profound realizations on the subject of faith. He shares his realization that when everything seems to go wrong in life, faith alone can empower us to look up to see the benevolent hand of God guiding us out of our problems, to understand that everything is actually alright even if it appears wrong. Radhanath Swami’s formula for happiness is also simple; when we are faced with adversities, as is inevitable in this world, our peace and happiness will depend not on our wealth, but our faith.
It’s also important to nourish and protect this faith in God. Radhanath Swami gives the example of a tree which takes years to grow. However it takes a few hours to bring it down crumbling. Similarly it takes years of spiritual practises to cultivate faith but a complacent and lax approach to spiritual practises will allow the illusory forces to drag our innocent faith down, in a matter of moments. He warns, “To lose money, prestige, health or even life itself is not such a loss. To lose faith is the greatest loss.”
How can we increase our faith in God? Radhanath Swami offers a time tested method of hearing the message of the Lord as revealed in the sacred scriptures from His dedicated devotees, and by regularly chanting His Holy Names.
Thursday, 13 January 2011
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Thursday, 16 December 2010
Radhanath Swami and Chetan Bhagat
Radhanath Swami and Chetan Bhagat
Radhanath Swami and Chetan Bhagat
Based on a report by Murari Gupta Das --
14 December 2010: Best selling English author Chetan Bhagat joined Radhanath Swami for creating AIDS awareness amongst the youth in a mega event organized by the Bhaktivedanta Hospital Youth Foundation.
Around 800 college students listened as Chetan Bhagat described how it is important to have spiritual guidelines in life. Chetan described his fondness for Krishna and said that the names of all the male leads in his novels are names of the blue God. "It's my way of spreading His name," he smiled. Each of his four books has sold more than one million copies and two were into movies. Chetan regularly visits the ISKCON centers in Mumbai and Australia and often uploads pictures of Deities' darshan on his twitter account that has more than two lakh followers.
"We need good academics, great career and a good partner, but we also need good values," said Chetan, a writer whom The New York Times calls the largest selling English author in the history of India. He described how the massive scale of corruption that India is facing now is because of a crisis of value. We need to understand the values like justice, truthfulness, and lack of greed. These values were available to us, but now we have forgotten them. For this reason alone, there is a place of God in the society. He quoted Bhagavad-gita where Lord Krishna says that He appears to restore values whenever there is increase in sin. "But Krishna may decide to ask you to do some thing and make a change. Maintain good values and become a good person," he implored his audience. "Have a cause," he offered. "It will help you. Protect yourself and make sure that others don't fall in to this (HIV) problem."Radhanath Swami appreciated Chetan's talk and continued the theme of cultivating values. "Without real values and meaning whatever we do has no real substance. Create a revolution of values, a revolution of character, of overcoming prejudice." Radhanath Swami spoke about yoga as harmonization of body and mind with the atma, soul. "Every soul is in touch with God. To honor and respect that is true religion.""AIDS is a symptom of a deeper disease," he said. "Save lives through a life of service than a life of selfishness. One person who takes to spiritual life seriously can attract the power of God to make great changes in the world. Connect to the value of compassion," he requested his audience. A rock concert by the devotee band, Madhavas, the winner or MTV's Rock On concert, brought the event to a grand finale. Meanwhile on the twitter, Chetan wrote: Speaking at a youth awareness program in Kandivili organized by ISKCON's Bhaktivedanta Hospital. Happy to support the good work."
Radhanath Swami and Chetan Bhagat
Based on a report by Murari Gupta Das --
14 December 2010: Best selling English author Chetan Bhagat joined Radhanath Swami for creating AIDS awareness amongst the youth in a mega event organized by the Bhaktivedanta Hospital Youth Foundation.
Around 800 college students listened as Chetan Bhagat described how it is important to have spiritual guidelines in life. Chetan described his fondness for Krishna and said that the names of all the male leads in his novels are names of the blue God. "It's my way of spreading His name," he smiled. Each of his four books has sold more than one million copies and two were into movies. Chetan regularly visits the ISKCON centers in Mumbai and Australia and often uploads pictures of Deities' darshan on his twitter account that has more than two lakh followers.
"We need good academics, great career and a good partner, but we also need good values," said Chetan, a writer whom The New York Times calls the largest selling English author in the history of India. He described how the massive scale of corruption that India is facing now is because of a crisis of value. We need to understand the values like justice, truthfulness, and lack of greed. These values were available to us, but now we have forgotten them. For this reason alone, there is a place of God in the society. He quoted Bhagavad-gita where Lord Krishna says that He appears to restore values whenever there is increase in sin. "But Krishna may decide to ask you to do some thing and make a change. Maintain good values and become a good person," he implored his audience. "Have a cause," he offered. "It will help you. Protect yourself and make sure that others don't fall in to this (HIV) problem."Radhanath Swami appreciated Chetan's talk and continued the theme of cultivating values. "Without real values and meaning whatever we do has no real substance. Create a revolution of values, a revolution of character, of overcoming prejudice." Radhanath Swami spoke about yoga as harmonization of body and mind with the atma, soul. "Every soul is in touch with God. To honor and respect that is true religion.""AIDS is a symptom of a deeper disease," he said. "Save lives through a life of service than a life of selfishness. One person who takes to spiritual life seriously can attract the power of God to make great changes in the world. Connect to the value of compassion," he requested his audience. A rock concert by the devotee band, Madhavas, the winner or MTV's Rock On concert, brought the event to a grand finale. Meanwhile on the twitter, Chetan wrote: Speaking at a youth awareness program in Kandivili organized by ISKCON's Bhaktivedanta Hospital. Happy to support the good work."
Choosing a Spot for Radhanath Swami
Our little group made a curious sight for the local villagers: though clad in traditional Vedic attire—dhoti and kurta—we had red sports-cap on. We security volunteers wore them to distinguish ourselves from the other pilgrims, during this pilgrimage to Vrindavan.
Rice paddies stretched out on all sides. We scurried—one behind the other—along the narrow bank that enclosed the swampy paddy fields. We were heading towards Malhar Kund, way ahead of Radhanath Swami and the other thousand-odd pilgrims. Before they arrived there we had to search out a suitable location for Radhanath Swami to sit and discourse, Read more …
Choosing a Spot for Radhanath Swami
Rice paddies stretched out on all sides. We scurried—one behind the other—along the narrow bank that enclosed the swampy paddy fields. We were heading towards Malhar Kund, way ahead of Radhanath Swami and the other thousand-odd pilgrims. Before they arrived there we had to search out a suitable location for Radhanath Swami to sit and discourse, Read more …
Choosing a Spot for Radhanath Swami
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