Radhanath Swami: For many years friends and well-wishers asked me to write this memoir because they heard me tell stories from time to time. But I always resisted because I felt it would be an act of arrogance to write a story about myself. But then something happened that changed my mind.
The Power of Intention
New Year’s Address 2012
Following the Great Saints of the Bhakti Tradition
Within Every Heart Dwell Two Dogs
Vrindavan Pilgrimage – We Truly Enter a Holy Place Through Hearing
On Marriage
Forget Two Things, Remember Two Things
Two things to forget are:
The Tale of Dorothy
Interview by Joshua Greene
Q: What motivated you to write this memoir?
January 21, 2012
Below is an excerpt from a talk Radhanath Swami gave at the Prerna Festival (a monthly gathering of approximately 1000 young men) in December 2011, at the Radha Gopinath Temple in Mumbai. “These days, I think almost everyone is ‘in tension’ (laughter). The only way that individually and collectively we can come out of this tension that we are in, is to understand how to develop good intentions and to apply them in our lives. An intention is the purpose or the attitude that is behind our actions and our...
January 11, 2012
“A new year is a land mark in our lives and a time for reflection on where we have been, where we are and where we want to go. It’s also time to ponder on our failures and mistakes in our spiritual lives. In the path of Bhakti every occasion and every thing is for the purpose of transformation. If the previous year bought sufferings in our lives we can take solace in the fact that all sufferings and punishments in this world are for our healthy rectification. Today we...
November 25, 2011
By the grace of our Srila Prabhupada and those exalted compassionate teachers of our parampara (lineage) the doors have opened for all of us to spend this priceless time together in Sri Vrindavan dham, where the opportunity to access the higest treasure of bhakti is being given to all of us. The ahankara, or false ego, puts us in a state where we want to be important in the eyes of this world. And in that state, if someone is given more importance than ourselves we become envious. And we...
November 19, 2011
I once heard an old analogy from the Native American Indians regarding character. It is said that within every heart dwell two dogs, a bad dog and a good dog. The bad dog represents our debased tendencies of envy, anger, lust, greed, arrogance and illusion. The good dog is our divine nature, represented by forgiveness, compassion, self control, generosity, humility and wisdom. These two dogs are at battle with one another. Which dog will win? The one we choose to feed! Virtue is to keep the bad dog away and...
November 17, 2011
Entrance into a holy place is only really possible when, by the Lord’s mercy, our hearts are opened with faith and devotion. Then we can access and genuinely appreciate the unlimited good fortune that we have. premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hridayeshu vilokayanti yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Syamasundara, Krishna Himself with inconceivable innumerable attributes, whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love.” Sri Brahma Samhita 5.38 The...
November 16, 2011
When I was about eight years old my parents were considering divorce. I remember my mother putting mascara on in front of a mirror and I was sitting on her bed watching her. I thought it was a very strange thing, women putting on mascara, so I was watching. And my mother said to me very seriously, “everyone likes your father and everyone likes me, but we no longer like each other, so we are going to separate”. I cried, it was very painful, just the thought of it. Some...
September 26, 2010
July 22, 2010
“You’re a Hindu and I’m a Christian,” Dorothy said. “Which God are you talking about?”
I looked out the window at a blazing summer sun. “In America it is called the sun, in Mexico, sol and in India, surya. But is it an American sun or a Mexican sun? The essence of all religions is one, to love God—whatever name we may have for God—and live as an instrument of that love. To transform arrogance into humility, greed into benevolence, envy into gratitude, vengeance into forgiveness, selfishness into servitude, complacency into compassion, doubt into faith, and lust into love. The character of love is universal to all spiritual paths.”
July 13, 2010