Radhanath Swami Quotes

Renunciation doesn't mean giving up things externally but rather it means diligently pulling out the weeds from the heart.

Where there is no inner freedom, there is no life.

Real religion is about, developing real character; character of compassion, character of humility, the character of determination to grow in all circumstances.

In Kali yuga, duration of life is shortened not so much because insufficient food but because of irregular habits.

I'd met so many enlightened spiritual teachers that it became a challenge to select one. I believed in the oneness of spirituality - unconditional love for God, and unconditional compassion for the beings of this world - but I also understood that unless I chose a particular path, I couldn't focus and take blessings from teachers that would allow me to have deep realizations and spiritual experiences.

Don't let a breath escape from your body without Krishna's name. That should be our determination throughout our life.

If someone takes responsibility without force, that is love.

If there is no enjoyment in this world, there would not be so much suffering. As suffering really is the frustration of our attempts to enjoy.

The Absolute Truth can be perceived by a repentant heart.

There were the physical challenges of hitchhiking across Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan as they were quite dangerous areas. I wrote about that in The Journey Home. I loved my family and they loved me, so making a choice so completely different from the life they knew was also a challenge. Not having material possessions or the security of a home and taking vows of celibacy for life were kind of natural for me, although they were also challenging. But I guess the greatest challenge for me was that I loved so many different spiritual paths.

Preacher is an instrument of compassion, not an instrument of wrath.

In my own spiritual journey, I became a swami on the Hindu path of Bhakti. In the Hindu tradition, a swami is a monk who forgoes regular family life for the purpose of making the whole world his family and channels his full energy into spiritual practice, devotion to God and service to humanity.

Spirituality is revival of our God consciousness, not creating something new.

True renunciation can be attained by anyone - whether a millionaire, parent, student, politician, farmer or engineer. It's not what you have or don't have; it's your state of consciousness. In essence, it means that true peace that comes from true renunciation arrives when we understand that nothing is mine. Whatever intelligence I have, whatever abilities I have, whatever family members I have, whatever wealth or property I have, is the sacred property of God or the Divine.

Compassion without detachment is attachment to the bodily platform.

In our conditioned nature we do not understand value of something until we lose it.

My parents' selfless affection and dedication nourished and prepared me to receive the love of my guru or spiritual father, Swami Prabhupada. My parents prepared the soil in which my guru sowed the seeds of his compassion.

I we are looking for God or an opportunity to learn and enrich our lives in every situation, we will find that, but if we are looking for how am I enjoying or suffering, we are subject to endless frustration

Reducing carbon emissions is important, but it is shortsighted if not coupled with reducing the toxic emissions from our heart; and that is something spiritual leaders are supposed to teach and something all thinking people, regardless of their beliefs, should practice.

Religious and spiritual leaders should be held accountable for environmental activism, not only because they have access to large communities and can influence votes but because service is integral to religious and spiritual life.

I just didn't know where I fit in - I didn't seem to fit in my parent's generation. I didn't seem to fit in my own generation. Little by little, this took me into a spiritual search for understanding; a search for meaning and fulfillment.

There is false humility and genuine humility and between them, there is a desire of the practitioner to become humble.

A dog will recognize his master in whatever way he dresses. The master may dress in robes, suit and tie, or stand naked, but the dog will always recognize his master. If we cannot recognize God, our beloved master, when he comes in a different dress from another religion, then we are less than that dog.

The Ultimate expression of Humility comes when we control our senses.

Bhakti and Humility cannot be separated like sweetness cannot be separated from sweet.

Man cannot be enlightened through any organization, creed, dogma, priest or ritual, nor through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique. He has to find it through understanding the contents of his own mind, through observation, not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection.

Giving up pride means giving all credit and glory to Guru and Krishna.

Through the practice of devotion to God, I was coming to learn that preserving loving relations in this world required much forgiveness, tolerance, patience, gratitude, and humility. An essential virtue of humility is to accept others for what they are, despite differences. I contemplated again how the tendency to judge others is often a symptom of insecurity, immaturity, or selfishness, and I yearned to rise above it. Everyone is a child of God. God loves all of His children. If I wish to love God, I must learn to love those whom He loves.

When we are honoured for a thing, we become attached to that thing.

Opportunities are always there for us to grow, opportunities are always there for us to come closer to each other & come closer to God; if we just look for them.

To be meek and humble means to have a service attitude towards God, the Vaisnavas, and all living beings. Unless we have that, our chanting will have minimal effect and many births may pass before we finally come to the conclusion.

In Kali yuga, whole atmosphere is surcharged with faithlessness, Material sense gratification is standard of civilization.

Even when Krishna gives you strength, maya will delude you to think it is your strength.

Guru is heavy, because he carries Lord Krishna in his heart.

Humble people dont get Offended easily.

Faith in God goes beyond intellectual presentation and logic.

Genuine spiritual movement should forgive and encourage.

Any propensity other than love cannot exist in the spiritual world. There is unlimited variegatedness, but they are all extraordinarily wonderful ways of expressing love.

The most transformative and gentle humility and pride. But they transform in opposite ways.

You can not understand "Scripture" without seeing through the eyes of the Spiritual Master or Advanced Devotees.

We get sufferings in life so that we become sober and listen to Krishna's message.

The true treasure lies within. It is the underlying theme of the songs we sing, the shows we watch and the books we read. It is woven into the Psalms of the Bible, the ballads of the Beatles and practically every Bollywood film ever made. What is that treasure? Love. Love is the nature of the Divine.

We have the tendency to judge others by their surface appearance, and to find only their negative qualities. But if we search beneath the surface we discover that a myriad of strains mix together to create a particular person's nature. The faults we perceive are likely to be the effect of circumstances, the psychological response to trauma, abuse, rejection, heartbreak, insecurity, pain, confusion, or disease.

The essence of spiritual life is simply to use our free will properly.

A great soul is called Saragrahi that means one who is always looking for the essence of every situation that comes before us.

When object of our anxiety is God, then that brings ecstacy.

The tension between the essence of spiritual teachings and the harmful fundamentalism that often arises in the name of religion is an issue that has engaged my mind practically as far back as I can remember.

All beautiful forms of this world are in the process of transformation. Nothing is stable. With every moment, our reality is changing. Mother Ganges, like nature, is constant, but no manifestation of hers remains. Likewise, all that we hold dear in this world is imperceptibly vanishing. We cannot cling to anything. But if we can appreciate the beauty of the underlying current of truth, we can enjoy a reality deeper than the fickle waves of joy and sorrow.