Tag: Radhanath Swami

Watering the roots

If you give food to the stomach the whole body is nourished. Every part of a healthy body is serving the whole body. The eyes are not just selfishly doing something; the eyes are directing the rest of the body. The hands are supplying to the rest of the body. The stomach is bringing nourishment to the rest of the body. The nose is bringing oxygen to the rest of the body. Every healthy cell of the body is serving the whole body. That is good health.

What is disease? I am not a doctor but I am speaking about disease from a philosophical perspective. Disease is when germs or cells enter body and they are selfish. They are egoistic and selfish, they are thinking about themselves. They are not thinking about the whole body.

What is a cancer cell doing? It’s living for itself. It’s eating the other cells. It’s fighting a war against the rest of the body. Then all the healthy cells, the good guys, because they are concerned with the body, they all start fighting against that disease. If you have a cold, those cold germs are like selfish guys; they are just thinking about themselves, eating you up. But you have the whole rest of the body fighting against it. And ultimately if those selfish cells become stronger and stronger, the cells that are working together for the whole body are ultimately killed and the body dies.

That’s what is happening in the world. The world is a body. Humanity is a body and a proper body is where everyone is focused on feeding the stomach, everyone is focused on serving the whole for the interest of everyone. But when you have people who are greedy, selfish and egoistic, they are like cancer cells in this body and they are creating havoc.

People consider that energy and power are very important, but actually knowledge is more important. If we apply our knowledge in utilizing the energy properly, it can serve the whole body, i.e. the world. It can be utilized in harmony with the absolute, with God. But if we utilize that same energy and power without proper knowledge of who we are and what our real purpose in life is, it could create disaster.

Radhanath Swami

Actually challenges or failures can be stepping stones…

Actually challenges or failures can be stepping stones or stumbling blocks on the road to success. It is all a matter of how we look at it. You can see a glass as half empty or you can see a glass as half full. One will bring you enthusiasm and the other will bring you discouragement. We can apply this principle to every aspect of our life. But what is of real importance is that we know that we are doing the right thing, that we learn from our mistakes. A mistake is only a mistake if we fail to learn from it. Real leaders make many, many mistakes, but they do not repeat them. They learn from them, they remain enthusiastic; they remain determined for the goal.

Radhanath Swami

Story : Get back into your natural element

Years ago, I was walking along the sea shore and I saw a little fish about three or four inches in size. But this little fish was in so much worry, flapping again and again, lying on the dry sand. I do not know whether it was a male fish or a female one. Let’s say it was a male fish, so that the fish could be addressed as ‘he’. So I looked in his eyes and he just looked in total confusion, frustration and misery. Somehow or other a wave had washed this little fish up and there he was, lying on the sand. The fish could not breathe properly. He was flapping and suffering.

Now I could have got a female fish and put next to him; would that be of any help? I could have got some mango lassi with some nice sanitized straw and put it next to him. I could have got him a diamond ring or a ruby crown. I could have offered him a BMW. Would anything of that make him happy?

Because he was out of his natural element, nothing could make him happy. So I tried to pick up that little fish and throw him back into the ocean. But he was so intensely worrying that every time I picked him up he just flapped so hard that he flapped right out of hand back into the sand. And I picked him again, but again he flapped out of my hand into the sand. At least 5 times I picked him up and he flapped out.

I was his well wisher trying to save his life but he could not recognize me, because he was just in such a state of trauma. Finally, with both my hands I cupped him and trapped him so he couldn’t get out; then I threw him as far as I could into the ocean.

Radhanath Swami