From Pashupatinath Richard travelled two hundred miles south to Bodh Gaya, the holiest place on earth for Buddhists. At Bodh Gaya he read books by D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts on Zen Buddhism, and found their teachings simple and appealing. He also learnt that a Zen master from Japan was teaching a way of Zen in Bodh Gaya. The teacher claimed to be following the tradition that has passed down from a long time, and emphasized on the need to lead a life of prayer, humility, service, gratitude and meditation. He demanded a strict schedule, but Richard felt something suspicious.
Some days after the course, a young American couple, two of Master’s faithful followers discovered him to be having a full-on-affair with a lady every night. All his disciples had left him. Richard felt pained that the Master had been strict with his students, but not with himself. He had misrepresented a long tradition of sincere teachers.
“An irresponsible leader can break the hearts and faith of his followers and raise suspicion even toward those who are genuine. What pain his hypocrisy caused to those who trusted him and just see what it has done to his own life. How essential it is to live what we believe. How vital it is to practice what we preach.”
The irresponsibility of the Zen master reminded me of Socrates’ immortal words, “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” Radhanath Swami says, “A spiritual teacher has to be a student first; a preacher has to be a practitioner first; a master has to be a sincere servant first; and a leader must be a true follower first.” Accepting position of leadership without the necessary qualifications is a violent crime, as it shakes the faith of innocent people who trust such a teacher. Radhanath Swami narrates the story of a sadhu, a holy man who was approached by a lady requesting him to instruct her son to give up eating sweets. The sadhu asked them to come the following week. A week later, the sadhu requested the child to give up eating sweets. The perplexed lady asked him why he hadn’t given this simple instruction a week ago. The man replied, “Last week even I was eating sweets. I abstained from sweets for one week and now I have some credibility to tell others not to eat sweets.” Radhanath Swami explains before we instruct others we should at least be aspiring to follow the instructions ourselves.
Once, a young man stayed for a month at the Radhagopinath temple monastery, video shooting everything that was happening there. An inmate confided in me, “We became conscious of him and his camera. Sometimes during my distracted prayer sessions, he would come in the front and catch us on the camera. Suddenly I would become alert and display a certain kind of seriousness in my spiritual activities. One morning as I was putting up my best performance to be good on the camera, I got a nice realization. I thought of how God is constantly watching u
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Founder-acharya of the International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
“Go to India” a sweet but commanding voice; spoke up in the heart of young Richard (later Radhanath Swami) who was immersed in meditation, his search for meaning in life has brought him to the Isle of Crete. Today he was ordered to go to India. Born and raised in the middle class suburbs of Chicago, Radhanath swami grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s era when popular musicians protested war, prejudice and social injustice. Radhanath swami would listen to these songs again and again, but their lyrics referring to God stirred his soul. Peter, Paul and Mary- the folk trio from Greenswich village sang in their debut album
“Early in the morning, about the break of day
I ask the Lord, to help me find my way”
This simple prayer was to guide Radhanath swami in the coming years of his life........
prach what u practice is a lesson we can learn from this story
View CommentMaharaj, thank you for sharing and realizing us that one should stop behaving like hypocrite. As our conditioning nature we do so often but Maharaj by your help & guidance we are trying to come out from this horrible face of life. Jai Gurudev!!!
View CommentWe can have best of the people around us if we could follow the words of HH Radhanath swami maharaj:- ““A spiritual teacher has to be a student first; a preacher has to be a practitioner first; a master has to be a sincere servant first; and a leader must be a true follower first.” “
View CommentA very practical solution to become good teacher, preacher, master and leader. Thank you very much Radhanath swami maharaj
View Commentthis shows us who is a true leader
View CommentAs you sow so shall u reap!
View CommentRadhanath sawmi has taught us a great lesson- Being conscious of God helps us develop integrity
View CommentGreat lesson!
View CommentGreat thoughts by Radhanath swami – Practise what you preach. This is very essential for each and everyone to follow.
Thank you to the wonderful team that maintains this blog site. There is no other blog site that i know which shares such wonderful articles.
View Commentits true its easy to preach big philosophy but what is the use of that peraching if person can follow that. Thank you swami ji for your valuable analysis.
View CommentA reminder to me to be conscious of my conscious.
View CommentVery nice, thank you very much Maharaj for such a nice article.
View CommentHypocrisy can kill someone’s faith.Swamiji even though was a young boy at that time could realise how important it was to keep someone’s trust.His knowledge and realization has taught him to be the kind of a Guru he is.He himself practices what he preaches others.
View Comment“How essential it is to live what we believe. How vital it is to practice what we preach.” This is what makes HH Radhanath Swami a great soul. HH Radhanath Swami’s preaching is always effective and penetrating the hearts, just becuase He simply preaches what He practices.
View CommentAll Glories To H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj
THe modern day’s Guru’s may not follow their every word and adhere to every principle they may profess, because they if are not ones who are practicing spirituality in the right essence, are likely to falter and eventually cause distrust amongst their follower as was the Zen Master.
Hare Krishna
View CommentVery powerful and profound teachings by Radhanath Swami.
View CommentOne of the most important lessons taught by Radhanath Swami, one must WALK HIS TALK…….and PRACTICE WHAT WE PREACH.
View CommentRadhanath Swami has personally lived up to the standards of faultless leadership that is expected from all leaders in Society.
View CommentToday we have wealthy & famous people but none can bet on their character. It is the last thing that is seen in a person in modern era. That is what is separating people of this era from real satisfaction. Above article has hit the nail on the head so precisely. A true saint like Radhanath swami stands out mainly because of this purity and strong character.
View CommentThank you Radhanath Swami for teaching us the meaning of true character.
View CommentThis is just wonderful. We have to strive hard to ensure that we are not hypocrats. Radhanath Maharaj said that we need to be “SIMPLE” in our lives. Simplicity means no duplicity.
Thanks to Maharaj we are able to understand how we need to lead our lives.
View CommentVery powerful reminder from Maharajah “What we are as a person is undoubtedly more important than what we have and what others think of us.”
View CommentVery nice article……at present times, people do not trust sadhus because most of them act with hypocrisy……so people assume all sadhus are cheaters……Radhanath Swami’s character is an ideal for every sadhu & spiritualist to follow….
View CommentVery important lesson.
View CommentBecause he takes so much care to practice whatever he preaches, Radhanath Swami’s teachings are so effective.
Very nice realizations on the excerpt.
View Commentgreat lesson!!
View CommentI can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success.
View CommentNowadays there are so many self-styled fake gurus who have set up “spiritual shops” just to garner fame, money & in some extreme cases, to even sexually exploit women & children. These hypocrites by their misdemeanor have created a huge trust deficit between the common people & spirituality. Fortunately, we still have some very genuine saints like Radhanath Swami, who actually practice what they preach. We can advance in our spiritual life by seeking guidance from such holy men & associating with them.
View CommentThank you so much for mentioning about what does character mean.
View CommentReading this article awakened me – Am I being conscious of presence of God who is always with me, caring for me?
View CommentHey admin, very informative blog post! Pleasee continue this awesome work..
View CommentA great Lesson!
View CommentVery true. It does really break.
View CommentI like what you all have to say. Very straight to the point. All in all great blog 🙂
View CommentHypocrisy and Trust are one of the greatest challenges faced by world. Thank you for enlightening me, with this article.
View CommentMaharaj has always led by example. Hari Bol!
View CommentHow I can thank these posts. Every mornign I read them before I start work and feel as if I have taken a bath of my soul. H.H.Radhanath Swami Maharaj is Lord’s divine messenger who is very mercifully giving us updates of Supreme Lord while are away from Him in our consciousness.
View CommentSeveral nice points in this. Thanks Maharaj.
View CommentVery nice article. Thank you very much for sharing the same.
View CommentVery much inspiring article and demanding that we have to act before we speak to other. Radhanath Swami’s words, “A spiritual teacher has to be a student first; a preacher has to be a practitioner first; a master has to be a sincere servant first; and a leader must be a true follower first”, opens the eyes .
View CommentSpiritual life taught by HH Radhanath Swami is very simple and does not have an iota of hypocracy. Simplicity means no duplicity says HH Radhanath Swami. Thank you for the wonderful article on one of the most simple leaders, HH Radhanath Swami.
View CommentThank you for these amazing insights
View CommentVery much important instruction for everyone. Radhanath Swami ki Jaya. All glories to radhanth Swami
View CommentVery useful and practical article by Radhanath Swami Maharaj about the importance of our good and moral character and practicing what we preach.
View CommentThis very true”An irresponsible leader can break the hearts and faith of his followers and raise suspicion even toward those who are genuine.” We see this happening in todays world.
View CommentThanks to Radhanath swami for the point.
Radhanath Swami is trying to teach us how one must learn to practice what he preaches…
View CommentUnless one has the qualifiactions one should not become a mother, father, teacher, guru, says the shastras. Radhanth Swami is teaching us how to live our lives according to this principle.
View CommentRadhanath Swami is a great teacher because he has been a great student; He is a great Guru because he has been a sincere disciple.
View CommentH.H Radhanath Swami’s teachings on any subject matter are simply great. We should that fortune.
View CommentWe all need to adhere to the “Simple Living, High Thinking” concept as Radhanath Swami does. That is the way to inspire people to become God conscious and to develop faith in them.
View Comment