Just below the hill of Bodhnath, Richard (now Radhanath Swami) saw an interesting sight. A European tourist, over six feet tall, with muscles bulging from beneath his T-shirt, was marching through the field carrying a large bag of groceries. Suddenly, from out of the forest, a gang of brown monkeys surrounded him. Although each monkey was only a fraction of his size, they knew how to find his weakest point and attack. They snarled and bared their teeth, threatening him with intimidating gestures. They took small leaps toward their target, succeeding in attacking his mind. Finally, one of the little monkeys stalked right up to him and seized the grocery bag from his hands. While the monkeys clustered around the bag to devour the groceries, this giant of a man slipped away.
Seconds later, a skinny little Nepalese boy of about eight years old appeared on the scene and skipped towards the monkeys with a stone in his hand. The gang of bandits screeched, terror in their eyes. Suddenly, they abandoned the food and fled in all directions. The little boy collected up the groceries and sat down to dine. Meanwhile, the monkeys anxiously watched from a distance. I was amazed. What had just happened here? That playful boy was hardly the weight of one bicep of the Herculean European. The monkeys were unfazed by the threats of the giant because they sensed fear in his mind. But they feared the child because he had no fear of them. Richard (now Radhanath Swami) thought:
“We are vulnerable to defeat when our minds succumb to fear. The foreigner was unfamiliar with monkeys, but the Nepalese tot had lived around monkeys all of his life. So we fear what we don’t know. Through knowledge of our spiritual nature and sincere faith in God, we can overcome all fear. Please, Lord, bless me with such courage as I find my way to You.”
I once heard Radhanath Swami ask a question to the audience, “Who is our greatest enemy? A clue for you to guess- he’s also our best friend.” I was perplexed by the riddle. Radhanath Swami then revealed the answer, “If uncontrolled, our mind is the worst enemy, and if controlled he becomes our best friend.” To overcome fear, Radhanath Swami’s advice is we need to tackle the mind. He gives a simple example, “Have you seen how peacefully a child sleeps in the lap of his parent, even in a noisy, crowded train? The hustle-bustle disturbs everyone, but not the child-due to his implicit faith in the protection of his parent.” Similarly if we have implicit faith in the protection of God, we can overcome all fears in life.
Radhanath Swami explains that all fear originates in an unbalanced, unrealistic material conception of life. When we seek our sense of identity, self-worth, security and pleasure exclusively from our material positions and possessions, we open ourselves to fear. Why? Because the material realm is characterized by constant, unpredictable changes, which often threaten to destroy or harm whatever is dear to us. Therefore Radhanath Swami advices all seekers of Truth, “The more things change, the more we need to embrace the things that don’t change. The more we harmonize with our eternal spiritual nature, the more we become fearless.” Understanding that we are, at our core, spiritual and, hence indestructible, fills us with an unshakeable self-security; we recognize that worldly upheavals that affect our material assets have no power whatsoever to hurt us. Moreover, understanding that a benevolent God is ultimately orchestrating all material happenings helps us to see order amidst change, plan amidst chaos.
This shift of focus from self to God, Radhanath Swami assures, releases large reserves of mental energy, which are presently choked by our worry about the future. Radhanath Swami’s essence of all advice is, “Chanting God’s names gives us the calmness to see that most fears are imaginary, not real. The more we become free from fear of the future, the more we can fully absorb ourselves in our present duties.”
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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........
“We are vulnerable to defeat when our minds succumb to fear. So we fear what we don’t know. Through knowledge of our spiritual nature and sincere faith in God, we can overcome all fear.
View CommentPlease, Lord, bless me with such courage as I find my way to You…… Profound statement with great insight.
VOW VERY DEEP REALIZATION .THANKS FRO SHARING THIS ARTICLE
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Very nice .
View CommentThis is really very inspiring. When we can give all our protection in the hands of GOD, we can be really happy and peaceful. This art of complete dependence is there in Maharaj’s life and in different instances he had showed. In fact whole his life only is practical example of how one can surrender himself to the will and plans of lord and can be so peaceful, calm and most happiest person of entire creation. Just by seeing maharaj so many people gets happy and attracted to the lord, this is the proof of his satisfaction and happiness in serving lord and Srila Prabhupada. Radhanath maharaj ki jai…..
View Commentvery nice!!
View CommentImplicit faith in GOD we can overcome all fears in life. Its so true.
View CommentVery good story. We are vulnerable to defeat when our minds succumb to fear.
View CommentWhat a analogy derived from this experience, ‘The Journey Home’ book by Radhanath Swami is like an immense treasure house each page is so enthralling and educative that one wants to go back and read it all over again , and again and most certainly again and so on. Why? It triggers the very core of one’s heart and soul.
View Commentit is very true, mostly we live either in past or future but God conciousness is key to the live in present and be in our natural state… Krishna Conciousness… Thanks to Radhanath Swami of reminding this as we are very busy in our day to day activity and we forget this simple fact and we need someone who is free from this to remind us about this simple but amazing truth.
View CommentVery nice article. In modern world, almost everyone is under the influence of fear of future. Just if we can develop faith on the Supreme Lord and see His hand in all things happening around us, then we will be free from the fear.
View Commentthank u
View CommentJust awesome – Thanks a lot Maharaj for this very insightful article.
View CommentThank you very much for sharing
View CommentRadhanath Swami has made a very poswerful statement.
Chanting God’s names gives us the calmness to see that most fears are imaginary, not real. The more we become free from fear of the future, the more we can fully absorb ourselves in our present duties.
View CommentRadhanath Swami is teaching us how to delve deep into ourselves and connect to God and thus become fearless
View CommentChanting God’s names gives us the calmness to see that most fears are imaginary, not real. The more we become free from fear of the future, the more we can fully absorb ourselves in our present duties- Amazing !
View CommentRadhanath Swami has very nicely explained how fear is in our mind and how we can overcome our fear. Thank you Radhanath swami
View Commentthank you for sharing. it is very inspiring
View CommentFear as revealed by Maharaj is the creation of the mind.Fear perpetuates fear.But one can get rid of it by means of the Holy name which is the greatest benediction in this age of fearfulness.Thanks Maharaj for this revelation.
View CommentFear as revealed by Maharaj is the creation of the mind.Fear perpetuates fear.But one can get rid of it by means of the Holy name which is the greatest benediction in this age of fearfulness.Thanks Maharaj for this wonderful revelation.
View CommentI liked this advice of Radhanath Swami very much , “The more things change, the more we need to embrace the things that don’t change. The more we harmonize with our eternal spiritual nature, the more we become fearless.”
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