One day Richard stumbled upon a leper colony. Dozens of them surrounded Richard, pressing their deformed bodies against his, and demanded charity. Their rotting flesh was oozing blood and the stench was unbearable. Richard was angry and disgusted, but simultaneously felt compassion for them, understanding that their misery justified the behavior. After twenty minutes he was spared, and then he saw an old leper woman, in whom Richard could perceive a deep longing to give motherly love. He placed his head under her palm and received her blessings. Her face lit with joy on seeing Richard and he lost all fear of contamination by seeing her affection. Richard felt the previous suffering at the hands of so many lepers was a small price to pay for this unforgettable blessing. Richard pondered that although the woman was plagued with a despicable disease, beneath the surface she was a beautiful soul who only wanted to love and be loved. Later gazing down the rushing current of Ganges, Richard reflected,
“Today the river is exposing how 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. I thought of the people who had nearly killed me in Istanbul, the racists that hated the Blacks during the civil rights movement, the people who had mistreated me because of my long hair, and even myself, how I had judged the generation I’d rebelled against, thinking older Americans wrong to be so concerned with money and security when, in fact, they had lived through the Great Depression, a hardship I couldn’t fathom. If we understand the underlying cause of what we think of as bad in someone, instead of being hateful, we will be compassionate. For is not every soul inherently good? A saintly person will hate the disease but love the diseased.”
To see those who are evil and externally wicked as victims of their circumstances requires spiritual vision. Richard got this realization on seeing this old woman, and he could then see even his potential killers at Istanbul as victims, rather than being inherently bad. On the contrary he now began to see them as potentially good souls, servants of God.
Radhanath Swami loves to narrate the story of Lord Nityananda, the incarnation of God who appeared five hundred years ago. He was compassion personified, and in his desire to serve and love all, he approached two of the greatest ruffians of the time, Jagai and Madhai. Both were brothers and together performed the most abominable activities; they burnt houses, indiscriminately killed men, and raped women. Everyone in the State feared these evil brothers, as they were the law unto themselves. Nityananda felt compassion, and despite the warnings of everyone, approached the brothers and pleaded with them to to give up their despicable activities and chant the Holy names of God. In their drunken condition, they attacked Nityananda, but the Lord’s persistent appeals, touched their hearts, and they reformed. They went on to become the most saintly devotees in Bengal, India, of that time.
Our daily interactions may not be with such hardened criminals; rather it could be with loving and saintly people, sincerely endeavoring in their spiritual practices. However the tendency to find faults is so deep rooted, that we often can’t appreciate those we are living with, despite them being decorated with many saintly qualities. Our narrow view of life and standards of behavior blinds us to others’ good qualities. Radhanath Swami tirelessly trains his students to see people for their primary quality-each one is a servant and lover of God. All other qualities, behavior and lack of virtues are secondary, and they shall develop over a period of time. He appeals to all to abandon seeing others from our individual frames of reference, but rather see each person as how God would see them- with love and compassion.
Table of Contents
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........
In this world today we always judge everything by seeing the externals but Radhanath swami by his example is teaching us to learn to look beyond the externals and appreciate people through our hearts
View CommentWe can learn so much from this book and meditation on this book.
View Commentthis article has an essential instruction to deeply contemplate on….for most of us the propensity to find faults is so deep-rooted that we continue to find faults in devotees after entering spiritual life…it is difficult to overcome it but by grace of the spiritual master it becomes possible.
View CommentA saintly person will hate the disease but love the diseased. What a deep statement. If we are able to follow this then there will be no envy.
View CommentRadhanath swami is full of compassion.He is so humble that he craves for blessings from elderly people no matter who they are.He sees inwards beyond the surface.He sees every individual as a child of the Lord taking tiny steps towards the Lord.
View CommentRadhanath Swami is explaining and practising principles that are not of this world. Looking from the view point of God and hating the disease and not the diseased – we have done so many mistakes in our lives, if God were too only pass judgement and not really love us, give us a chance to reform – what can we expect in our lives?
View CommentIt is a natural human tendency to always look at the faults of a person & neglect the good qualities……Thanks to Radhanath Swami for his spiritual guidance & realizations
View CommentToo good
View Commentspiritual guidance is so important in life.Thanks
View Commentwe can learn so much from this saying of Maharaj that we should not judge any one , but we should see each and everyone the way god sees his children with soo much love and affection , thank you Maharaj for such a wonderful realisation . Hare Krishna.
View Commentexcellent said
View Commentvery good language
View Commentvery nice
View CommentAmazing1
View CommentAmazing!
View CommentOnly a self realised person like Radhanath Swami can put into practice this philosophy of going beyond the superficial – Even with a contagious disease like leprocy, he was seeing the pure soul within that rotting body.
View Commentchanged my perceptive of india and myself
View CommentMaharaj by his own example really shows us how to fan the good qualities and ignore the faults in others. Really inspiring!!
View CommentThanks for sharing!!
View CommentSomething I really have to learn to put into daily practice.Hope I can do it!
View CommentThank you Radhanath Swami for guiding us on our spiritual journey. Long live Radhanath Swami.
View Comment“If we understand the underlying cause of what we think of as bad in someone, instead of being hateful, we will be compassionate”. This is such a profound statement. If any leader / manager applies it, he can avoid getting frustated and disturbed and be able to release the full potential in each individual.
View CommentOur basic conditioning is to be judgmental about people and our reactions are based on that.Radhanath Swami comes across as a person who is not judgmental on the bodily appearance of a person,now that’s something we need to learn while interacting with people
View CommentTruely inspiring! It is very rare to see such a deep and compassionate person like Radhanath Swami who sees beyond the bodily platform in any situation.
View CommentSwami ji this really helps to develop healthy and long friendship
View Commentvery very heart touching..and Radhanath Swami has also revealed the way we judge people.
View CommentWhat a Great Vision & lesson taught to us !Thank you very much !
View CommentRadhanath Swami practices what he preaches…in the true sense
View CommentSeeing an old women in this type of situation taking her blessin ? AND SEEING BEAUTY IN THAT ? Only a pure soul like Swami can see .
View CommentOnly a true saint can be as compassionate as Radhanath Swami Maharaj.
View Commentvery inspiring!!!
View CommentRadhanath Maharaj being a self realised soul could see beyond the externals in a leprosy person and saw a beautiful loving soul within her who wanted to share her love and also be loved.
View CommentIf we simply meditate on HH Radhanath Swami’s realisations then we can progress in spirituality very fast. We are very much indebited to HH Radhanath Swami eternally.
View Commentbeautiful words and so inspiring, regards, rajesh karia
View Commentvery nice and inspiring, bhakti
View CommentRadhanath Swami’s heart radiates…….his love and compassion is so genuine, it shines through!
View CommentWe are grateful to HH Radhanath Swami for teaching us how not to judge people from their external point of view. Truly, HH Radhanath Swami has genuine love and affection for all, irrespective of their cast, creed, etc.
View Commentif deeply observed we r being diseased by this tendency of fault finding and unable to advance. these quotes helps us to cure from those disease
View CommentWow Such a elucidating words!!! Thank you Radhanath Swami.
View CommentPurity is the essence! Radhanath Swami’s purity makes him see beyond externals and appreciate:)
View CommentSuch wonderful realisations of Radhanath Swami. Especially I like the point…”However the tendency to find faults is so deep rooted, that we often can’t appreciate those we are living with, despite them being decorated with many saintly qualities”. Thi is so true…fault finding is engraved in our very existence and we are simply unable to give it up. Only by association with great saintly personalities like Radhanath Swami will we be to give up this evil.
View CommentWow! We always knew that we had this deep rooted habit of finding faults. But we never knew that the solution is so easily attainable. It has only become posssible by the mercy of Radhanath Swami
View Commentvery inspirational and exceptional, rajesh k
View Commentradhanath swami is teaching by his own examples, truly natural,
View CommentTo understand the heart of Radhanath Swami one must be somewhat fortunate to have either seen him or heard his discourses, it just hits you gently. Hey! Who is this person what is he made up off and what ticks him. Surely soon enough it can be understood the only business Radhanath Swami knows is ‘How to reach a person’s SOUL and awake it from its dormant condition, for him bodily distinction don’t exist
View CommentPower of spiritual purity
View CommentH.H Radhanath Swami is an ideal example for any situation in our lives.
View CommentRadhanath Swami’s book, on his life-journey towards the goal of human form of life, is really a book that can open the spiritual eyes of a person like me who has been sleeping in ignorance since millions of lifetimes.
View CommentI am eternally grateful to Radhanath Swami for making me realize what is the aim of human life. More about his book- at http://www.journeyhome.com
H.H Radhanath Swami is a source of inspiration to advance spiritually in any situation of life.
View CommentH.H Radhanath Swami does not teach dry philosophy on the name of religion or spirituality. Hearing his Lecture, realization touches the soul and wants one to bring a genuine change in the heart. Maharaj teaches so nicely how we should not focus on faults of anyone. In his words “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”. Very powerful message.
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