Radhanath Swami's Blog, page 25
June 30, 2015
Radhanath Swami Speaks at the Transformation, Leadership & Spirituality in Medicine Conference
On Sunday, June 21, 2015 Radhanath Swami attended the “Transformation, Leadership & Spirituality in Medicine” conference in Edison, New Jersey. The event was well attended by over 200 professionals. Guests were captured in rapt attention as esteemed speakers shared their heart-moving stories.
As the keynote speaker, Radhanath Swami delivered a talk centered around his experiences in the field of medicine. He began with a powerful statement, “We’ve all come together to appreciate each other’s contributions to one another, and for the purpose of healing. It’s quite groundbreaking and revolutionizing”.
Radhanath Swami spoke of how members of a project inspired by his teachings, the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai, recently went to Nepal after the recent devastating earthquake. He recounted that there were all kinds of doctors there – allopathic, Ayurvedic, naturopathic, etc. treating the injuries and broken limbs. However, he succinctly pointed out, more than broken limbs in Nepal, were broken hearts. There was starvation of stomachs, but more significantly, there was starvation of hearts. What the patients needed was not only medical attention, but also a holistic spiritual care.
Radhanath Swami asked, “Why in the world does everybody want to be healthy?” He answered his own question based on wisdom from ancient Vedic literature. “It is because every human being is looking for pleasure or happiness. Pain and disease interfere with that happiness. Material things may give the body/mind fulfillment, but to love and be loved through compassion is the only thing that leads to an overall fulfillment.” He eloquently pointed out that this is why we need to heal holistically, including the mind, body and the soul. “Academically, we have been taught that knowledge is how much data we can store in our brain and regurgitate. True knowledge, however, is based on one principle – to see every living being as equal. If we cannot do that, we are diseased by ignorance.”
Radhanath Swami fondly recalled practical applications of his memories about the Redwood trees. “The roots of these trees are not so deep and the soil surrounding them is not nicely cultivated for growth. However, what sets these special trees apart is that the roots grow outwards, and when two roots come close they embrace and interconnect themselves. Thus, when earthquakes, forest fires, or any calamities occurs, united they stand. Unity is their strength.” Radhanath Swami stated that nature is teaching us that the true strength we have is in our compassion for one another – the roots are in our consciousness. By shifting our consciousness to one of compassion and love, we are fulfilling the highest dharma of this world.
A captivated audience expressed their sincere, heartfelt gratitude to Radhanath Swami for sharing his thoughts.
June 24, 2015
The Competition is Not Between One Religion & Another
Question: Nowadays different religions, especially those with extreme values, are aggressively penetrating into different parts of the world. Do you feel threatened? Do you consider them your competitors?
Radhanath Swami: I don’t see that it is religion that is causing the hatred, discrimination, and terrorism. It is just a very infatuated ego working in the name of religion, in the name of nationalism, etc.
Hitler and his people, they were like terrorists murdering millions and millions of innocent people, which wasn’t in the name of religion. That was in the name of a political agenda, and look at how much harm they did. And people have done the same kind of harm in the name of religion too. It is just that we superimpose our own arrogance, insecurity, envy and greed in the name of nationalism, politics, religion, or whatever it may be.
So the competition is not between one religion and another religion. The competition is between the good dog and the bad dog that is barking in our hearts, and in their hearts. For some people it is the barking of bad dog that is ruling over and controlling their decisions in life, and causing them to influence others. So the real competition is between light and dark, good and evil, truth and ignorance, in whatever form it takes.
Actually, we all are of one religion, but there are people who are extremists. I have studied some history and I found that in every religion, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, there have been terrorists, but they are not representing the truth, which is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Saints like Francis and Antonio – I go to their places in Italy. They represented that truth. So in every path there have been the extremists and there have been the people who are seeking the essence.
So the competition is not about one religion against another. The competition is to maintain the true core values. It all begins with making that solution, as far as we can, within ourselves, because then we have so much more strength to actually help make a solution in the world. The best thing that dispels darkness is light. In the world people oftentimes try to dispel darkness with darkness, but it doesn’t work. When scientists, technologists, politicians, business people, farmers, agriculturalists, educators, professors and monks all come together to share these true spiritual values together, then we have a lot of strength to find that light within ourselves and to create bigger and bigger light that spreads through the whole world.
June 23, 2015
Can You be Spiritual Without Being Religious?
Question: Is it necessary to equate spirituality with religion? Do you think people can be spiritual, having values, but not be religious at all?
Radhanath Swami: It depends on our definition of spirituality and religion. Values are required to be genuine in any spiritual or religious path. In the yoga system there are yamas and niyamas which are based on our values, on our ethics, on our morality, because we can’t truly build our spiritual experience unless we have those values. When we see a religion or spiritual path without those values in it, we often turn away from that religion or spirituality – whatever we may call it. So those values are necessary.
The universal character of anyone on any religious or spiritual path – if they are really doing it right, in a deep meaningful way – is that they are going to have common characteristics and values that are universal; compassion, honesty, self-control, generosity, wisdom, and insight. Whether one is a Christian, Muslim, Jew or Hindu, or whatever, these are the common values we find in the scriptures and in the lives of the saints. The realized person or saint could be a mother with three children, or a monk who is traveling around and preaching.
Our actual spiritual identity beyond birth and death, a path that brings us to that internal ecstatic love, love for God and all beings, is within us. The values we live by – without that connection – don’t bring us to the same depth beyond birth and death as a deep spiritual path does.
If you consider religion a sectarian concept of spirituality, then yes, it could be a disturbance. But true religion is that essential spirituality that brings our compassion to a deep place – to the body, to the mind and also to the true self within others. One can have a value based moral life without the concept of true religion or true spirituality: be a good person, be more peaceful, be more pious, and everything else, but to actually reach that depth of our souls, to be instruments of that compassion, and to realize ourselves beyond the mortality of these vulnerable little bodies and minds of ours, for that we need a deep spiritual path.
So yes, we could be very good people, and we can make a difference. But you know, if we need to make that transcendental connection, it is important that we have what you may call religion – but without the sectarian conception.
