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Humility

Radhanath Swami — Our Star

In the overcrowded prayer hall of Radha Gopinath Temple, I sat on the floor softly chanting the Hare Krishna mantra on my prayer beads. My murmur merged with the murmur of thousand-odd others to fill the ether with the buzz of the anthem— Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Usually devotees sat in small circles of eight or less during this prayer period from 5.45 a.m. to 7.30 a.m.  But today, there were thousands of pilgrims from far and wide, and they all sat chanting the mantra with their visions converging on Radhanath Swami, their spiritual star, who sat cross-legged on the floor in one corner of the prayer hall. (And fortunately, I was sitting close to himJ.) Immersed in mantra meditation, his eyes shut, and his erect body gently swaying to and fro in spiritual ecstasy, Radhanath Swami at first seemed oblivious to his surroundings.

Suddenly, however, amid the prayer session, Radhanath Swami shifted to a different spot to continue his mantra chant. A devotee who sat close by whispered into my ears, “Perhaps the ceiling fan spinning overhead was bothering him. Why don’t you turn it off, so that we can have him sit closer to us once again?” I walked to the switch board and turned off the overhead fan.

No sooner had I returned to my place than Radhanath Swami called me with a hand gesture. “Why did you turn off the fan?” he asked. In the silence that followed, I sensed he anyway knew the answer. “I didn’t change my position because of the fan,” he clarified. “I shifted here because I can’t tolerate everyone looking at me. Please, why don’t you ask everyone to sit in circles and focus on the mantra, rather than focus on me?”

It dawned on me—he was not bothered by the fan, but by his fans.

I had to take the brunt of displeasure of the devotees who now reluctantly formed little circles, turning their vision away from their spiritual star—who always felt discomforted when looked upon like a star.

–Siddeshwar Bhat.

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145 replies on “Radhanath Swami — Our Star”

I have often chanted in the vicinity of Maharaj, and looking at him and chanting has given me some great rounds, as if he empowered my chanting. I never thought how disconcerting it maybe to Maharaj. Please forgive me Maharaj.

Amazing realization by the author.
“he was not bothered by the fan, but by his fans.”

Yes, Maharaj is our Star, our guiding Star who remains humble. Thanks for sharing Prabhu.

amazing simply wonderful
jai
thank you for sharing and keep writing more so that we can know your experiences with our spiritual master.

Thank you for sharing this experience. We see movie stars and musicians who are eager for peoples’ attention and here we have Radhanath Swami, who is a greater superstar , yet wants to be away from the limelight !

His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj once again shows by his example that he can do anything for the welfare of the devotees.

In todays world celebrities want a great fan following. HH Radhanath Swami truely stands apart from the rest of the crowd of famous people

Only Radhanath Swami has the humility to turn himself from being the center of attraction to being away from the glare. Anyone else would have enjoyed all the attention.

In material world everyone is motivated to do anything, becase they want recognition in the form of name,fame or money,but Maharajah is teaching us
in true Sprituality we do not wany anything except to serve and glorify Lord Krishna.

Maharaj shows humility through his behavior. Any other person in his place would be so happy and soak up all the attention but maharaj found it hard to tolerate this. Amazing!!!

Anybody wants to be noticed and be the focus of attraction , but here Radhanath Swami Maharaj shows by his example how the great personality has to be humble also and not expect repects from others.

All great souls like HH Radhanath Swami does not like the center stage and give all credits to Krishna and His devotees.

It is so difficult to keep your eyes and attention away from Radhanath Swami and especially nowadays since his followers are experiencing great separations due to him extending his compassion to more and more around the globe. Radhanath Swami is more concerned about spiritual progress of each and every soul and is immersed deeply in this activity ,adoration of any sort makes him most uncomfortable.

Thank you very much for enlightening all of us on another very important like/dislike of Radhanath Swami.

only a genuine soul like maharaj cannot tolerate too much of attention and importance given to him… really adorable

That shows how seriously Radhanath Swami takes his meditation… he doesn’t want to be distracted by anything.

Everyone in the material world desire to be the centre of attraction, but Radhanath Swami always want Krishna to be in the centre of our lives…..

Chanting at RadhaGopinath temple in the presence of Rahdanath Swami has always been a cherished and awaited experience!

Radhanath Swami is a bright star tremendously loved and admired by all his disciples. One very important reason for this is his extremely high degree of committment to the teachings of his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. He is showing by his personal example what it means to be a disciple and accepting a spiritual guide.

Certainly yes HHRNSM is our STAR and a true guide for all of us in every walk of life, haribol, bhakti

HHRNSM is an epitome of humility and a true star for all of us and most importantly very humble, haribol, rajesh karia

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