Spiritual Questions and Answers with Radhanath Swami
Question to Radhanath Swami: How do you recognize a genuine guru?
Radhanath Swami Answers: That takes a little education, but in principle, according to our traditions, a true guru is not one who claims to be God. A true guru is one who claims to be a humble messenger of God.
Question to Radhanath Swami: ‘God’ and religion is the source of so much strife in ourworld, perhaps because of the fact that it is misused. I just wanted to get your perspective on that.
Radhanath Swami Answers: My guru Srila Prabhupada said, “Philosophy without good character is practically useless.” The whole purpose of religion is to help us in transcending the arrogant ego.
Question to Radhanath Swami: We come to the temple, and we listen to lectures. But we are finding it difficult to take spiritual life seriously. So what is the solution? How to be determined?
Radhanath Swami Answers: Before you could run a cross country, you have to learn how to crawl. And then after learning how to crawl, you have to learn how to take your first step. Any destination begins with the first step.
Question to Radhanath Swami: In spiritual circles they often talk of ‘bala’ or spiritual strength. What exactly is this spiritual strength?
Radhanath Swami Answers: What is spiritual strength? Spiritual strength is essentially the awakening of our soul. The soul is part and parcel of Krishna, who is all-powerful.
Question to Radhanath Swami: Before coming to Bhakti we were conditioned to many materialistic selfish activities. These conditionings turn out to be the biggest obstacles on the path of Bhakti Yoga. That particular selfish activity to which we are addicted attracts our attention and ultimately destroys our spiritual life. How do we resist the force of these conditionings and safeguard ourselves from going astray?
Answer by Radhanath Swami: Since time immemorial we have conditioned ourselves to certain misconceptions. The Srimad Bhagavatam teaches that the origin of all misconceptions is …
Question to Radhanath Swami: Sometimes we have a vision, but we fear to follow it due to some reasons: lack of confidence, apprehension about results. What to do in those situations?
Radhanath Swami Answers: We have to associate with people who have confidence, and become inspired and enthused. We were speaking about Srila Prabhupada. He had such a burning compassion for other beings that he was willing to go to the most impossible..
