Radhanath Swami’s Tips on Rapid Spirituality
Featured Top, Life — By RNS Online on September 10, 2010 at 11:15 am
Question to Radhanath Swami: How to attain love for God as soon as possible?
Radhanath Swami : That is a very nice question.
To the degree we make that ideal a priority in life, to that degree we realize it quickly. If we make it a first priority in life then we will make very rapid advancement. If we make it a second or third priority in life then we will make very gradual advancement.
Now, making a priority does not necessarily mean giving up everything else. It means giving up separate motives. Lord Krishna told Arjuna, “You should surrender unto Me”. But Arjuna was a married man. He was married to Draupadi and Subhadra, and he had eight children , and even grand children. He was a warrior. After hearing Bhagavad-Gita from Krishna he did not become a sannyasi, a person in the renounced order. He performed his duty of fighting because he was a military man, and he continued to maintain his family. But now he did all these in a spirit of service rather than a spirit of greed and exploitation. He did it as an expression of his love for God.
Arjuna made love for Krishna and surrender to Krishna the priority in his life. That means he rightly oriented his occupation, his domestic situation. He did not renounce it. But he renounced greed, he renounced envy, he renounced pride, and he renounced lust. With a pure state of consciousness, with a desire to serve, he aspired for the ideal of love of God through the situation he was in.
So to develop love for God, you do not have to give up school; you do not have to give up family. You just have to make the purpose behind these responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God. And that becomes natural when we are in association with people who are already doing that.
Tags: arjuna, As soon as possible, association, god, lord krishna, love, married man, priority, radhanath swami, Radhanath Swami Maharaja, surrender
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249 Comments
I always thought that for a person in the grahastha ashram making rapid progress in Krsna consciousness is a dream. However, Maharaj’s answer gives us hope that if a person like Arjuna who had such a big family could surrender to Krsna we can all try.
Thankyou for sharing
Totally agree.
So many concepts have been made clear in this beautiful answer to a burning question – ‘priority means giving up separate motives’, ‘surrender and love is not renouncing but right orientation of occupation’ and so on. This makes the entire picture easy to understand.
Radhanath Swami teaches us so practically that we can progress spiritually without externally giving up anything—-our internal consciousness needs to focus on our real identity, a servant of God.
Wow! So nicely and simply explained, some merciful soul advised me to read articles of Radhanath Swami, may the Lord shower all mercy upon that person, just by absorbing and trying to follow these basic things ,life is so blissful ,however since we have opted to be in this place of misery by our karmic acts we are hear,but the beauty of it is there is way to get out.
I thank Radhanath Swami for clearing all my doubts.
thank you very much
Wow! What a profound yet simple, lucid answer to the question that has engaged millions ! If my top goal in life could simply be to attain Love of God and all my thoughts and actions in the mundane world could be dovetailed to that one goal, my whole life would become spiritualised.
I pray that I shall be able to keep this advice in my heart all my life at all times.
It all depends upon the priority we make. Thank you Maharaj for enlightening us to make advancement in Krishna Consciousness without leaving our other responsibilities.
Radhanath Swami has explained in a very simple way, how if we keep Krishna in the centre of all our material activities, our life would become perfect.
Radhanath Swami is so wonderfully explained of how we do not have to remove any thing from our life but have to add Krishna in all that we do.
Thank u very much swamiji.
a very inclusive message! thank you!
The Bhagavad Gita has so much to teach us, and it takes pure devotees like Radhanath Swami to explain it to us. All misunderstandings disappear when we hear from pure devotees.
Great article – thank you so much Radhanath Swami Maharaj.
Very Nice.
We do not have to give up for the Lord …merely give in…surrender.
we need to surrender and lord will take of our needs.
Making our life centered about Krishna and his devotees brings real happiness in life. Radhanath Swami has put so much effort to allow us to associate with devotees and live a blissful life.
Radhanath Swami has very clearly conveyed the easiest way to achieve Love of God. What struck me was his statement that we do not have to family and work but renounce pride, envy, lust !!! Thank you.
Fantastic and a profound reply!
We definitely have to make it a priority like arjuna did.!
Radhanath Swami is going all out to create sense of urgency so we give first priority to spiritual life else we won;t make advancement at faster pace.
Thank you Radhanath Swami for showing us such a practical way to achieve the highest platform of love of God, while still continuing our worldly duties.
This is a formula given by Radhanath Swami to attain love of God so quickly!
HH radhanath Swami Maharaj is properly explained about surrender..this is very nice to read and progress those who want to achive love of god.
PAMHO. Thank you very much.
How nicely Radhanath Swami is explaning how to be part of this world but work on getting out of it.
Radhanath swami Maharaj makes a point clear that internal motivations are the most imp thing which can help us to develop love of God.
Radhanath Swami has given a very practical and simple illustration of one can execute his duties and also maintain a proper spiritual life making advancement in devotional service.
We have just add ‘Krsna’ to our lives and the rest will fall in place.
Very nice reply…….common people wants to see results first & then practice spirituality….but one will be able to progress spiritually depending on how much he surrenders to the will of God……..
Maharajah is explaining to advance spiritually. we do not have to change our job or position. All we have to do is change our consciousness. Instead of doing the same activity for our-self, if we do it for the pleasure of Lord Krishna, this is akarma.
Radhanath Swami gives most practica; explanation on how to set priority. As Radhanath Swami said, everything should be converted to God centered activity.
Hope for us fallen grihastas!!!
Radhanath Swami Maharaj is showing us the correct mood we need to develop to attain love of god.
Simple and sublime but not easy!!!!
WOnderful explaination …thank you Radhanath Swami for guiding us
Krishna consciosuness is all living a life which is centered around Krishna and that completely depends on Priorities we have in life as Radhanath Swami
We can understand that ultimate responsibility to make spiritual advancement lies in OUR OWN Hands.
How nicely Radhanath Swami has presented the fact that Krishna Consciousness does not mean to leave everything, but to dovetail those things in Krishna’s service.
Its so nicely explained how to make Krishna as center of our lives in whichever occupation we are.
very nice answer
PAMHO. Here Maharaj tells us spirituality is the most important thing in this human form of life rather than any other activity. Thank you.
wonderful
Radhanath Swami is clear in his message its the choice we make that will decide how fast we will be able to achieve our goal
This was a perfect question and perfect answer by Radhanath Swami. Thanks to the person, asking this question. Thanks to Radhanath Swami
Thank you Maharaj for such a valuable teachings.
thank you Maharaj for your enlightening teaching
It appears very difficult, but can be tried, and I am sure that it will be successful if it is done in association of those who are sinecerely trying to make it First Priority. Thank you Radhanath Swami for such a nice answer.
Radhanath Swami is very practical in advising what to do in present situation. I liked the example he has given. Thank you Radhanath Swami
So to develop love for God, you do not have to give up school; you do not have to give up family. You just have to make the purpose behind these responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God. And that becomes natural when we are in association with people who are already doing that – H H radhanath swami
Radhanath Swami makes it so crystal clear by his words of wisdom as to what true spirituality is & how we should not become irresponsible in our daily duties on name of becoming “Spiritual”. Thank you Radhanath Swami Maharaj!
what a wonderful point by Radhanath Swami. To develop Love of God …”purpose behind ..our usual responsibilities to be made one with the purpose of loving God”
very educative reply by Radhanath Swami…..
Radhanath Swami makes things so clear that there’s no more room for ambiguity!!
Practicality of devotional service is very nicely explained. We don’t know what happens tomorrow. Then why don’t we take a serious attempt today to go back home back to godhead?
Hare Krsna , such lucid beautiful answer.. So simple yet gives solution to all problrms of our life. I pray that all of you bless me so that I can follow this teaching throughout my life. Many thanks to HH Radhanath swami Maharaj
Hare Krishna. Thank you for the answer.
Maharaj gives a sincere answer to this question and there is no shortcut to giving priority to God if we want to progress rapidly towards Him.
Awesome answer…All glories to Radhanath Swami.
Radhanath swami is very clear in the answer and he says that it all depends on our own sincerity ans enthusiasm to progress in Krishna consciousness
Radhanath Swami has presented wonderful tips on how to make rapid spiritual progress. If we associate with him & hear from him regularly, then we are bound to make quick spiritual advancement.
Maharaj, people in general first of all are not awrare of the scriptural injunctions & if they are aware, they do not have an understanding of how to apply them practically in their lives.
As you haverightly said, we can align the purpose behind all our responsibilities in life with our love for GOD by being in association with those who are already doing it. You have been that guiding force for many of us in that direction Maharaj. Thank you so much for elightening & guiding us.
Simple formula “Make Krishna the centre of all your activities”…..thanks swamiji
Hare Krishna. Thank you very much.
Radhanath Swami Maharaj is giving us the secret of balance!
We are where our consciousness is, and that in turn is where our priority is.
I would like to thank Swamiji for such a brilliant answer.
Radhanath Swami is very straight and clear
All Glories To H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj
How true is this, its just that we forget it every time we are out of the temple either after the Sunday feast or some festival, that spirituality is a priority than just an off time activity.
Thank You Maharaj.
Hare Krishna
The speed at which we can attain love of God depends on our sincerity
Radhanath swami maharaj is inspiring every one by his example and the results which he has given to the society.
A Life-Saving Project…Something that actually makes people ‘LIVE’ the teaching of Simple Living High Thinking. Radhanath Swami ki Jay
Very nice to see this example of Arjuna.
Many people mistake that becoming a sadhu means, leaving out material duties. It only means, giving up our selfish motives. But within the core of our hearts, our intention is to serve Sri Krishna and His representative, His devotees.
All glories to Radhanath Swami for explaining this fact.
so clean and precise….
Thank you Maharajji for giving us guidance and direction.
Thank you so much for giving a clear understanding of attaining love of God.
Nice amswer
Work in devotion. This is it!
Thank you so much Maharaj for enlightening
Maharaj, Thank you for reminding us again and again to Make Krsna our priority and the centre of our lives. I listen and promise myself that from this day I would try to follow your instruction, but my obstinate mind and frail brain invariably faulters and ends up worrying about worldly material matters. Please help me Maharaj, to remember and follow your instruction always.
Thank you swamiji a very nice lesson
To the degree we surrender our life for KC , to the degree we advance in spiritual life.All the activities we need to center across Krishna
Thank u for the wonderful explanation.
Thank you so much Maharaj for the very nice answer.
Nicely explained!
A detail, thorough and well explained reply. Thank you Maharaj
Thank you Radhanath Swami Maharaj for enlightening us on the true love of God.
A perfect defination of priority and an occupation is given herein by Radhanath Swami.Removed all doubts about priority in ones life and its subsequent results.Thank you very much.
The current center is me and mine… Maharaj is teaching us that make the center of your life God which is Krishna and then everything will become service to the Lord. Hare Krishna !!
” When we look at the things of this world in terms of our own selfish enjoyment, it’s only enjoyment that we can see. But if we have no selfish ego, we can always hear a message of God from everything in this world.” This is so deep statement. All glories to Maharaj.
Thank u swamiji
‘You just have to make the purpose behind these responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God’
Thank you Radhanath Swami for such a nice answer.
Maharaj clears so many misunderstandings people have about spirituality. Arjuna’s example is perfect. Thank you Maharaj !! HAre Krishna !!
Thank you so much Maharaj for the wonderful answer.
Superb answer, it clears all the impurites or misunderstandings about spirituality.
Thank you so much Maharaj for enlighten us.
Amazing answer as always, thank u so much
Just what I needed to hear : )
HH Radhanath swami maharaj nicely explained.
Thanks for sharing us.
Thank you so much Radhanath Swami for clearly emphasizing the importance of keeping the priority for God and serve all.
Radhanath Swami is simply amazing
Thank you so much Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami ki Jai
Maharaj’s instructions are crystal clear and wisdom too.
All Glories to HH Radhanath swami
Thanks for sharing us.
Amazing reply..
Thank you so much for sharing us.
Maharaj has given the highest knowledge in very simple words. We must always strive to perform duty for Krishna’s pleasure. We should peform our duty according to Krishna’s will not according to our desire. Thank you Maharaj for such a nice explanation.
Very inspiring.
another extremely brilliant answer – practical and from deep realized knowledge of scriptures…
Indebted to Radhanath Swami for making this great spiritual wealth accessible to all of us…
Thank you maharaj for your instructions.
this answer has surely opened my eyes about my duties and priorities of life. As a doctor my priority is to serve the patients with the aim of pleasing God and getting them closer to God. that is the priority.
Perfect Question Perfect Answer.
What wonderful explaination by Radhanath Swami !
Thank you Radhanath Swami for giving such a balanced outlook and hopeful perspective about spirituality.
Thank you very much Maharaj for very nicely explaining the formula for making rapid progress in spiritual life. It is certainly possible only by your blessings.
Such a simple but deep truth and clear guidance…the words full of wisdom of realizaton.
Radhanath Swami teaches us how to implement Krishna Conscious practically in our day to day life. Thank you for your wonderful guidance and mercy.
Radhanath Swami has wonderfully explained how its in our hands how fast we want to progress on spiritual path
all glories to Radhanath Swami
Thank you so much Radhanath Swamiji
Thank you Radhanath Swami Maharaj for giving such interesting perspective about spirituality.
simple yet so profound inference by maharaj. it takes a devotee like him to do so. thank you very much maharaj
Thanks very much for sharing
Very wonderful teaching!
what a practical answer to the most sought spiritual question.
Great article.
Nice!!!
Wonderful instruction. Thank you
Beutiful techings of guru maharaj will surely inspire the whole world.
Also Visit- http://www.radhanathswami.co
excellent preaching to the fallen souls like us
Thank you very much MAHARAJ for giving us an accurate and deep understanding of how to attain love of god.
very convincing and hope giving answer by radhanath swami that we can love god just being at any position need not to change our lifestyle or occupation or social order. Thank u Radhanath swami
Maharaj has uncanny ability to help ordinary people like me to understand otherwise difficult things. Like here he concludes: “So to develop love for God, you do not have to give up school; you do not have to give up family. You just have to make the purpose behind these responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God. And that becomes natural when we are in association with people who are already doing that.”
Radhanath Maharaja ki jai!!
Radhanath Swami answers the questions so perfectly that it leaves one free from all doubts. Too good. Thank you tons for making us realize our priorities.
IT ALL DEPENDS ON US TO GIVE THE MOST IMPORTANT PRIORITY TO WHOM WELL, IT IS CLEARED FROM THE ANSWER OF RADHANATH SWAMI, THANKS TO HIM.
Excellent realisation. making the purpose of all that we do in life one with the purpose of loving God.. this is excellent! Radhanath Swamy has such clarity in understanding Bhakti Yoga
very practical
radhanath swami very beautifully gives a deeper insight @ love for GOD and at the same time very clearly dispels the wrong notion people usually carry that u have to leave ur family to love agod.
Beautiful article. Tahnk you for sharing..
Very wonderfully explained by Radhanath Swami.
I sincerely thank Radhanath Swami for putting at rest so many bewildering doubts.Hare Krishna
Very nice. Thank you Maharaj..
Radhanath Swami gives a perfect remedy for how to be ‘in’ this world but not ‘of’ this world, by making love of God as our priority
very true, but seemed so difficult for grahastha life till I read this , Thankyou very much Maharaj
thank you maharaj for explaining very nicely.
Very nice article. Thank u maharaj!!
Thank u maharaj for such a wonderful inspiring answer.
An important point most practically presented
Thank u for sharing this!
thank you Maharaj for giving me hope in my spiritual practice
Thank you Radhanath Swami for very practicle instrction ; Being a householder I always used to think unless I become a sannyasi , I will not make any progress on spiritrual path
very inspiring to put spiritual practice in our day to day life.
Remember Gita with this statement..
Lord Krishna told Arjuna, “You should surrender unto Me”
I like the statement ” You just have to make the purpose behind these responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God “. Thank you for this realization.
true meaning of surrender defined here!
I LIKED THIS POINT THAT SURRENDER means giving up separate motives. THANK YOU MAHARAJ
Great insight, thanks.
What an eye-opener this is and a very simple way to love God and follow in His path
This answer gives so much hope and inspiration for all of us. Thank you maharaj.
prioritizing our life to attain love for God to that degree we realize it – Maharaj has made the KC process so simple for us to achieve our spiritual goal
Hare Krishna…Thank you Radhanath Swami for giving guidance to attain of love of God.
Thank you for reminding our true priority is to serve krishna without renouncing the duty towards the family.
Great teaching by Radhanath Swami
To the degree we make that ideal a priority in life, to that degree we realize it quickly.
starting with to the point answer….
A perfect answer to a good question…thank you Swamiji.
Very nice direction given by HH Radhanath Swami to balance worldly responsibilities & find spiritual peace also
How well Maharaj puts some very difficult to understand concepts! Everyone wants to achieve love of Godhead but does not have an answer how.
This statement of Maharaj should resound everywhere “To the degree we make that ideal a priority in life, to that degree we realize it quickly.”
We all want Krishna, but we fail to give Him the topmost priority.
Thank you so much Maharaj for your ever-enlightening answers even to the impossible questions.
trachings of maharaj are simply amazing…
So wonderfully explained as to how to be in your current situation and still progress spiritually by your consciousness. Thank you for sharing and giving us hope.
To develop love for God, you do not have to give up school; you do not have to give up family. You just have to make the purpose behind these responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God. And that becomes natural when we are in association with people who are already doing that.
Thank you for revealing the true meaning of surrender
Excellent insights.
In this age of quick & quicker, this makes perfect sense! also great examples of personalities!
very true, if one wants to achieve results very quickly for some thing, then we have to make that thing the first priority in our life.
Maharaj has explained in a very simple term how we can advance in our Bhakti and fulfill our responsibilities too.
thank you Maharaj
thank you maharaj
Inspiring post.
very nicely Maharaj has explained the true meaning of Krishna’s words in Bhagavat Gita. we should remember Krishna in each activity
It gives us hope that in spite of being in grahasthashram, we can still progress rapidly in spiritual life. thank you Maharaj.
True. And we get the strength to make Krsna the first priority in life by seeing someone like HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj who has made that choice.
All Glories To H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj.
These questions though will bother us time and again, only seriousness and an earnest attempt will help us make spirituality the priority.
Hare Krishna.
very lucidly explained the need of prioritizing the choice, thank you radhanath swami,
Such a wonderful question and answer.
very inspiring article….
Thank you Maharaj, all may doubts are cleared at one stroke.
Amazing article. very useful to understand the right attitude in spiritual life. Thank you very much Radhanath Swami Maharaj
1st prority in life is to love the Lord – wonderul!
A priority in ones life.Nice article!
Wonderful article thank you very much
A very lucid explanation of a spiritual perspective. When we take to spirituality it doesnt mean renouncing our responsibility and become an ascetic, but simply making the goal of our life as serving God.
A very beautiful explanation.
Srila Radhanath Swami answers everything so simply & directly with no ambiguity !
The topmost priority is our life should be Krishna Consciousness !
Thank you very much !
Hare Krishna !
HH Radhanath Swami has given such a simple explanation of how anyone can imbibe spirituality in his life.
How it is very important to review our priorities if they are different than how it is mentioned in the narrative above.
Spirituality above all is something that should be the guiding principle of our life and see how the transformation happens.
i had never thought like that
Radhanath Swami ki Jai, Hari Bol
very nice
This is really very inspiring article. Thank you very much Radhanath Swami Mahraj
Give up separate motives****
really, maharaj explains very wonderful & heart melting way the fact & philosophy about life. thank you maharaj!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Radhanath Swami Maharaj for enlightening us
Such a wonderful point – One needs to do perform his duties as a service to GOD rather than greed and exploitation.
Thank you Radhanath Swami for the crash course in how to attain love of God!
All doubts are cleared
It is so important to make the right priorities. Surrender to the Lordship and following the tenets of philosophy under the guidance of a Guru will only help us realise this truth easier.
Very Interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Such a complex understanding made so easy by HH RNSM. Wonderfullllll
Hare Krishna
All Glories to Srila Radhanath Swami
Thank you very much Maharaj
practical answer.thank you maharaj.
To attain love for GOD should be top most priority !
Wonderful answer.
Krishna sees our sincerity
Very nice article.Thank you very much
Maharaj emphasis the spirit of service rather than spirit of greed.
Very inspiring article.Thank you very much
Very inspiring article. That also explains the importance of association of devotees.
very nice article. Thank you very much
“You just have to make the purpose behind responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God. And that becomes natural when we are in association with people who are already doing that.” Thank you very much for this wonderful teaching.
This explanation gives hope for any person to progress spiritually. Thank you Maharaj for this assurance.
Thank you for sharing such a brilliant point by Radhanath Swami.
Amazing! Renounce greed, lust, pride & envy not family and orient responsibility towards loving God by being in association of such people. Rapid progress for sure.
It is raelly amazing how Radhanath Swami makes everyone comfortable so that they can practice spiritual life. He has read and understood the essence of the Vedic literatures to his very core of his heart.
Radhanath swami make things so simple
So to develop love for God, you do not have to give up school; you do not have to give up family. You just have to make the purpose behind these responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God. And that becomes natural when we are in association with people who are already doing that.Very Nicly explained by Radhanath Maharaj ! Hare Krsna !
Very hope giving article for Grihastas like us!
wonderful one.
Thank you Radhanath Swami for giving us a practical way of loving God.
So nicely explained by Radhanath Maharaj.We do not have to give up our activities rather we have to add krsna in those activities.hare Krsna !
Very Inspiring article!
How nicely explained. “We have to do evrything in a spirit of service rather than a spirit of greed and exploitation”
Very nice and important question with very easy and inspiring answer.
Thank you very much.
amazing reply. we musrt understand the need to make it our 1st priority to achieve it fast
Radhanath Swami Maharaj gives us hope!
“To develop love for God, you do not have to give up school; you do not have to give up family. You just have to make the purpose behind these responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God. And that becomes natural when we are in association with people who are already doing that.” The essence is talked so that everybody can follow and practice. All glories to H.H Radhanath swami Maharaj.
Thank you for the wonderful answer. It gives so much hope for us grihasthas that we can also progress rapidly in spiritual life.
All glories to Srila Radhanath Swami Maharaj.
It depends on the purpose in which everything is done.
It depends on the intention in which everything is done.
This is one of the most needed articles to be read over and over again.
very practical answer from Radhanath Maharaj -Make the purpose behind our life’s responsibilities one with the purpose of loving Godand for these association with the devotees is must.
“So to develop love for God, you do not have to give up school; you do not have to give up family. You just have to make the purpose behind these responsibilities one with the purpose of loving God. And that becomes natural when we are in association with people who are already doing that”. Thank you Radhanath Swami for giving us lot of hope to pursue Krishna Consciousness.
V nice answer by Radhanath Swami.
Thank you Radhanath Swami for putting light on true perspective of renunciation !
Knowledge with faith is so important. This is one of the open questions which i always used to have – why when Supreme lord gave everything in the BG about the purpose of life, nature, karma, demigods etc why people don`t have faith and understand this..If we just surrender to lord and act on his wills we will make our life successful
Very practical reply by Swamiji….
Arjuna renounced greed , renounced envy …pride .. lust etc .. Arjuna made Krishna the priority in his life .. he did not give up his occupation or domestic duties but for the love and service for Lord Krishna .. he surrendered.. we should also follow in the footsteps of Arjuna.