A lesson from his life as a monk….
If you see the whole picture little parts can be adjusted, but if you don’t see the whole picture one little part can create chaos.—Radhanath Swami
According to all the scriptures of the world, at the very centre of the whole picture of marital relationship is a higher principle: to help each other in loving God, in serving God, and in serving humanity. Keeping in view this higher principle, both the husband and wife can easily adjust and go on with their marital relationship.
In the 1970’s Radhanath Swami lived in an austere Ashram (monastery) on a mountain top in West Virginia. At that time, how this relationship tip of ‘seeing the whole picture’ helped him maintain friendship with another monk, Radhanath Swami explains, “When I first came to live in an Ashram there was a person, he joined after me but became my authority. There was nothing about him that I liked, and even more important, there was nothing about me that he liked. I was thinking that if weren’t in that Ashram I would never want to do anything with that kind of a person, and I knew that he felt exactly the same way about me. But somehow, we were milking cows together; we milked the same cow, one on each side of the cow. Despite our differences we both accepted in our hearts that the higher principle of our relationship is to help each other to love God, to serve God, to serve humanity, and to follow the path that would purify our hearts. That was the higher principle and everything else we somehow just tolerated. Because we focused on that principle within a year we became best friends for the rest of our lives. We were so absolutely loyal, faithful and helpful to each other. I saw no faults in him anymore and he saw no faults in me. We were serving together practically all day, every day.”
17 replies on “See the Whole Picture”
Thank you Radhanath swami for explaining so beautifully how it important to understand that the higher principle in our life’s is to help each other to love God, to serve God, to serve humanity and to follow the path that would purify our hearts.
This Is One Of The Best Personal Experience Of Radhanath Swami, Which Is Shared By Him. This Will Definitely Help Others To Resolve All Complications Or Anxieties Of Life.
Actions speak louder than the words. Radhantha Swami is an exemplary for Tolerance, Appreciation and Love. All glories to Radhanatha Swami.
Maharaj! You are like an open book. Very transparent. Your life is a reference book for us. Thanks for sharing this article.
Radhanath Swami glorifies the virtues of tolerance and humilty beyond all, and in no small terms. He does so by practically illustrating it in action in his personal life.
Maharaj explains very nicely about how to tolerate the people even if we don;t like them.thank you maharaj!
If you see the whole picture little parts can be adjusted, but if you don’t see the whole picture one little part can create chaos.—Radhanath Swami
My tske away point from here
I sincerely thank maharaj for sharing these views. I can practically apply this in my life to resolve the conflicts.
most important thing to learn from this article- tolerate and cooperate
Who better an example than Radhanath Swami to teach us these lofty principles since he himself has displayed unimaginable levels of tolerance!
Radhanath swami demonstrates, that coming together for the service of God , despite differences amongst ourselves, is tthe highest principle.
Thank you Radhanath Swami for practically explaining this principle which is very difficult to put into practice.
Always a good job right here. Keep rolling on trhuogh.
Very inspiring.It will help us improve our service attitude in our devotional life.Thank you very much.
Great instruction to keep higher principle of helping others come closer to God as the center over my own petty mental concoctions or trifles based on selfishness and greed.
the best gift to Radhanath Swami would be to follow his footsteps, particularly in married life. Thank you Radhanath Swami for setting a lovely example and sharing it with us.
That is the magic of higher principle in married life..