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Exemplifying Tolerance
March 21, 2011  |  radhanath-swami

At Kandahar, Mr Hariz hosted Richard (now Radhanath Swami). Once while having a philosophical discussion with him, Richard noticed Hariz howl like a wolf and a mongoose crawled into the terrace and soon crawled up to Richard’s long hair and went to sleep. Hariz apologized but said if Richard were to try to wake up the mongoose, he would tear his head to shreds. Richard spent six hours hosting the mongoose; it was a hard lesson in patience and tolerance. The pain was intense but he couldn’t afford to sleep. Richard spent the night praying and realized the mongoose was teaching the sacred virtue of patience and forbearance. Radhanath Swami writes that the lesson the mongoose taught would give him strength in the hard times that awaited him in his search for enlightenment. Finally when the sun rose, the mongoose crawled down the back and stared at Richard with an innocent affection as if thanking him for his hospitality.

There is a wise Indian saying, ‘atmavat manyate jajat’, the world is a reflection of our own state of consciousness. Since Radhanath Swami is naturally grateful and kind, he could also see the mongoose express gratitude. Radhanath Swami also learnt the need to be tolerant in the company of the mongoose. The way Radhanath Swami built his community of dedicated members at Mumbai is a classic example of his tolerance. The community premises where Radhanath Swami lived in the late 1980’s was poverty stricken. The neighborhood was noisy; he had rats- the size even cats would fear- for company. Even by Indian standards, the place was disgustingly dirty; yet Radhanath Swami- an American by birth- lived here happily chanting the names of God and influencing others through his sterling qualities of tolerance and patience. Radhanath Swami is constantly absorbed in selfless service; hence he easily transcends physical surroundings.

On one occasion after a long and tiring day, Radhanath Swami rested late at night, yet although he was sick, he was up for the morning temple services. A student unable to see his guru, Radhanath Swami’s physical illness, requested him to go and take rest. Radhanath Swami smiled and replied, “I feel unhappy if I do not make it for the morning programme.” The student replied, “But I feel unhappy to see you come for the services when you are sick. And I feel happy when I see you not come, because I know that you are taking a well-deserved rest.” Radhanath Swami immediately laughed aloud and said, “Thank you for your concern but it’s better that you feel unhappy rather than I feel unhappy.” The student was defeated. Radhanath Swami disregards his bodily sickness to come for the morning services, just so that he can inspire his younger students to practice strict spiritual standards.

Even for his householder students and disciples, Radhanath Swami emphasizes that the focus and center of their relationship should be to create a favorable environment to chant the holy names of God and selflessly serve each other. But Radhanath Swami clarifies that in order to do that, each of them has to cultivate affection and care and especially tolerance of each other. Radhanath Swami says in modern times tolerance is the most required quality for married couples because, “By the nature of this age when two false egos come together there is bound to be conflict. There will be disagreements misunderstandings as time goes on; certain things about each other will be disgusting. The sanctity of the marriage will be based on how partners in a marriage don’t take these differences very seriously.”

Since Radhanath Swami himself practices the highest standards of tolerance and patience, his realizations on this subject penetrate the heart deeply.

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96 Comments


  1. How Radhanath Swami stretches himself just to please his students is very much evident from this blog

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  2. Everything is connected with being able to chant well, to create a favourable environment where everyone can chant together.

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  3. Radhanath Swami always stresses on being ‘tolerant than a tree’ without any want of self respect, being respectful to others. He practices it all the more.

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  4. thank you very much for the article

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  5. krishna daya das

    article stresses nicely the importance of tolerance especially amongst devotees who are staying close.

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  6. Wow! this was one terrifying experience, but the way Radhanath Swami describe it, it was also hilarious!

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  7. Madana Kishore Das

    It is so true that when false ego’s clash that the only way out is tolerance like Maharaj said. Thank you for this wonderful lesson.

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  8. superb understanding
    thanks for sharing

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  9. thank u for sharing of maharaj wonderful pastimes and instructions

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  10. Arjun K Ramachandra

    Thank you for helping me understand the utmost need of tolerance, especially in a relationship like marriage where two false ego’s come together. I especially liked the statement by Radhanath Swami “The sanctity of the marriage will be based on how partners in a marriage don’t take these differences very seriously”.

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  11. Nice post

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  12. usually our perception tolerance/patience means to bear with something for few mins. Here Radhanath Swami had to sit without moving for 6 hrs + sacrificing his sleep – something that is not at all easy!

    however he still remains grateful and learns from the experience!

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  13. Santipur Nath Das

    very good article. thank you

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  14. Nice art work too 🙂

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  15. Thank you Radhanath Swami for glorifying the quality of tolerance.

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  16. Excellent article on Tolerance.

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  17. Thanks for sharing!

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  18. Very instructive. Thank you very much Radhanath Swami.
    Radhanath Swami:
    “I realized that for any relationship to develop in this world there must be forgiveness, there must be patience and tolerance, there must be a certain selflessness of adjusting to show respect and honor to each other.”

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  19. Radhanath Swami Maharaj explains the importance of tolerance.

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  20. Learning to be tolerant in the company of a mongoose, and finally the mongoose thanked Radhanath Swami.

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  21. Through his tolerance, Radhanath Swami has inspired many souls to engage in devotional service which is the rarest of the rare in this world at this time.

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  22. Sanjiv Chandnani

    Radhanath swami is teaching us so much from his words and from his exampl.e

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  23. Visualizing these events in Radhanath Swami’s life makes us wonder just how unique he is. And it’s so nice of him to share all this treasure with us.

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  24. Radhanath Swami has an amazing level of endurance. If the society at large learns to practice tolerance like he does, than most of the social problems across the globe will simply disappear.

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  25. Tolerance is one of the 26 qualities of devotees and emphasised by many acaryas. Radhanath Swami is teaching this quality to so many people by his on practice.

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  26. wonderful, thanks for sharing

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  27. thanks to Radhanath swami for the wonderful words of wisdom.

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  28. Shoba Ramachandran

    Reading about the wonderful qualities exhibited and practiced by HH Radhanath Swami inspires me to follow his teachings sincerely. But due to so much conditionings, I’m not able to do so. I sincerely pray at the lotus feet of HH Radhanath Swami to bless me with the spiritual strength.

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  29. Maharah has demonstrated all the qualities through his own behaviour. This inspires readers and his followers to follow the path of great sage. Here Maharaj teaches us lessons of tolerance and humbleness just to take care of others. Thank you Maharaj.

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  30. Very instructive incident. Thank you Radhanath Swami for teaching us by your own examples.

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  31. Hare Krsna. Radhanath Swami Maharaj is truly lives exemplary life. He leads by example.

    Radhanath Swami Maharaj ki jaiii.

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  32. Radhanath Swami Maharaj is tolerance personified.

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  33. The beauty of Radhanath Swami is that he saw even such a trying experience as the grace of God. Amazing. I have so much to learn from Radhanath Swami.

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  34. Material world is full of tolerating the miseries

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  35. Very informative article…..so many lessons to learn from this article & from Swamiji’s personal qualities……

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  36. thank you very much for this article

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  37. Yogita Jagannathan

    Just a small article like this is packed with so many invaluable lessons on life. Radhanath Swami’s own qualities of patience, tolerance, gratitude etc make his teachings on the subject transform our hearts forever.

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  38. A very powerful entry.It gives one all types of lessons that one must get in his/her life to perfect his/her life in this small article.Thank you very much for sharing with us.

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  39. It may be possible to tolerate under life-threatening conditions, but generally one comes out with a feeling of hatred and is vengeful. But Radhanath Swami really exemplifies tolerance because not only does he tolerate but also learns from the difficult situation and is actually grateful to the person (or animal) who has subjected him to such prolonged agonizing experience.

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  40. Qualities can be learnt by taking inspiration from those who possess them – like Radhanath Swami.

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  41. Radhanath Swami is institution himself where anyone can learn a lot.

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  42. Radhanath Swami is indeed the personification of virtue & tolerance

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  43. Radhanath Swami perfectly exemplifies how one should overcome tolerance. It was thrilling while reading this incident in Swamiji’s autobiography. Please do share such snippets in the future.

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  44. HH Radhanath Swami has established the quality of tolerance by setting an example for all of us.

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  45. Radhanath Swami inspires people by example. That is why Krishna empowers Him and manifests through his words.

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  46. thanks for sharing

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  47. Shyam Bihari Das

    This is a very nice lesson on tolerance. This is something I intend to work on and cultivate within my life, with the blessings of HH Radhanath swami.

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  48. Radhanath Swami Maharaj’s tolerance is historical!

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  49. This is an excellent articel especially for newly married couples – to tolerate & understand each other.

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  50. Tolerance is a great virtue in any relationships.Who else can teach tolerance better than HH Radhanath Maharaj? A devotee’s spiritual advancement is directly proportional to his level of tolerance.

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