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Need for absorption in spiritual life
April 17, 2013  |  radhanath-swami

At the famous Kumbh Mela site, Richard (now Radhanath Swami) sat on the bank of river Yamuna and gazed at the sky.  Right then he saw a hawk dive into the waters and catch a fish. It all happened so fast and Richard reflected on how we are like that unsuspecting fish. We carry on with our lives unaware that any moment the hawk of fate may shake us from our situation and impose on us suffering, death and tragedies. Richard felt the lesson to learn is to go deeper in spiritual life. If the fish had been swimming deeper, the hawk wouldn’t have probably been able to catch him. Similarly if we are absorbed in our connection to God, we’ll be able to deal with sudden calamities with sobriety and a stable mind.

 

Radhanath Swami once gave the example of a boat in the ocean. A boat may be in the water but it cannot allow the water to enter the boat. Similarly we have to be in the ocean of this world but can’t allow the water like situations and problems of this world to affect us. Like the good boat we have to be in the world but not of the world. We can do that if our consciousness is fixed at the Lord’s holy names and form.

 

Radhanath Swami says we have to go deeper in our spiritual lives by connecting to God in the innermost chambers of our heart. He compares the heart to a palace with many rooms. In the centre of this palace of the heart there are private chambers. It is in these regions of the heart- the deep internal recesses- we keep our private life with separate desires. Our challenge therefore as spiritualists is to allow God to enter these chambers or give these chambers to God and allow him to access. Unfortunately for most of us these private chambers are locked and God can’t enter our innermost areas of the heart. Going deep in spiritual life essentially means opening this part of the heart for God. This is the toughest internal fight in our lives and if we can do that we enter a deep relationship with God.

 

Our position in this world is flickering like the fish in the water. It becomes all the more fragile because of our preoccupation with activities related to this body and material world. Radhanath Swami recommends that once we are absorbed in rendering services for God, we don’t have any time left for gratifying our senses. Therefore we have to be absorbed in practises of Bhakti yoga and give our mind no time for material pleasures. This is the formula recommended by Radhanath Swami for helping us be absorbed in spiritual life. The reason why we need to be absorbed in spiritual activities is our life is dependent on different swinging moods of our minds. Therefore we have to carefully observe the non-spiritual proposals of our mind and consciously choose ‘no’ as the answer to the distractions offered by it. This requires determination and also a higher taste by which we can easily say no to negative proposals of the mind. The higher taste comes from absorption in acts of spiritual services like chanting of God’s names, hearing about spiritual subject matters and rendering various kinds of services

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54 Comments


  1. Radhanath Swami recommends that once we are absorbed in rendering services for God, we don’t have any time left for gratifying our senses

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  2. Gokul Sundari Devi Dasi

    HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj Ji gies wonderful realizations that help us to progress on path of bhakti.Thank you so much Maharaj Ji.

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  3. Very wonderful!!!

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  4. Kalpana Kulkarni

    Very nice analogy of the hawk and the fish. We should also be engaged deeply in devotional service that we are not affected by Maya which strikes on the surface.

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  5. Wonderful article !!!

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  6. Nice instruction by HH Radhanath Swami, i.e., constantly be absorbed in chanting and hearing Krishna Katha, as otherwise it is very easy to become prey to material illusions.

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  7. “The higher taste comes from absorption in acts of spiritual services like chanting of God’s names, hearing about spiritual subject matters and rendering various kinds of services.”-Nice to know this!

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  8. Surely, we should go so deep in our spiritual lives that maya gets no chance to catch us in any circumstance. otherwise, if we get complacent, then the hawk of fate may anytime devour us. Thank you Maharaj!

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  9. SO many beautiful lessons taught by Swamiji in this sweet article…..thanks.

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  10. we have to go deeper in our spiritual lives by connecting to God in the innermost chambers of our heart.

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  11. The analogy of fish & hawk is so graphical that it makes us understand the article very easily……

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  12. Very inspiring, if we dont absord ourself in higher taste our condition will be like fish — if we dont absord in chanting lord names , associates with determined devotees, the chances to say no to negative thought would be less- means downfall

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  13. A very practical way given by Radhanath Swami to come over our mood swings and focus on values.

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  14. Radhanath Swami Ki Jai !

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  15. Hare krishna !! Radhanath Swami Maharaja is himself absorbed in the spiritual practices and that’s why he is able to demistify this difficult question on a practicle level.

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  16. Only by gaining higher taste can one be freed of the lower tastes.

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  17. Very nice lesson Radhanath Swami has given here. We have to have strong conviction for our spiritual practices.

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  18. We carry on with our lives unaware that any moment the hawk of fate may shake us from our situation and impose on us suffering, death and tragedies.

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  19. We should be engaged deep in devotional service to not be affected by Maya who strikes on the surface. Thanks for the beautiful analogy.

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  20. Like the good boat we have to be in the world but not of the world.

    This is such a nice analogy how to work in this world. Thanks to Radhanath Swami for this.

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  21. Herein Radhanath Swami tells us how is the nature of this world.There is danger at every step and we do not know when the lord of death would come and pick us from this world and where we will go in our next birth.Therefore it is very useful guidance herein by Radhanath Swami to remain absorbed in loving devotional service unto Supreme Personality Godhead Lord Sri Krishna who will ultimately helps us remember Him at the time of death.This is only the goal of human form of life.

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  22. Tallam Sita Ramaiah

    A beautiful analogy.”A boat may be in the water but it cannot allow the water to enter the boat. Similarly we have to be in the ocean of this world but can’t allow the water like situations and problems of this world to affect us. Like the good boat we have to be in the world but not of the world. We can do that if our consciousness is fixed at the Lord’s holy names and form.” We can learn so much from this.

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  23. Absorption is the very essence of Spiritual life.

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  24. Nice mediation by HH Radhanath Swami on how to keep our minds constantly engaged and abosrbed in glorifying Lord so that we don’t have any time for material pleasures.

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  25. Thank you Radhanath Swami for sharing this wonderful formula of “how to be in this world but not to be of this world”.

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  26. Wonderful thought provoking article…

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  27. Radhanath swami shares wonderful nectar here, wonderful realization.

    Specially following line gives how to be addicted to bhakti.

    “Therefore we have to be absorbed in practises of Bhakti yoga and give our mind no time for material pleasures.”

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  28. Absorption is the key thing in spiritual success!

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  29. Our mind needs absorption in something, better it is spiritual than anything else.

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  30. Absorption is the one word answer by HH Radhanath Swami for the question, what is Krishna Consciousness

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  31. Nice tips for absorption.

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  32. A meditation that needs to be in the forefront of our minds.

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  33. It will surely help me & all in there meditation.

    Thanks,

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  34. H H Radhanath Swami also says that absorption of the mind while chanting God’s names is all important

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  35. Swapnil Gaonkar

    Thank you Radhanath Swami for this important aspect of devotional service

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  36. Thank you for sharing this wonderfu; article :).

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  37. Thank you Radhanath swami for your practical tips to controlling the mind and engaging in activities beneficial to our spiritual life.

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  38. Its really very inspiring article. By being deeply connected to God inside deep chambers of our heart one can remain aloof from the material miseries and tribulations.
    Radhanath Swami shares very powerful examples.

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  39. “The higher taste comes from absorption in acts of spiritual services like chanting of God’s names, hearing about spiritual subject matters and rendering various kinds of services.” Devotinal service is invaluable.

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  40. Thank you Radhanath swami for this wonderful article.

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  41. If the fish had been swimming deeper, the hawk wouldn’t have probably been able to catch him. Similarly if we are absorbed in our connection to God, we’ll be able to deal with sudden calamities with sobriety and a stable mind.
    – Thank You Radhanath swami for this instruction

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  42. Radhanath Swami so nicely explains it hows through our free will we become absorbed in Krishna Consciousness and allow the lord to enter into the inner most chambers of our heart which we have locked due to our selfish desires.

    Thank you

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  43. A much needed message to hear for the flickering and attention-deficient mind.

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  44. We need to be absorbed somehow or other in the devotional practices we do.

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  45. wonderful article.Thank you Radhanath swami for this.

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  46. Definitely an enlightening read!

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  47. Very nice explaination by Radhanath swmai. ‘The higher taste comes from absorption in acts of spiritual services like chanting of God’s names, hearing about spiritual subject matters and rendering various kinds of services’

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  48. Swapnil Gaonkar

    Thank you Radhanath swami for sharing this inspiring and though provoking article.

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  49. Very true. Radhanath Swami has nicely explained, here that without having deeper connection with Lord, we will never get inner fulfillment.

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