Radhanath Swami’s unconventional advice to us Bhaktivedanta Hospital leaders was, “Eat with the hospital staff in the same place where they eat, and the same food as they eat. Also, you should be seen mopping the floors and cleaning the toilets. The hospital staff will then be proud of their leaders.” While we discerned in it a brilliant management strategy, its application intrinsically required application of Radhanath Swami’s teachings: everyone is equal, as spirit souls, and it is humility, the bitter pill, that permits us to treat everyone equally.
We started, first with mopping. Every time we mopped, the mop felt like a scalpel that painfully operated on our hearts, wrenching off the tumor of ego. Nonetheless, we tolerated: it was all for the betterment of the work environment in the hospital, and of course, for our own spiritual welfare.
The next time we met Radhanath Swami, we reported, “We now mop the ground floor of the hospital.” Radhanath Swami replied, “What about the toilets?”
I got a message. Complacency is another tumor in the heart, but it’s invisible. It takes an expert spiritual surgeon like Radhanath Swami to wrench that off.
– Dr. Ajay Sankhe
154 replies on “Radhanath Swami’s Unconventional Advice”
Thanks Prabhu for sharing this…Maharaj teaches us through this example, how to be humble..and respect everyone.
His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj has always been guiding the devotees in the path of being humble and compassionate,.
HH Radhanath swami is personified humility. He practically practice and then teach us.
Thank you so much Maharaj.
Thank you Radhanath swami for giving us the message that we should treat every service and everyone equally.