Categories
Sensitivity

Sweaty Meditations with Radhanath Swami

I felt a bead of sweat crawl down my forehead. A chilly winter breeze whisked across the porch where I sat, dropping that bead onto my thighs. My meditation was distracted, and now that bead of sweat occupied my mind. How can I sweat when my body is still, in a lotus posture? I only held a string of prayer beads, nothing too heavy; I chanted a mantra, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, only in a soft murmur; and my mind had been more or less floating along with the sound of that mantra, no anxiety burdening it. Yet, I sweated. I was mystified.

My eyes still shut, my mind flashed back to a printed text in the Bhagavad Gita: “From wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the self.” And my mind swerved back into the mantra the next moment. But my body continued to sweat—until I was sweating like a pig.

This happened to me every morning during mantra meditation. I preferred to neglect this phenomenon, but the other monks who also meditated on the porch began to question me: what’s wrong? I had no answer, and I couldn’t care less to look for one. After all, I was now habituated to the sweating, and it didn’t disturb my meditation anymore.

During these days the temple hall on the first floor, where we sit and meditate daily, underwent renovation, and so we monks sat out with Radhanath Swami on the porch instead, during meditation. I always sat especially close to Radhanath Swami, to bathe in the aura of bhakti about him.

One day, amidst the meditation I opened my eyes to find Radhanath Swami staring at me. Before I could close them shut, Radhanath Swami gestured me to come close. I edged closer, dripping with sweat. “I appreciate your enthusiasm in mantra meditation,” he said as he smiled tightly. My ego ballooned as I savored the cooling sensation on my skin, caused by the evaporating perspiration. I silently thanked the mysterious watery guest that visited me in the stillness of the morning.

“But it looks crazy,” Radhanath Swami’s smile changed into a frown.  A heat wave gushed through my body–more perspiration. His next few statements I couldn’t fully register, my ego still recovering from a sudden blast. But I managed to catch the essence: even during our personal spiritual practices in bhakti yoga, we should be sensitive to our surroundings; a new person could be bewildered seeing someone strangely sweating during meditation and could be scared away from bhakti yoga. A bhakti yogi’s every activity should encourage others to tread the path of perfection, rather than discourage others or scare them away. Radhanath Swami closed with a gentle smile.

Radhanath Swami had enlightened me about a new dimension of responsibility of a bhakti yogi. Now I had to sit back and analyze what caused the perspiration. Soon I figured that perhaps I chanted the mantras too fast, and while focusing on every syllable that now came by quickly, I  tended to hold my body tight. So I slowed down my chant the next day, kept my body deliberately relaxed–and the perspiration never reoccurred.

–Siddeshwar Bhat

Related Posts:

114 replies on “Sweaty Meditations with Radhanath Swami”

HH Radhanath swami maharaj cares for every activity so that others will get inspired to bhakti-yoga as he says here…
A bhakti yogi’s every activity should encourage others to tread the path of perfection, rather than discourage others or scare them away.

Its very important to not present the purest spiritual principles sloppily and thus turning people away from happiness.

Radhanath Swami being the caring and compassionate person he is, time and again goes out of his way to comfort others, infact his care is full of concern and even the most insignificant thing doesn’t go unnoticed from his caring nature which culminates into good counsel.

My goodness! This is purely a different level of consciousness, understanding and realization. Whatever you do you must leave a favourable impression……

Radhanath Swami is the most practical teacher of balancing and preaching service to God. This story is amazing and there certainly could be many more. Who else could have meditated that we could scare people by showing off our austerities?

Radhanath Swami is so caring, not only for those who have taken up the process of spirituality but also for those who are likely to take up the process in future.

HH Radhanath Swami is right in saying that one’s own endeavour should not be misleading and a cause for misunderstanding.Uniqueness should not be presented in a way that turns others away.

His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj really care for each and everyone one. We get a lession to learn that if we practice Bhakti yoga , how should we behave, otherwise people will have a negative feelings about other too.

Thank you for sharing this experience of yours with Radhanath Swami. It is simply amazing !!

Very True, as a practicing devotee of Bhakti Yoga we should carry out all our activities in such a way that people are inspired to take this path.
Thank you for sharing your experience.

what an experience and how Radhanath Swami analysed the situation ina complete Krsna conscious manner encouraging at the same time pointing out the danger of “strange” behaviour.

Maharaj is so right. Our japa should encourage others. Thanks for sharing your experience.

This is the greatness of a person like Radhanath Swami that he thinks of even the last person possibly entering into bhakti practices

Radhanath Swami is so sensitive to each and every detail and whether it can be used in the Lod’s service.

This is simply amazing, Radhanath Maharaj has vision to look at all the finer points in practice of bhakti yoga.

Great saints like Radhanath Swami are so very sensitive to the needs of others. What an ordinary man would probably never think of, Radhanath Swami is always trying to speak, act and behave in such a way as to encourage others in their spiritual practices.

Prabhu is humbly revealing his encounters with maharaj for all of us to learn and imbibe. Thank you – I should be careful about every aspect of my behaviour so that others do not feel discouraged abt bahkti yoga. Many times we become so absorbed in our sadhana that our gestures frighten others.

Radhanath Swami deeply cares for his disciples. This is seen from the above incident wherein he is making us as devotees become minutely conscious of every aspect of Krsna consciousness, which will benefit us.

All GLories To H.H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

What an experience Prabhuji. Thanks for sharing.

Hare Krishna

The various ways of HH Radhanath Swami to various people in their spiritual lives are just amazing. Thanks for sharing this story.

Radhanath Swami taught by this story as how cautious we should be in practicing the spiritual path as it can affect the lives of others too.

Radhanath Swami Maharaj gives very important formula that to attract the newcomer for bhakti yoga, we should give all possible encouragements so that he will take it up enthusiatically and should not get disturbed due to our actions.
Also another nice point is how Radhanath Swami Maharaj deals in the situation is a manner to make it very effective.

Thanks a lot Prabhuji for sharing this very personal realization with HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj.