Who is Great?

1 Posted by - February 5, 2013 - Radhanath Swami

Our beloved Spiritual Master in one of his books speaks a line which I consider to be so very important to be understood by all classes of human beings. This one line goes beyond all sectarianism. It is a universal principle. It talks about who is a great person.

People come to adore great people or envy great people. And people like to become great in their own way somehow or the other. But what actually is greatness? What are the actual qualities of a Mahatma or a great soul?

Is greatness to have a lot of money? Some of the most degraded people in the world are billionaires and millionaires. Even today we see very wealthy people funding terrorism and cruelty to innocent. Is that great? Is greatness fame?–being a good singer, being a great dancer, having a beautiful body, being very strong and athletic or being heroic. According to the universal principle of all spiritual paths – One’s greatness has to be estimated by one’s ability to tolerate provoking situations.

It is easy to make a show of being great but when you are challenged–when provoking situations face you–then is actually the test of the substance of your character. There are six enemies that exist within our own hearts and they are provoked by both circumstances within and without. What are those six enemies? Lust, envy, pride, anger, greed and illusion. A great personality is one who is able to tolerate these urges.