 |
| Source |
There’s only one reason we don’t enjoy chanting, and that’s because we aren’t chanting properly.
When I started chanting we would say this verse below together, after reciting the ten offences. Then we would all start chanting and go into our own worlds.
If one is infested with the ten offenses in the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, despite his endeavor to chant the holy name for many births, he will not get the love of Godhead that is the ultimate goal of this chanting. Adi 8.16
It’s an offences to chant inattentively and it’s also an offence to maintain material desires. Wanting our own enjoyment is close enough to a material desire, and obviously a wandering mind results in inattentiveness. So there are a couple of issues. But these are not reasons to stop chanting. It just means there’s a little work to be done.
Billions of people have wanted direct experience of God for thousands and thousands of years. History shows that it’s not a common experience and is not readily available ‘on tap’.
When we chant without offences, or even with diminished offences, we have a direct and unmistakable experience of Krishna, so it’s definitely worth investing in. Our return is proportional to our investment.
I can give you a tip from the third verse of Shikshatakam by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
“One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.”
When we think about being humble it’s in relation to something else. Usually we feel humble in front of a person who is greater than us in some regard. To feel humble in front of the Holy Name is to recognize that the Holy Name is Krishna Himself and it’s very hard not to feel humbled in front of the Lord. If we are invoking Krishna by chanting His name it’s not polite to be somewhere else in our mind. He is there, so we should be too, not thinking of a hundred other things that have nothing to do with Krishna. The Holy name is so kind that He doesn’t object, but we lose out because Krishna is there and we aren’t, so each mantra that goes by is a lost opportunity to be with Krishna. The mind is a brute no doubt, but speak to it kindly and ask it to please be with you while Krishna is present.
Our time and attention span is limited, but for the time we are chanting we must really try to be in the present with Krishna, not reviewing the past or contemplating the future.
Two things are needed to connect with Krishna. The Lord’s mercy and our ability to receive that mercy. Krishna has done His part and appeared in His name, so we have to work on our ability to receive that mercy.
I don’t know of another way other than practice and more practice, while being attentive to avoid the offences. We have to develop the right attitude and approach to Krishna and His Name. These are subtle aspects that have to come together in our consciousness for success. Chanting is so powerful that they will eventually align if we persevere, but we can make the process much quicker by consciously working on them, and again, humility is the key.
Krishna is so inconceivably great. Even Lord Brahma, who can create universes, is utterly bewildered by Krishna. What can we create? Usually just a mess of things. Yet we can be in the presence of Krishna. Is that not breath-taking?
We should try to plan our daily activities to support our chanting so that our consciousness is right as soon as we pick up our beads and no time is lost. It’s a precious time of the day, often the most precious time, so we want to use it to maximum effect.
Let us chant in a humble state of mind, fixed like a tree in the night, tolerant and patient, waiting for the sun to rise on the horizon and bathe us with warmth and light, for surely it will.
vande sri-krsna-caitanya-nityanandau sahoditau
gaudodaye puspavantau citrau sandau tamo-nudau
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto Sri Krsna Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, who are like the sun and moon. They have arisen simultaneously on the horizon of Gauda to dissipate the darkness of ignorance and thus wonderfully bestow benediction upon all." C.C. Adi 1.2.
Author
Murari Das is supporter of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada. He is preaching about Krishna consciousness and message of Bhagavad Gita.
Comments
Post a Comment