Japa

From “Japa: Positive Thinking for Neophytes” in Among Friends, Volume 2 #4 (1994): HH Satsvarupa Das Goswami

“Japa is everyone’s favorite topic because all of us hope that by discussing our sadhana, we have a chance to improve. Often when I talk to devotees about chanting, I say the first stage of improvement is to become aware that we need improvement. Then we can feel regret for our bad habits. Narottama dasa Thakura and Bhaktivinoda Thakura have both described this regret with intense feelings.”

“Devotees once asked Srila Prabhupada about devotees who didn’t chant their rounds. ‘What is the position of such a person?’ Prabhupada replied, ‘He is an animal.’”

“Whatever we can do to improve we should do. Any idea we have about how to improve should be acted upon. Even little things, like taking nice care of our beads, can help. For example, Prabhupada regularly changed his bead bag so he would always have a clean one. We don’t wear the same dhoti or sari day after day. Similarly, we shouldn’t leave our beads in a dirty bead bag. Beads should not be put on the floor. Although these are external things, they can help.”

“We should never think, ‘My chanting is so bad that I don’t think my chanting will help me. I’ll try to please Krishna by some other service.’ We can do other services, but we should never minimize the chanting.”

“I really did get a second birth, a second life from Srila Prabhupada. That life started off nicely and it has continued nicely. Prabhupada planted the seed that I should be a devotee. Any aspirations I had to be a monk or a saintly person instantly bloomed. Maybe there was already something there from a past life, as he said, but my taking to Krishna consciousness was all due to his being so perfect in character. He represented Krishna and Krishna consciousness. For me it was perfect. I became one of his faithful sons. He gave me the work of earning money for him. He taught me to use everything in Krishna consciousness. That was my spiritual birth and childhood, and it was auspicious and healthy.”