By Mahatma das
I happily and enthusiastically welcome the holy names every japa session.
I easily chant my prescribed number of rounds with focus and attention.
When I chant, I chant.
I get to chant, I want to chant, and I love to chant.
I treat the maha-mantra as Radha and Krsna, fully present in sound.
I receive and feel Krsna’s presence, mercy and love in His holy names.
I chant in full awareness that the holy name is my greatest treasure.
I chant to please Radha and Krsna, not to gain anything material.
I am out of my mind and in my heart, fully present to the holy names as I chant my rounds.
I fully honour my sacred relationship with the holy names during japa.
I chant to be accepted by Krsna, and to repair my broken relationship with Him.
I chant from my heart, feelingly praying to come closer to Krsna.
I meditate on the meaning of the names as I chant.
I turn off my world and turn on Krsna’s world when I chant my rounds.
I chant with no other motive than to render pure devotional service.
My beads are my connection with Krsna and my ticket back to Godhead.
I am totally dependent on guru and Krsna to chant quality japa.
I organize my life to make japa the most important activity of my day.
I relish chanting the holy names.
Of the many articles you have contributed lately to Dandavats, this is by far the most
simple and inspiring for me. I believe that with this, Prabhu, you have lived up to your initiated name…Mahatma das, It has touched my soul. Pusta Krishna das
Thank you Mahatma Prabhu for your good will and endeavours to help and assist devotees, as per their individual need, so that they may keep making further progress along the spiritual path, and not feel discouraged, especially while facing obstacles and internal difficulties.
This is much needed, especially in a benevolent spirit and in a personal way, as philosophy also needs to be translated into merciful concern and kind words of support.
In regards to the above japa affirmations, we appreciate your wishful thinking and desire to develop a positive attitude towards “performing” japa…
However, I would personally not encourage you, if I may (being your junior), to overly use psychological techniques, such as the autosuggestion method.
Indeed, it is symptomatic that every above line starts with “I”.
Thus, these positive affirmations still draw a limit to how much “I” can think and feel that “I” am the doer…!
Hence, in a deeper sense, we should beware the misunderstanding according to which we can manipulate and be in control of the Holy Name…!
“I” think that and “I” will do like this, …!
Rather, with all humility at our command, we should prepare ourselves to hopefully become appropriate recipients of Krishna’s mercy so that the Holy Name may manifest Himself through us.
In that regard, let us not forget that the Holy Name descends from the spiritual world:
Golokera prema dhana, Harinama Sankirtana
The Holy Name is Krishna Himself.
So, in my menial experience, it is more a matter of getting ready to welcome the Holy Names and have Them manifest on our tongue and in our heart, rather than being in control.
In that regard, Srila Prabhupada refers to Krishna dancing on our tongue in the form of His Holy Name!
Kali-yuge Nama rupa, Krishna Avatara
In the Kali-yuga, Krishna descends in the form of His Holy Name
prabhu tumi jivera mangala cinta kori
kali-yuge nama-sange svayam avatari
“Thus the Lord, considering the welfare of the living entities, descended in Kali-yuga as Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu along with the Hare Krishna maha mantra to propagate the yuga-dharma. (Harinama cintamani)
So, in the footsteps of Srila Haridasa Thakur and our Acaryas, isn’t it more a matter of becoming proper recipients of Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga’s mercy, so that we may properly welcome Sri-Sri Radha-Krishna Nama and allow them to manifest within us and express Themselves purely in the form of suddha Nama…?
There is an element of “I”-ness in Krishna consciousness. Eko Bahunam Yo Vidhadhati kaman.
The Supreme Lord is the ultimate Permitter with regard to all the desires of the jiva-souls. Hankering for Krishna is desirable. While in the spiritual realm, Krishna is existing and the jiva-souls are both existing, with the jiva-souls absorbed in love for Krishna. The jiva souls are forgetful of themselves in the sense that their being is filled with ecstatic loving service with Krishna. Indeed, Krishna Himself in the Bhagavad Gita, tushyanti ca ramanti ca, the devotees of the Lord take get pleasure in, and the Lord takes great pleasure in the discussions of Krishna. He is the reservoir of pleasure, and He is also giving pleasure to the jiva souls who will accept that joy coming from Krishna, like the Cakora bird will drink water from the cloud. So long as the jiva souls does not mistake themselves to be the “center”, there is full joy that can be experienced by the jiva souls, in their Krishna conscious devotional service.
Indeed, as Puskaraksha das has said, we are appealing for the Lord to dance on our tongues in the form of the Holy Names.
Pusta Krishna das
…/…
“I can’t give any proper description of this. I came to take shelter of Him (maha-mantra) and accept Him as my guardian; now at His hand I am being dealt with in such a merciless and despotic way.
Still, I feel that everything is very pleasing, beyond my experience. What is this? I can’t resist anymore. I am fully captured. Let my fate go anywhere. I can’t come out. I am a captive in the hand of a sweet friend (maha-mantra); my whole independence is gone. There is no way left to me but to surrender. I am unable to describe my real position.
I find that He’s (Krishna in the form of the maha-mantra) an autocrat. Whatever He likes, He will do. Since it is not possible for me to give any resistance, I must surrender. Let me also cooperate with whatever He is pleased to do. Otherwise I find that the sweetness of the maha-mantra is condensed like a blossoming flower, and very wonderful streams of sweet current are flowing from it. The maha-mantra contains so many sweet variegated forms of current within Him, and He is wonderfully expressing Himself in different ways. Sometimes He emanates a peculiar type of color and figure, and disappears.
So many charming aspects are shown as if to my eyes within, and He (maha-mantra) forcibly takes me to surrender at the foot of that altar.
…
Then I find that chanting the maha-mantra gives me new encouragement, a new prospect, and new hope. Whatever we want, whatever is our internal demand, it is supplied by the maha-mantra. If we take the maha-mantra, all our internal hankerings will be fulfilled. It is eternal, it is the purest of the pure, and it is full of ecstasy.”
nama smarile rupa aise sange sange
rupa nama bhinna naya nace nana range
“When one remembers the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the transcendental form of the Lord Krishna appears in the heart and mind along with the chanting. When one realizes that the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and Krishna’s form are non-different, then the maha-mantra dances on the tongue enabling the chanter to taste a variety of ecstatic mellows at every second.”
(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura – Hari-nama-cintamani, Chapter 15)
Puskaraksa,
Your points are well taken and are true, but are half of the equation. Who does Krsna manifest his mercy to? One who is anxious to get it, one who is determine to find it, who “qualifies” for it, who reach out for it, all of which takes a great level of commitment and determination. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati explains.
“Unless we extend our best efforts earnestly, and qualify ourselves forthe Lord’s mercy, it is next to impossible that we can be rescued from our fallen condition.”
So what you say it indeed correct but it needs to be balanced with our effort. Either faith only in our own effort, or complete faith in mercy without effort are imbalanced approaches, imho.
The Avanti Brahmana says, “I will cross over the ocean of nescience.” Why is he affirming this? Because the process works and he know if he follows the process he will be successful.
BTW, many devotees have told me the mantra, “I love to chant, I get to chant and I want to chant” have altered their approach to the holy name. Negative psychology can have negative impact on chanting.
I am very aware of the dangers of modern psychology in its putting emphasis on ourselves as the doer and our need, as devotees, to be well aware that Krsna is the one helping us do everything. But he reciprocates according to our need and desire. So when we say I enthusiastically chant the holy names, we can see this as a prayer saying, Krsna, help me to enthusiastically chant because this is my desire.
Hare Krishna,
Mahatma Das
Note: Mahatma das answers my first comment and this comes before #4:
As one gradually realises the nature of Krishna Nama, who is apauruseya, rather than being in a mood of being the doer, one will witness how the Holy Name appears by His own sweet will and what He is capable of doing to us.
The following is the translation of a song from Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Sharanagati:
“My heart is just like a desert, hot with the rays of the sun. This is my internal mental condition. The desire for mortal things cannot satisfy me because by nature they are death-producing. And not one or two, but thousands of such death-producing desires have taken shelter in my mind. So, my subconscious region is always burning. This is my condition.
But somehow, by the grace of the sadhu and guru, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra with its infinite prospect has entered through the holes of my ears and reached the plane of my heart. And there, with some peculiar hope, with infinite, auspicious possibilities, it touched my heart with a new kind of nectar.
New hope is aroused by that sound of the maha-mantra. Then by force it comes form the heart towards the tongue. Not that by the endeavor of my tongue I am producing that sound. No. What came from the heart of a pure saint through my ear, entered my heart, and that forcibly appeared on my tongue, and began to dance.
That is the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. It descends from above. It cannot be produced by the material tongue. It’s source is above. And through an agent of the absolute it comes through the ear to the heart. From the heart it gathers some sympathy, then the maha-mantra forcibly appears upon the tongue and begins to dance. With great force it comes to the end of the tongue, and that sweet sound begins its dancing.”
…
Sometimes the devotee thinks: I am beside myself. I can’t understand where I am. Where am I? What is this? What is all about me? It has almost made me mad. Am I a madman? Where is my past experience, my seriousness, my gravity, where are they? What am I? I have been converted wholesale by a foreign thing. I am a doll in the hands of a great force, which is also so affectionate to me. I can’t ascertain how it is possible that by my faith I have entered this great, unknown environment, not experienced before. And at last I find that I am captivated. My entire being, within and without, has been captured by a particularly sweet force. I can’t help being prey to such a sweet power.
This can become very mental; one can only chant if one has advanced emotions. Thus we do japa loudly, and we put a bucket on the head. Thus, we don’t have to exert our vocal cords too much, we don’t disturb other chanters with our kirtana/japa, and we don’t hear any sound of the world around us. This is forceful meditation; we don’t have to endeavor to fix the mind on the sound; automatically all else then the Name gets no place.
There is a pramana; “The recommended method is chanting loudly and hearing Hare Krsna. Then, even if the
mind is diverted, it will be forced to concentrate on the sound vibration “Krsna.” It isn’t necessary to withdraw the mind from everything; it will automatically be withdrawn, because it will be concentrated on the sound vibration. (PoP 5: Determination and Steadiness in Yoga)
And, there is one gosvami in our line chanting japa under a topsyturvied boat. What the learned think of this. It works fine.
The Supreme Lord is surely nondifferent from the sound of His Name. Although we are also constantly practicing to take full shelter of the Mahamantra by actively taking shelter of Him while also not chasing the fickle mind, we do not have to be anxious for our own salvation. Krishna is all-merciful, otherwise we are lost. I cannot say personally what is right for another person, but in the days of Srila Prabhupad, many times it was brought up that when ladies are chanting japa in the temple room and a man is trying to concentrate on the Names, Srila Prabhupad discouraged individuals from being distracted by the sound of others chanting japa, even they may be women. It is good to have confidence in the instructions and guidance of Srila Prabhupad. There must be deeper principles that we are not aware of, nor can appreciate in our early stages of spiritual practice. Sure, we have seen babajis in huts in Vrindaban and elsewhere, but this practice was not encouraged by Srila Prabhupad. Persevere and perhaps one will find that steadiness comes from a higher place than our our defective constitution. The issues are worth considering from all sides, no doubt. Respectfully, Pusta Krishna das