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You can search through the full text of this book on the web at fiffp/7books google.comJAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK Satsvariipa dasa Goswami The Gita-nagari Press ‘Washington, DC.Readers interested in the subject matter Of this book are invited by the Giti-nagar Press ‘0 correspond with its Secretary. ‘The Giti-nigart Press 10310 Oaklyn Dr. Potomac, MD 20854 int Printing, 1982: 2,000 copes ‘Second Peiming, 1986: 500 copies ‘Spank, 195: 1/00 copie ©1982 by The Gie-ndgnt Pres All Rights Reserved Printed in Sinapore 1S8N0-9112339-3,Contents INTRODUCTION wt 1 © JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK = 3 2 © REFLECTIONS/ JAPA MEDITATIONS 21 3° THE TEN OFFENSES 75 4°JAPADIARY 101 5 © EPILOGUE: SIXTEEN PARAGRAPHS ON CHANTING — 127 ‘APPENDIX 1 + HARE KRSNA AND THE JESUS PRAYER 133 ‘APPENDIX 2 ¢ “IF THIS WERE MY LAST COLUMN..." 138 ‘APPENDIX 3 # LETTER TO SRILA PRABHUPADA 142 INDEX 145 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 157INTRODUCTION ‘THE ESSENCE of this little book is self-explanatory. But I would like to admit the limitations of Japa Reform Notebook and also suggest how devotees can best use it. In chanting the holy name of the Lord, there are three stages of development: the offensive stage, the clearing stage, and the transcendental stage. Srila Prabhupida describes these in the Teachings of Lord Caitanya: In the offensive stage one may desire all kinds of ‘material happiness, but in the second stage one becomes clear ofall material contamination. When one i situated on the transcendental stage, he attains the most coveted ppnition—the stage of loving God. Lord Caitanya taught that this isthe highest stage of perfection of human beings. Japa Reform Notebook concerns a devotee's struggles to free himself from offensive chanting. A critic may question the benefit of hearing from a neophyte who can describe only his ‘own experience in trying to surmount the lowest stage of chant- ing. But I am not alone in earnestly endeavoring to free myself from the unwanted habits described in this book. Advice on how to make genuine advancement in attentive chanting and in appreciation of the holy name will be relevant for many. ‘The Krsna consciousness movement is expanding throughout the world, and every day more people are adopting the chant- ing of Hare Krsna. Everyone should be eager to root out bad habits from the start. Lord Caitanya and His immediate followers, as well as our founder-dcarya, Srila Prabhupada, have already fully viiJAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK described the chanting of the holy name in pure love of God. Their statements and books will always remain as beacons to guide us tothe ultimate goal. Reading their realized statements and witnessing the potency of Srila Prabhupada’s pure chant- ing, we are confident in the existence of the highest stage of chanting in pure love of God. We are also convinced that chant- ing Hare Kreoa, even in the beginning stage, is itself the means to attain pure chanting. The instructions here stress the effort to improve one's quality of chanting. Critics may feel that I have emphasized too much the hard work required to chant. For example, I dwell ‘on such basic things as properly pronouncing the words and staying awake. Pure chanting, of course, is not attained mere- ly by technique but comes by the grace of God. Neither have I said that by hard work alone can a chanter attain pure love of God. Yet we must work to cure ourselves of offenses. ‘The Japa Reform Notebook is therefore an elementary book in Krsna consciousness. Its instructions are based on the authority of guru, astra, and sdhu. ‘Chanting Hare Krsna is not done in a vacuum. We have to chant within a whole lifetime of service in the Krena con- sciousness movement. Although I have given different instruc- tions about proper chanting, real advancement comes when Krona is pleased with us. He appears in the heart at His sweet will, and His appearance will be evoked by our becoming a devotee all around—not just a devotee of chanting sixteen rounds but also a devotee of the Vaignavas, a devotee of our spiritual master, a devotee who performs fixed-up service. Thave quoted as the epigraph for this book a statement by Srila Prabhupada, “Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s order to chant at least sixteen rounds is most itINTRODUCTION essential.” But in this same purport, in the very next paragraph, Srila Prabhupada stresses that we must also remember Krsna through our service: ‘One may sell books or enlist life members, or render some ‘other service, but these duties are not ordinary duties. ‘These duties serve as an impetus for remembering Krs0a. When one goes with a sankirtana party, or sells books, he naturally remembers that he is going to sell Krena’s books. In this way he is remembering Krsna. When one ‘goes to enlist a life member, he talks about Krsna and thereby remembers Him. Smartavyah satatart visnur vismartavyo na jatucit. The conclusion is that one must always actin such a way that he will always remember goa, and one must refrain from things that make him forget Kryna. These two principles form the basic background of Krana consciousness. By emphasizing the importance of japa, Ihope Ihave not given the impression that one can succeed in chanting without performing active service. The truth, rather, is that only when ‘we humbly engage in devotional service with our mind and all our senses—twenty-four hours a day—only then can we chant in such a state of consciousness as to evoke Krena’s blessings.1 JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOKeA 26 Second Avenue in 1966, His Divine ‘Grace Srila Prabhupada would personally lead us in kirtana as well as japa. After morning kirtana just before his lecture, he would order, “Chant one round.” Then he would finger his japa beads and chant Hare Krsna, Hare Kryna, Krona Krena, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. ‘And the assembled devotees, seated on the floor, would chant aloud their individual japa. used to both chant and finger the beads intently. One time, absorbed in this chanting and finger- ing, I looked up at Srila Prabhupada and was surprised to find him looking right at me with great concern. It seemed that he saw me, although a most fallen wretch, struggling intently to chant, and this caused him great compassion and concern. It seemed as if even he was awed at the mercy of the holy name. also remember my first chanting of japa in my apart- ‘ment around the corner from the temple. Fingering the beads and passing them through my hands gave me a sensation of ‘opulence and luxury. I felt like an ancient sédhw. I recall try- ing to chant clearly and intently. ‘Over the years, however, my japa became less distinct. More and more my attention would wander. I began to think cof other devotional duties I had to perform during the day. I neglected to carefully pronounce each word. Sometimes 1 ‘would attempt to reform the quality of my sixteen rounds, but ‘eventually the bad habits of unclear pronunciation and wander- ing attention would creep back in. Although I would preach 3JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK to other devotees, “It is an offense to be inattentive while chant- ing Hare Kryna,” I would repeatedly commit the offense myself. How many other offenses I committed due to the offense against the holy name (ndma aparadha), | cannot say. How much I slowed down my devotional growth, I do not know; but certainly it was not auspicious. But then I received anew the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krsna in the form of a Godbrother’s instructions on japa. I became determined to reform, to chant my japa pronounc- ing each word and syllable. My japa improved immediately. I then understood the chanting was most important and could not be neglected, I felt I was learning a crucial, confidential secret, although Srila Prabhupada is constantly repeating it, “Chant sixteen rounds and avoid the offenses in chanting.” It is a practice. It takes practice. Whatever you practice, the body ‘aan learn to do. Chant, chant, chant! ‘Most difficult is controlling the mind. But the chanting itself is intended to control the mind. So you must practice until you become expert, until you are perfectly pronouncing the holy names and controlling the mind. Maintain a fighting spirit. The mind ahoays wanders. The senses ahoays tend to drowze in the early morning hours. ‘Therefore, good japa is a matter of successfully combating these things. Like the example of steering a car: keeping control means keeping from going out of control—it is natural that the car heads off the road. You can expect difficulty after many years of offensive chanting. As Sri Krgpa says, “The mind isthe friend of the con- ditioned soul and his enemy as well. For him who has con- quered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest 4JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK enemy.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.5-6) As for controlling the mind while chanting japa: “It is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by constant practice and detachment.” (Bg. 6.34) Wherever the mind goes due to its restless, flickering nature, bring it back under the control of the higher self. You can only pray to Krena that, with prac- tice, sleep and inattentiveness will be overcome. Doing other things while chanting is not good. Still, sometimes out of expediency you do it. But you should try to put off so-called expedient actions until after chanting. Chant at a designated time and chant loudly. Let other things wait. If you acknowledge that your chanting is very poor and at the ‘same time you acknowledge that it's important to improve it, then you'll be much better qualified to chant and preach. If you have some basic dissatisfaction or worry, then chanting will be difficult. Try telling yourself, "Put this trou- ble aside. In these two hours, just tun to the name.” (Of course the mind is sometimes thinking of other things besides the sound of Krgna’s names, Then at least maintain the virtue of pronouncing the names clearly and of staying alert. ‘And if you cannot control the mind, then cry (like a child cries for its mother) to put the mind at the lotus feet of the holy name and taste the nectar of surrender to the name. ‘An unfortunate but common predicament: You are not crying to the holy name as a child cries for its mother. Who ‘can say he is completely free of this predicament? Why does it happen? One common reason is the mind's preoccupation with other things. But what about chanting Hare Krsna? Does it take devastation for you to cry out to the holy name Himself? But then when devastation comes, chanting will be especially difficult.JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK Why aren't we chanting in a helpless mood? Because we are clinging to material attachments. The last offense in chant- ing is to maintain material attachments (aharh mameti) even after understanding the chanting and hearing so many instruc- tions on spiritual life. It is engaging in spiritual life with our anchor out. That wedding party was rowing all a but becaue they il ad the anchor out, they i ot go ampere ‘The anchor is attachment to sense gratification. Srila Prabhu- ada said, “You can chant and chant for hundreds of years and not get the result, if you chant with the anchor out.” So much ‘work is done without result, because they are trying to pros- ‘cute spiritual duties while maintaining their sense gratifica- tion. We should be introspective, take apart these anarthas and rectify our situation to have an open road in our chanting of Hare Krsna—so we can go back to Godhead very quickly. ‘Nothing else is necessary in this age but to be a chanter of Hare Krsna. Inattention is a serious problem in chanting. As the non- devotee does not understand the value of human life or the urgency to be Krsna conscious, so a devotee sometimes does not fully understand the urgency and necessity of calling on the holy name. Then despite his theoretical acceptance of the principle of chanting Hare Krsna, he stubbornly deliberates on other things while uttering the holy name. Inattention then ex- plains why, when a devotee chants, tears do not come to his eyes, his voice does not choke up with the utterance ofthe holy name, and his hairs do not stand on end, and why he does not feel the world is all vacant without Krsna. “Unless a devotee actually develops transcendental love for the Lord, it is not possible for him to think always of the Lord within his heart.” 6JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK Lord Krena says in the Twelfth Chapter of the Gitd that you should always think of Him in spontaneous love. But if ‘you can't do that, then try to follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. And if you can’t do even that, then try to work for Krsna, and if you can't do that, then cultivate selfiess work, and if you can't do that, then cultivate knowledge. Lord Caitanya Mahiprabhu also advises that you give your whole life to Krsna, but if you cannot do that, then you should give your money, and if you cannot do that, then you should at least give your intelligence, and if you do not have intelligence, you should at least give your words. Similarly, for chanting japa, we can advise that a devotee should constantly cry out in full love of God, completely surrendering himself to the Lord, and tasting the nectar of ecstatic love of Krsna. But if you cannot do that, then cry out, “My dear Lord, Iam unable to sincerely cry out Your name in surrendered love. Please forgive me.” But we may have to admit that we cannot even cry out, sincerely about our inability to cry out in spontaneous love. What then? At least you should cry out, lamenting you! ability to even feel any inability: “My dear Lord, I am just a dull stone. I cannot chant Hare Krsna with any quality, only mechanically. I cannot even lament my inability.” Somehow or other, come out with an utterance, a cry. Do not remain a dull stone without feeling. Starting immediately from whatever point you are at (no matter how low), utter the available cry of your heart and go on from there. Chant feelingly. Of course, if at any given moment you do not chant feelingly, you cannot go back and start your rounds again. What can be done? Push on, but keep trying. Kick out with heavy boots the poisonous snakes of sleep and 7JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK ‘gross sensualism. Then cry like a child for its mother, calling ‘on the holy name, “O energy of God, O Krsna, please let me serve You.” King KulaSekhara’s advice is important for proper chant- ing. At the time of death, it will be difficult to chant due to ‘our physical condition. “Now that I am chanting in good health, let me die thinking of Krsna.” Of course we don't want to die now; we want to live to serve, But now while our ‘material minds and bodies are intact, we should chant in the ‘mood that this is our last precious chance to concentrate and to depend fully on the holy name. With this sober reflect you can drive out all auxiliary thoughts. Chant while you can. Bhismadeva also drove out all other thought at the time of his passing away. Schering over this and that, letting the mind wander—at the time of death you will be forced to give upall these thoughts. But do it now and save yourself for chant- ing. Such pure chanting can save the whole world. “O Radha, Krona, please engage met” ‘Mind-wandering and drowsiness continue to be the main ‘obstacles. The mind thinks over his latest schemes: “I can't put certain things aside and simply chant!” But analyzing them, I see the things my mind dwells on are not so important that they couldn't be suspended in favor of two and a half hours of concentrated japa. Put everything aside, and chant the holy name. You should have already had a good evening's rest; therefore, resist sleep. After fighting it off, you will get strength for japa. But if you yield to sleep, then your rounds may always bbe sleepy, poorly uttered, and inattentive, not just for one day but for months on end. The power of a bad habit is such that it may even become a bad habit for life, based on an illusion 8JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK that you cannot fight off sleep. You say, “What can I do? It has overpowered me!” But the japa-yajia is not a mere physical ‘exercise; it is dynamic and spiritual. Therefore, it contains force, and you can gain force if you resist the deadly under- tow of sleep and poorly uttered rounds. Japa is not a short burst but a long haul. One round after another, you have to enter gradually, deeply, into the mellows of the holy name—by numerical strength. It takes time. Keep chanting. ‘Chanting japa in the association of devotees helps. It’s too ‘embarrassing to fall asleep in their presence. But no extensive talking with your japa partners; only Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. . . . But you have to keep going. Two hours-plus can seem like a long haul if all you are doing is loudly repeating: Hare Krsna, Hare Krona, Krgna Krena, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, But you have to go on, go beyond, Push on, round after round without let-up. It seems hopeless to stop the mind's wandering, but at least let the other track (as in multiple-track tape recordings) con- tain the full, awake, articulated sound: Hare Krena, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Chant clearly, no matter what. Ad- mitting the impossibility of stopping all impure thoughts, at least always keep the sound track clear. Then I know whenever I switch back to chanting, pure sound will be there. By a flick of the mental switch, Ican be out of maya into japa. But how to keep the dial locked on the pure sound? This isthe good struggle. I spit at the bad thought. Get- ting back on the track a few moments, my mind as well as my voice and jaws moving to worship the holy name, take shelter 9JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK in the calling out the holy name—but then again slipping off (on another track, either some devotional service, or some mya not to be done. Is there a secret? I work my fingers over the beads, conscientiously chanting, saving my best time for the chanting, intellectually aware that chanting is the dharma for the age, preaching it asthe essence of Krena consciousness, and aware of my poor chanting. Hope against hope: maybe tomor- row will be better. “O Krsna, O Rama, O energy of the Lord, Hare, please ‘engage me in your service.” ‘But then I reached a plateau and I thought, “This is the vast intermediate zone. It stretches far and wide. It seems you ‘can go no further than the intermediate zone. You have stopped ‘committing the four sinful acts (previously you didn’t even ‘know they were sinful), and you are bound by a strong vow to chant sixteen rounds daily. But after making a certain amount of significant progress, even after being initiated by ‘a genuine spiritual master in parampard, after chanting for years, you are still inching along in the vast stretches of the intermediate zone.” So you have decided you can go no further? Is it modesty that prevents you from aspiring to pure love of God? No. You are afraid of giving up material life once and for all. “O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your name? When will ‘my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand con end at the recitation of Your name?” ‘When will the day come when I chant the holy names and not just “my rounds"? Meditating on “the second round,” "the third round,” and “the fourth round” is to mix the pure sound ‘of Krgna’s name with the thought of an ordinary number. One, 10JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. But these numbers are in themselves niyama-agraha—following the rules without realization. “Now I'm on the second round,” “Oh, this is the third round”—what kind of chanting and hearing is this? How often do you say, with foolish satisfaction, “I got ‘my rounds done,” ‘I finished chanting,” or “I did my rounds.” But did you chant as Lord Caitanya prays? No, you were too busy trying to stay awake, trying to keep your mind on the right track. Where was time for crying at the feet of the holy ‘name? You didn’t “finish chanting.” You haven't even started! Chant humbly and pray, for forgiveness for your offensive chanting and for a chance to improve. ‘We can get out of the offenses in the intermediate zone by being very sorry to be there. Be troubled, be bothered by it, Then you can reform. Even in the material world, reform comes out of intolerance at injustice. The reformer of labor conditions or champion for human rights—he demands reform. He protests and: goes on strike. He fights. ‘The holy name is the only way out of the material world. It is the specified mercy form of the Lord; if we neglect the holy name, we're neglecting Krsna Himself. How lamentable! IF do not take this mercy, I am worse than dead. Ihave know- ingly drunk poison. I have spent my life uselessly. "Why did ‘my attraction for that chanting never come about? Day and night my heart burns from the fire of the poison of worldliness, and I do not take the means to relieve it.” Am I just going to sit here and let this happen? The japa reformer fights against inattentive, offensive chanting. Inthe Padma Purdna itis stated that even a person whose [eis completely sinful willbe completely protected by the 1JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK Lord if he simply surrenders unto Him. So itis accepted that one who surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes freed from all sinful reactions. And even ‘when a person becomes an offender unto the Supreme Per- sonality of Godhead Himself, he can sill be delivered sim- ply by taking shelter of the holy names of the Lord. —The Nectar of Devotion ‘The name is not different from Krsna, but in this passage Raipa Gosvami makes a distinction. The Nectar of Devotion says that even if you offend the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you can still be delivered by the holy name. So what’ the difference? The nameis a very merciful appearance of Krsna. So easily you can associate with Krsna. Nothing special is required—no austerities or rituals. The name is Krsna; however, just as Lord Caitanya is Krena, but a very, very mer- ciful Krsna, so Krena becomes so merciful that if you approach Him in this form of the holy name, everything is forgiven. If you offend the Lord, you can stil be delivered simply by taking shelter of the holy names of the Lord—Hare Krsna, ‘Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsoa, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. In other words, the chanting of Hare Keyna is beneficial for eradicating all sins. But if one becomes an offender of the holy names of the Lord, then he has no chance of being delivered. There is, however, a way to be ex- ccused for offenses at the feet of the holy name. Srila Prabhupada writes: ‘While chanting the holy name of the Lord, one should be careful to avoid the ten offenses. From Sanat-kumara it is understood that even if a person is a severe offender in _many ways, he isfreed from offensive life if he takes shelter of the Lord's holy name. Indeed, if a human being is not 2JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK better than a two-legged animal, he will be berated if he takes shelter of the holy name of the Lord. One should, therefore, be very careful not to commit offenses at the lotus feet of the Lord’s name. —Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.23-24, purport Then Srila Prabhupada lists the ten offenses. In his purport he states the tenth offense a little differently: “Not to awaken transcendental attachment for the chanting of the holy name even after hearing all the scriptural injunctions.” If you are so dead that even after hearing all these instructions, receiving the holy name from your spiritual master, and practicing the chanting, if you still don't develop attachment for chanting the holy name—this is the tenth offense. Then Srila Prabhupada says: ‘There is no way to atone for any of these offenses. It is therefore recommended that an offender atthe feet ofthe holy name continue to chant the holy name twenty-four hours aday. Constant chanting ofthe holy name will make cone fee of offenses, and then he will gradually be elevated to the transcendental platform on which he can chant the pure holy name and thus become a lover of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is recommended that even if ‘one commits offenses one should continue chanting the holy name. In other words, the chanting ofthe holy name makes one offenseless. ‘The book Nama-kaumudt recommends that if one is an offender atthe lotus fet of a Vaisnava, he should sub- rit to that Vaisnava and be excused; similarly, if one is an offender in chanting the holy name, he should submit to the holy name and thus be freed from his offenses. One should be very humble and meek to offer one's desires and chant prayers composed in glorification of the holy name. 13JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK Here is the prayer Daksa made to Lord Siva (and that we can also make to the holy name for our offenses): | did not know the glories of your personality, and therefore committed an offense at your lotus feet in the open assembly. You are so kind, however, that you did not ac- ‘cept my offense. Instead, when I was falling down because of accusing you, you saved me by your merciful glance. Yu are most great. Kindly excuse me and be satisfied with your own exalted qualities. ‘And Rapa Gosvami prays in his Namastakam that one should be very humble and meek to offer one’s desires and chant prayers composed in glorification of the holy name: ‘© har-nma, the tips ofthe toes of Your lotus feet are con- stantly being worshiped by the glowing radiance emanating from the string of gems know as the Upanisads, the crown jewels ofthe Vedas. You are eternally adored by liberated ‘souls such as Narada and Sukadeva. O hari-nama, I take complete shelter of You These are the kind of verses with which you can pray to the holy name. If you make offenses to Hare Kryna, then it’s to Hare Krena that you must go for relief. You can't get forgiveness for your offenses to the holy name except from the holy name. Just like if you offend a person, then you have to approach that person for forgiveness of your offense. You have to actually feel remorse. Otherwise, we may say, “The cure for offensive chanting is to go on chanting.” But you have to chant with the desire to improve. This is your way back to Godhead, you have to do it right. If that awareness doesn't enter your mind and heart, then it will not be very easy to change, to reform. Ripa Gosvami has explained such reluctant chanting of 4JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK the neophyte. He compares such a chanter to a man with jaun- dice. To a man with jaundice everything tastes bitter. But the ‘cure of this jaundice disease isto regularly take the mast con- centrated sweet, like this rock candy. And even rock candy the jaundiced man tastes as bitter. But as he takes and takes, then gradually his normal taste returns, and he tastes the sugar as sweet. So Rapa Gosvami compares this to the neophyte’s ‘chanting of the holy name. He says that actually the holy name is the sweetest of al things. It is sweeter than any taste of the material world. The taste of success in material sense gratifica- tion is nothing compared to the taste of love of God by chant- ing Hare Krgna. But because the neophyte devotee is still affected by material desire, the sweet name to him is also ‘sometimes dry. But the cure is to regularly take this holy name, and that will return the spirit soul's original taste for chanting, the names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The spiritual master knows this science of chanting. He is lke a doctor to the ailing disciple and prescribes this chant- ing Hare Kryna so that the disciple can return to his normal health. By health we don’t mean bodily health, but the eternal state of health. The devotee can again attain his eternal spiritual body and be with Krsna in the spiritual world, That can be done by this chanting. So at this stage you have to have full faith in the order ofthe spiritual master and chant Hare Krsna, whether you are feeling ecstasy or whatever. Understand that Krsna is His name and that He has come to you in His name as a great kindness: "O my Lord, You have so kindly made approach to You easy by Your holy name.” ‘And then go to that person, Nama Prabhu, whom you have ‘offended, who is the only one who can save you, and ask forgiveness—by chanting. “There is nothing in the fourteen 15JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK worlds but the chanting of Hare Krsna,” says Bhaktivinoda ‘Thakura. Admitting I am chanting poorly —please consider me fallen before You—I beg to be reformed by chanting Ha-re Krona. Devotional service in the Krsna consciousness movement affords us many facilities to serve Krsna aside from the chant- ing of the holy names. This fact doesn't diminish the glory of the holy name, but enhances it, because the chanting is a key part of the whole devotional way of life. I had read about Christian monks who practiced solitary prayer, but they had no prasadam or Deity worship or lively Krsna kirtana. Nor did they have the benefit of such great, nectarean aciryas of the mellows of love of God like Sukadeva Gosvami, the six Gosvamis, and Srila Prabhupada. For the Christian monks the practice of chanting was a clinging to the name in a world they rather impersonally viewed as all illusion. ‘Wealso must utterly depend on the holy name, but at the same time our restless natures can be purified by the soothing rays of darsana of Their Lordships, Sri $ri Radha-Damodara, Sri Sri Radha-Govinda, Sri $ri Gaura-Nitai, and Lord Jagan- nitha. As Bhaktivinoda Thakura writes, “By taking the Lord's prasadam our senses are controlled . . . whenever I take the remnants of prasdidar I experience a new life.” Similarly, Srila Prabhupada has said we require both diet and medicine: the ‘medicine is chanting Hare Krsna, and the diet is prasadam. And the perfection of the eyes is to see the Deity, and the perfec- tion of the head is to bow before the Deity of the Lord. Moreover, we are fully engaging our body, mind, and senses in our pure devotional service, Sela Prabhapida writes in The Nectar of Devotion: 16JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK In the Skanda Purdna itis sad that those who are attached to ritualistic activities, the four orders of social life and the four orders of spiritual life are considered devotees. But when devotees are actually engaged in offering service to the Lord directly, these must be bhagavatas, pure devotees. Srila Prabhupada has also informed us in The Nectar of Devo- tion that the chance to engage in devotional service is beyond liberation: “A person who is constantly engaged in chanting, the holy name and who feels transcendental pleasure, being ‘engaged in devotional service, is never given just mukti.” (Adi Purdina) It is a cause for real rejoicing that Srila Prabhupida has siven us the full spiritual life in which to chant Hare Krsna. Dressed asa Vaisnava, with only devotees as friends, we chant. With expert guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, we chant Hare Krsna. While living in the temple (Vaikuntha), we chant. While traveling in a van on sartkirtana, we chant Hare Kren Before and after seeing the Deity, while taking carandmrta, worshiping Tulasi, hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam (the topmost science of God), we chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krona, Krena Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rima, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, And we are chanting the supreme name of God— KRSNA. Thousands of other names of God equal only one name of Krsna. Alll glories to Srila Prabhupida! Alll glories to the san- Kirtana movement! We do not have to chant alone in desperate doubt. We have the support of enormous armies in fighting off the demons. We are not chanting in a world of void. We have been given the full manifestation of spiritual reality in which to prosecute the dharma of the age. v7JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK Then, rise tiny spirit soul, in gratefulness, security, and protection—and chant, chant, chant. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Kesna Krena, Hare Hare/Hare Rima, Hare Rama, Rima Rama, Hare Hare. 182 REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONSCMecsesrara and I walking, chanting in beautiful twilight of Gitd-nigari. 1 am on my seventeenth round. I ask, “Is there anything you want to discuss?” He says no. I say, “Yes, the chanting is enough.” We go on walking through pre-spring mud: “Hare Krmna, Hare Krena, Krona Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.” I remember an old Zen story. Two monks walking in a forest. They hear nearby the loud roar of a lion. One of them breaks into laughter. The Zen story is incomplete realization, to say the least. You can laugh at death, at nothingness, at fear, at pain, at violence, at illusion—but the laugh or meditation ‘on nothingness won't actually help you. You will have to take another birth and again experience dualities. But, ante narayana-smrtih, your devotional service will be tested at the time of death. Practice to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Do not chant like the parrot who may learn to utter “Hare Krsna,” ‘but when grabbed at the throat cries, "Caw caw!” Prabhupada said practice so that when death comes you will chant Hare Krsna. “If one's heart does not change, tears do not flow from his eyes, his body does not shiver nor his hair stand on end as he chants the Hare Krsna mahi-mantra, it should be understood that his heart is as hard as iron. This is due to his, offenses at the lotus feet of the Lord's holy name.” This verse should not make us try to force or imitate this state, but it 21JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK should make us humble about our chanting. When we chant, does our heart change? Do tears flow, the body shiver? We ‘give warning again and again—don't try to bring this on, but see your humble position because this is not happening; the chanting is not first-class, due to offenses to the holy name. Chant heart and soul early in the morning and you will be prepared to take on all obstacles in the day. ‘We want to save ourselves and we want to propagate the holy name, and it's the holy name itself that will save us. Krsna will be pleased that we are chanting and pleased that we are distributing. Tsvara Puri advised Lord Caitanya, “My dear child, continue dancing, chanting, and performing saikirtana in association with devotees. Furthermore, go out and preach the value of chanting krsna-niéma, for by this process you will bbe able to deliver all fallen souls.” ‘You must think of chanting in terms of serving the spiritual master, not just as your own sadhana. I am thinking Srila Prabhupada has given me different responsibilities, and if 1 don't carry them out he will be displeased with me. Spiritual life rests on chanting. That's the main teaching, Chant Hare Krsna, chant sixteen rounds. So how can that not be thought of as service to the spiritual master? Sometimes the spiritual ‘master may find out, "Oh, some disciple, he is not chanting. What kind of a disciple is that? He promised he would chant. We are always stressing chant.” I can't advance in devotional service unless I chant. Therefore, it’s not just your sidhana, ‘but everything you do is to serve Krsna and the spiritual ‘master. Everything. That should be our dedication, that there is nothing apart. 2REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS. I think I would do better to ignore the mind's dwelling on a piece of dirt rather than keep holding it up for inspec- tion, exclaiming, “Gosh, it's still there; and again, look, still there; how persistently it stays! What a disease! Will l ever bbe rid of this before the time of death?” This is like too much of a challenge to the rascal mind. So let me try not to be so worried and instead turn my mind elsewhere, even though the piece of dirt (or mental thorn) remains. There is a Canakya loka which says that mental dirt cannot be cleaned away after hundreds of times of bathing in a sacred river. And yet the holy name, according to the Siksdstaka, can clean away the dirt accumulated for many lifetimes together. Today in the class in New York I was stressing that the devotees chant feeling a personal connection with their spiritual master. This in itself will help keep one's mind fixed on the holy name. Always remember that you promised your spiritual master to chant Hare Krsna without offenses, including the of- fense of inattentive chanting. It is a personal obligation, and ‘one should chant keeping the order of the spiritual master in ‘ind and therefore keeping the personal connection. Study sec- tions in the scriptures about the holy names, such as the chant- ing of Ajamila or Haridasa Thakura's instructions about the holy name or Lord Caitanya's descriptions in Aditi, Chapter Seven, about chanting the holy name under the direction of Ivara Puri. Then absorbing such things and realizing more the importance of the holy name, you should humbly chant with surrender. Attention means devotion also, You get better and better at it. Imagine doing something for years and not getting better 2BJAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK at it. What does that mean? Now I am getting a new servant fone after another. When they start, they don't know many things. Perhaps the servant will bring in the arati parapher- nalia without a conchshell. That's a big omission. I will tell him, “When you bring the drati paraphernalia, bring in the cconchshell.” “Oh, all right,” he will answer. So generally the follow- ing day he brings in the conchshell. At worst he may forget it two days in a row. But can you imagine somebody doing something for years and not doing the essentials? It could only mean he is very stupid, like an ass, or he is unconscious. ‘The main thing isto fix your mind on the sound of the chanting. As you strain and yearn to keep your attention fixed, this naturally brings a mood of devotion. This is the way you serve the holy name. Just as when cooking, if you try very hard ‘not to burn the preparation, to spice it nicely, and to keep it cooking nicely, then you express your devotion in this way. ‘You may think separately from the cooking, “Please, Krsna, accept this nice preparation I am cooking for You.” But the ‘main devotion is in cooking it nicely for Krsna. So you have to actually chant nicely, and as you concentrate on it this is the best meditation. In later stages spontaneous thoughts of K,gna will come. But you simply keep your mind fixed on hear- ing the holy name. ‘You must be attentive and control your mind. Don't chant unconsciously. That implies that you have an intellectual con- ‘ception of chanting: “I just can’t get into it. It's not important.” Sometimes people will read directions how to operate something, but they have so many other responsibilities that 24REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS. they just can’t pay attention to the directions. It doesn’t mean anything to them. It’s not important to them. They may say, “Somebody else can do it. I can’t concentrate on it. It's just too trivial.” So don’t minimize the holy name in the back of ‘your mind, It’s absurd if you cannot actually accept that you're ‘supposed to use your best intelligence to concentrate on the repetition of the holy name. If you have an eight-track mind that disturbs you when you are chanting Hare Krsna, the only remedy is to put Krsna ‘on all the eight tracks. Krena says in the Gitd wherever the mind goes you have to bring it back under the control of the higher self. Be conscientious To say “I tried hard—I almost made it” is not perfection. If you chant with offenses, then your chanting will be offen- sive. Still, that doesn’t mean that you stop the chanting or stop the preaching. We should be encouraged just by our trying even though imperfect. Just go on. Maybe we won't attain Krsna for some time by our devotional service, but we have to keep trying —being satisfied by the japa and the nectar we obtain by that trying, The higher stage of chanting is love, and at that point there is no more trying. It is spontaneous. But not that the best chanter of the names of Krena has developed his chanting like some great weight lifter. “Oh, he is a very famous chanter. He tried day after day for many years, and now he has perfected his chanting. He can control his rind" I remember talking to one professor practicing Buddhist meditation. He was explaining how to keep all different thoughts out of the mind. When some thought enters like an intruder, then with great prowess you push it out; when 25JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK another thought enters you push that thought out. In this way you meditate—very strenuously. We may think, “Now I'm avoiding the first offense, now I'm avoiding the second offense, now I'm avoiding all ten offenses —I'm awake, I'm attentive,” etc. But we are not like the juggler who puts another spinning plate on top, then another, then another, and then he is perfect. In other words, the holy name is Kryna, who when fully pleased ‘appears on the tongue of an ideal chanter. He is not created by the chanter. Ultimately only loving service pleases Him, and that is done by linking with one who is already known to Krsna. Of course, Krgna knows everyone, but in terms of devo- tional service itis different. I may say I have been a big rascal and now I am letting out a great crying of love, “O Krsnal ‘O Krgnal Krsnal” He'll say “Oh? Who is this with all these pro- testations of love for Me? Who is this upstart?” But, if He is informed by one of His intimate associates like Radharari, “This person chanting is actually a very good devotee. I recom- ‘mend him,” then He will say “Oh, then all right.” He won't take you without a recommendation; this is mercy. ‘Our trying to chant nicely is satisfying to Krsna, and He responds; but ultimately it is not just by our hard endeavor that He does so. In the Bhagavatam Prahlada tells his father, “You cannot know Krsna by the practice of austerities or san- nydsa regulations or grhastha regulations.” And he mentions severe examples like going into the river up to your neck on a cold day. It is not that we can finally try so hard to chant our japa that we beat down the holy name into submission— “Now I've got you under my foot!” No, you have to cry for Krsna! And the chanter must be avoiding offenses in his ser- vice. Krsna will be attracted not just by hard endeavor but by 26REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS rubbing yourself in the dust of the lotus feet of the pure devotees. Krgna appeared in the womb of ISKCON. Although the chanting of the holy name is absolute, if chanted by someone performing sinful acts, then the full effect is not there. Allen Ginsberg went to India and brought back the holy name even before Prabhupada, but how effective was that marijuana- homosexual chanting? The holy name has to be chanted by ‘one who is serving Srila Prabhupada in the International Soci- ty for Krishna Consciousness. Then the chanting is pure. Then the full effect is there. There is no “secret” to japa; it isa struggle. There is no ‘easy shortcut. The secret is to surrender to the struggle. The secret isto be afraid of death and to take it as very urgent that you must chant Hare Krsna. We used to have a slogan, “Chant while you can,” on some posters and show a scary picture of a graveyard. So we have to think lke that: “Chant while you can.” That is the secret. You develop love of Krsna by crying as a child cries for the mother, “Krsna, son of Nanda, I am stuck in this ocean of birth and death. Please save me and fix ‘me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.” ‘The best thing is that you just pray to the holy name and hear the sound. The stage of thinking of Radha and Krsna and ‘Their forms will come automatically. It cannot be so much forced. When the mind wanders, bring it back in a mood of prayer and supplication, thinking, “O holy name, I want to ‘chant, I want to hear, I want to be engaged in Your service by chanting and hearing.” Then simply practice the mantra- 2JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK _yoga of vibrating with the tongue and hearing with the ear. Don’t make interpretations or imaginations on the holy name. AAs far as the love Krsnadasa Kaviraja speaks of in Caitanya- caritamrta, that is the highest stage. We should aspire to that and make endeavor. As far as controlling the mind, two senses engaged are suf- ficient. If we engage the process of hearing and the process of chanting with the tongue, then these two senses can capture the mind on the Hare Krsna mantra, ‘We have to invest more and more our thinking, feeling, and willing into our chanting, not thinking that we will sur- pass this chanting or that the chanting will lead to something, different from chanting. I told this several times to one devotee who said he chanted sixty-four rounds on Janmastami. As he chanted he had this feeling that something was going to hap- pen, that if he chanted enough, “it” was going to happen. But his conclusion at the end was that he was stil a rascal, even after chanting sixty-four rounds. Another conclusion is that it’s not by chanting that “it” happens but “t”is happening while wwe chant, What we have to do is just invest more of our con- sciousness into it. ‘An example is the pseudo-spiritual hippie impersonal philosophy that what's really happening is whatever is hap- ening now. It's summed up in that phrase, “Be here now.” Thad a friend who used to say, “As far as eternal, there's no afterlife. But there is eternal—eternal means now, what's hap- pening now.” Actually that philosophy leads to hedonism— the moment, whatever is happening, is all there is, so you have to realy get into it. And sometimes they try for spirituality — 28REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS that everything right now is holy, and this is what is transcen- dental. You just invest yourself, invest meaning into the tem- porary life, and that is religious. But that’s bogus because there is another life; there is Krena, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, beyond this world. It's not that this is all there is, 50 you have to invest everything here. We don't subscribe to that philosophy. But we can take that mentality. We can apply it~"Be here now’”—because we have got eternal transcenden- tal life given to us in Krgna consciousness. The chanting is Krena, so for us that is true, that everything is here. “Be here now”—Krena is actually here in His name. All you have to do is get into it or get with it, that this is Krsna’s name. ‘So while you are chanting, you don't have to get to something else or go somewhere else or wait for “it” to hap- pen, but you just have to realize that this is actually Krsna. Then, as you realize Krsna more, you get more into the chant- ing. You realize that the chanting is simply to chant Krsna’s name, and you want to do it more and more. Of course, in a sense itis true that the chanting leads to a breakthrough and to higher understanding, but to higher understanding of the same thing—that Krsna is His name, that Krsna is actually His name. And then you realize it more— that actually Krsna is His name. Sometimes we gain a little ‘understanding of it. We say, "You know, I've been chanting. am understanding that actually the name is Krsna.” Or we may be reading and then understand, “Oh, actually the name is Krsna. Krgna is His name, Krsna is so wonderful, and Krsna is appearing in His name.” Improving chanting means realizing this more and more. Just like with the Deity— Krsna is stand- ing on the altar, so we keep going and seeing Krena. The best way to take His daréana is to get more and more realization 29JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK that Krsna is actually here. Not that you have to see a light coming from the Deity or see Him move, but He has come in this form. He's exactly Krsna in this brass form. He's not brass, He's Krsna—but exactly as He is. The name is like this. The name is actually Krgna. Not that by chanting —then something else. But the sound vibration is Krena. Its just a matter of becoming submissive or receptive. Prabhupada uses the phrase “aural reception.” We produce this sound, and we hear it; this is yoga. Therefore, i's such a simple process. We can make all advancement. Chanting is done from the heart, as a way of life. That {s inoffensive chanting. It is not just a technique. You have in the past been a victim of your uncontrolled senses. You should pray to Krsna when you chant, “Please save me from may, Please save me from my raging senses. Please, Lord, engage my senses in Your service. Please let me chant Hare Krsna sincerely. Please do not let me go away from Your lotus feet into the jaws of maya.” This prayerful attitude as you chant, realizing your dangerous position, will be more effective than touching the tongue to the upper portion of the palate like the South Indian brahmana, ‘A few years ago on the inside cover of Back to Godhead ‘we used an ad where different karmis would relate their ex- periences of chanting Hare Krsna. One man said, “It charges ‘my batteries,” and others said different things. Prabhupada said, “That is all right, but you must also instruct them that they should take to the process.” Chanting involves the whole process. We don't want people to introduce it in their lives as, a cheap thing: “Oh, I chant because it relieves me of tension 30REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS before I go to the executive board meeting,” or, “Before my performance, I chant Hare Krsna.” You have to take to the process. ‘Nama cintamanih krenaé caitanya-rasa-vigrahah. Com- ‘menting on this verse, Srila Prabhupada said, “. . .Gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam or Krena’s name or Krsna’s form, pas- times, anything about Krena—they are one, Therefore by chanting this Hare Krgna mantra, you directly contact Krsna. Kana is the nami, and Hare Krgna mantra is His name. But they are nondifferent. Otherwise, how this Hare Krsna move- ‘ment is so quickly appreciated all over the world? There's no difference between chanting the Hare Krena mantra and meeting Krsna eye-to-eye, face-to-face. Simply one has to realize. The more you become purified by chanting Hare Krsna ‘mantra, you will see Krsna face-to-face. People are asking, ‘Can you show me God?” You can see. Simply prepare your eyes. Simply prepare your ears, by hearing. Ceto-darpana-marjanarh. So this is a ‘very scientific, authorized, practical movement. You chant Hare Kegna mantra and you will realize that gradually you are ad- vancing to meet Krsna face-to-face. It is possible.” —Lecture by Srila Prabhupada 1/12/73 in Bombay How can you control your mind by chanting? This is an honest question. Even if you don't commit gross sinful ac- tivities, the subtle material desires in the mind, and the fact that the mind is uncontrolled makes you unable to chant. This is especially prominent in the age of Kali. The only sol is to work hard at chanting. Krsna says wherever the mind 31JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK wanders bring it back under the control of the higher self. Just as when a parent takes care of a little child, the parent has to constantly see that the child does not go astray. The parent cannot say that the child should cooperate more and just stay in one place. But the parent lovingly has to constantly watch. In the same way, you have to lovingly and yet strongly discipline the mind and keep it concentrated on the holy name, Do not find fault with the process. And do not think that Krsna is not helping you. He has helped you by giving you Himself in His holy name. Now you have to take to the process sin- cerely and “God helps those who help themselves.” ‘You just have to be aware of the importance of chanting, Whatever the leaders preach, the others will talk about and follow. But, you cannot artificially preach or introduce any- thing to someone else unless you first introduce it to yourself, First examine your own chanting, then you can convey your realization to the others. Itis not like some legislation—if you want something to enter people's hearts, it has to enter your heart first. As you chant Hare Krsna, your dormant love of God will come out, just as butter comes out when we churn milk. But- ter is already there in milk, but it has to be brought out by the process of churning. So your love of God is there, it just has to be brought out by your chanting Chanting Hare Krsna japa should be done by moving the tongue and lips, reciting audibly, and pronouncing the words. At least our sixteen rounds should be chanted in this wi Beyond this, if one can chant Hare Krena at other times, it is 32REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS good. Such chanting aloud should not be considered external. ‘The sound vibration is part of the internal or spiritual energy. Not that because we chant aloud it is external, whereas quiet or silent or meditative chanting is internal. Lord Caitanya savored the external congregational chanting of kirtana, and ‘even the japa is done aloud. Prabhupada once said if we try to chant in the mind, then without chanting aloud we may have to listen to the mind’s nonsense. So to overcome the devious mind we chant aloud. It is all right to recite the translation, but not that it should be done regularly after each mantra, Don't concoct. But how can I become determined to chant Hare Krsna? I have read Lord Caitanya's prayer where He states that He has no attraction for the holy name. So I think certainly this is my position also, except I cannot even make it into a wonderful prayer of lamentation as did Lord Caitanya. Whatever prog- ress I have made in my chanting is due to Krgna's mercy on me. We gain benefit by watching others chant with great ab- sorption. The words should be chanted with clear utterance, and the whole body should be concentrated on the chanting. We can't expect to do other things while chanting Hare Krsna. It is not such a thing that you can negligently chant and at the same time drive a car, dial a telephone, read a newspaper, etc. We should not minimize the hearing. What are we hear- ing? Kysna’s name. Hearing oneself calling on Krsna's name is really not different from addressing Krsna. It should not be that we are repeating the name dully, or unconsciously. So let ‘your consciousness be that you think of calling on Krsna’s name ‘while you actually recite that name. This is called attentive 33JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK chanting. As far as whether Krgna hears you—yes, Krsna hears you directly, but I do not think that Prabhupada is left out of that direct hearing. Brahmananda Maharaja calls this “Prabhupaida consciousness.” That is, that when we chant as well as do any other service, we think I am doing this because it has been given to me by Prabhupada. So we are thanking Prabhupada as we chant. I know myself when I chant Hare Krsna mantra and sometimes feel myself grow inattentive, I spontaneously call out, “Prabhupadal” This spontaneous call shows that I am thinking of the chanting in terms of my spiritual master who gave it to me. The chanting always goes through the spiritual master. At what point would we like to become so advanced that we now kick aside the spiritual ‘master? At least I would not like to reap such advancement. “Devahiiti shows us the process for understanding tran- scendental subject matters. It is not by challenge but by sub- mission. The entire bhakti process is a process of submission. That is also Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s teaching. Tradd api sunicena taror api sahisnund/aménina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih. If one is interested in advancing in chanting Hare Krsna, Caitanya Mahaprabhu advises that one should be hhumbler than the grass and more tolerant than the trees. One should not be very proud of his intelligence but should give all respects to others. In this way one can chant Hare Krsna offenselessly.” —The Teachings of Lord Kapila Anyone who is proud can move his mouth and chant Hare Krona, but he will not be able to experience the actual taste of serving the holy name, unless he becomes very humble, “I 34REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS ‘am very fallen. I am not a big independent living entity. simply dependent on Your mercy, so please give me attention or else I cannot stand.” Why is it struggle on some days to concentrate while con other days it is easier? This is the very definition of tunsteadiness. When you become steady, it will be good every day. You can make advancement in japa when you always look forward to doing it, feel pleasure when you do it, and do it with steady consciousness. Another measure is that you will feel less material desires. That symptom is more important than. exactly how much bliss you feel while fingering the beads. ‘When the spiritual master asks you to chant Hare Krsna, which he especially does at the time of your initiation, that is an order different than is given to you by any other person in Kyyna consciousness. His request that you chant Hare Krsna, when you take it up, forms the most intimate, personal relation- ship between yourself and your spiritual master, and yourself and Krsna in disciplic succession. So this is the real link for your friendship and your dependence on his instruction. We might say chanting is a kind of lazy intelligence— ‘you're just chanting. But it’s very important, So if you know this is a priority, then you have to control your mind. The ‘world is not going to end in those two hours that you chant your rounds. Don’t interrupt them. But sometimes you do have to interrupt them, and we see it's not good. We should try to have a peaceful life. Don’t arrange your life so it’s always sub- ject to such interruptions, which become a habit. There's emergency crisis management, but not that you just go from 35JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK cone crisis to another. Try to arrange your life so that you can chant your japa with concentration. If you chant your rounds with great attention you can feel your connection with your spiritual master in that way. As ‘you chant you should think, “T have been told by my spiritual ‘master to chant Hare Krsna, and that alone will give me pure love of God. So I feel very confident in my spiritual master’s ‘words. Therefore, I shall chant as he instructed me.” In this way, by saying the names of Krsna, you will think both of your spiritual master and the Supreme Lord. ‘My disciples ask me how to improve their personal rela- tionship with their spiritual master. Therefore, I have told them that if they chant Hare Krsna with great faith in the order as, have given it to them, this will constitute a very intimate and ‘completely transcendental relationship between ourselves. So this is also proof of the connection that exists between us for improving your chanting and hearing for approaching Krena. Please continue this and increase it, so that by chanting and hearing all impurities will go from your heart and before the end of life you will be ready to go back to Godhead. It is all right that you pray to Krena to make you pure while chanting. You should pray to Him to help you hear bet- tet. The holy name will Himself make you pure. You don’t need to pray while chanting for some separate purification. Just pray to be able to hear better. You must have a reserved period of time, whether it be in the afternoon or whenever, in which you are able to chant 36REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS. the balance of your rounds every day. The important thing is regulation and a good place and time to chant. Aside from that, the whole thing is up to your determination. Itis allright if one is doing Deity service and cannot chant in the early hours. Although early hours are the best according to astra, that he will have to sacrifice. But not that he sacrifice the good quality of his rounds. He should have a reserved time in the afternoon, and then eventually he will be able to chant well a that time. I work in the early morning hours myself on the biography, and I chant a good number of my rounds in the afternoon. But actually the afternoon chanting is good because I have reserved time—not that | am trying to grab a round here or there. ‘As the sky is overcast with clouds, so my consciousness is covered with subtle material desire preventing me from pure- ly serving the holy name. Whatever temporary thing is going ‘on, it fully distracts me. Is attentive chanting important? Do Teven believe that much can be found in japa? Have I lost my faith in great gains that can be made in japa? Thus I lament. Prabhupada urges that we should practice chanting. Some- ‘times he says chant “constantly.” Chant constantly so that we will remember to chant Krsna’s name atthe time of death. Ante nartyana-smrtib. ‘Sometimes a person will try to remember élokas when he chants Hare Krena. I think this is like trying to run two tracks ‘ona tape recorder at once. If the Hare Krsna mantra is being recited then we should hear that and not try to recite Slokas 7JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK at the same time. Sometimes in India we have seen workers and even women balancing big loads on their head and doing other things at the same time, such as talking or something else. This is an interesting balancing, but I think itis better that we keep our consciousness tuned in to the chanting of Hare Krsna ‘mantra while we do our japa. Good management begins by managing your sédhana— your life, It requires intelligence. A karmi has no time for self- realization. He has so many activites that he can’t manage to chant one day or even one round. So somehow you have to manage to chant sixteen nice rounds during your daily ac- tivities. You manage to take prasadam, don't you? “What nectar is in these two alphabets (syllables), Kry-na"—Rapa Gosvami (stated by Prabhupada in Chicago, July 1975). “Dear Lord, we may not be able to remember Your name, form and qualities due to stumbling, hunger, falling down, yawning or being in a miserable diseased condition at the time of death when there is a high fever. We therefore pray unto ‘You, O Lord, for You are very affectionate to Your devotees. Please help us remember You and utter Your holy names, at- tributes and activities, which can dispel all the reactions to our sinful lives.” —Bhagavatam 5.3.12 ‘We can pray while chanting that the holy name bestow upon us love of God. At the same time, this is not different from careful hearing. We must have faith that Krgna is in His 38REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS name and that simply by hearing the name of the Lord we will enter association with Him. Then love of God will appear in ‘our hearts by the grace of the Lord, Prabhupada has said that the chanting doesn’t happen by a mechanical process but is ini- tiated by the Lord by His free will. In this way, gradually all our material desires will evaporate. ““Caitanya Mahaprabhu has recommended that everyone chant the Hare Krsna mantra just to cleanse the dust from the heart. If the dust of the heart is cleansed away, then one can actually understand the importance ofthe holy name. For per- sons who are not inclined to clean the dust from their heart and want to keep things as they are, it is not possible to derive the transcendental result of chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. ‘One should therefore be encouraged to develop his service at- titude toward the Lord, because this will help him to chant without any offense. And so under the guidance of a spiritual master the disciple is trained simultaneously to render service and at the same time to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. As soon. ‘as one develops a spontaneous service attitude he can im- mediately understand the transcendental nature of the holy names of the maha-mantra.” ~The Nectar of Devotion ‘What if you think of the day's devotional service when chanting your rounds? It is not so easy to stop the flow of our thoughts. So better you are thinking of devotional service than ‘maya. But as far as possible try to steer your thinking back to the sound vibration of the holy name. Then after such ab- sorption in chanting you can go forth to your day's activities in the best condition. 39JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK Chanting is the first service—sravanam kirtanart visnoh smaranam. So when your service attitude and all your service has come up to the offenseless position, then you automatically become perfect. This is very important. “There are many names for God throughout the universe, bbut Krsna is the supreme name according to Vedic knowledge. Therefore, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommended the chanting of Hare Krsna as the supreme means for realization in this age." —Raja-Vidya ‘You can diagnose the cause of your slow progress in self- realization as offensive, inattentive chanting. This has also been. called failure to develop ecstatic love even after so many instructions on the matter. Beware of complacency in your devotional service. Itis alla disease of hearing—a hearing defi- ciency. By not hearing the philosophy one falls into illusion. He imagines injustices, difficulties, and becomes snared into material plan-making, etc. He forgets his own identity asa ser- vvant of the servant of the servant of Krsna, and his mental ac- tivity replaces his concentration on his rounds—his japa becomes afflicted. This illness in advanced stages results in a variety of maladies (vainava-aparidha, guru-aparddha, blooping) and that can culminate in death (spiritual). _ So take preliminary precautions to protect yourself from iness. Just as a person developing sniffles and sneez- it dress warmly, drink brahmistra juice, etc., a person ‘who finds himself “elsewhere” when chanting japa should im- mediately take precautionary measures. Shake your mental laziness. Ultimately such a complacent 40REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS attitude in japa means that you think you will never die. If ‘you were conscious of your true position and how, factually, death could come at any moment, then your japa would not beso nonchalant. You would actually be grasping for the lotus feet of Krena in desperation—that in whatever small amount of time destined you, you must perfect your life, perfect your heart, and the only means is through the mercy of Lord Krena through His holy name. “If one chants and accepts the holy name as a material vibration, he falls down. One should worship and chant the holy name of the Lord by accepting it as the Lord Himself. Dur- ing the chanting of the holy name, the tongue must work; the tongue is sevonmukha-jihoa—it is controlled by service. —Caitanya-caritamrta By our living submissively in Krsna consciousness we are becoming entitled to reap the fruits of chanting Hare Krsna. So now we just have to adjust those things that are preventing us from tasting or from obtaining the wealth. Committing these ten offenses prevents us from chanting Hare Krena purely, but ‘many of them are avoided by the different regulative activities during the day—every day. We say, “Don't sleep when you chant. Don't mispronounce. Control your mind, and then it will come.” And other adjustments are there. Like one boy gave ‘me this stereo system. It has so many complicated switches. So everything is working—the speakers are working, all the electronics are working. But there are so many switches some- times somebody flicks one switch and turns the whole thing into the radio or turns off the something-or-other, and then. it doesn't work. It doesn’t mean everything is useless. But you 41JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK have to see, “Oh, this switch." You turn it, then immediately the sound comes. So somehow we are chanting, and we are not able to ful- ly associate with Krgna. We have to see what is the faulty thing, whether it is inattention and the mind wandering. Of course 1am assuming that we are following the four rules and that we are actually motivated after Krsna. Then only do these things apply. If our motive is right, then we will by and by learn how to chant correctly. Then our service to Krsna will be enhanced, very, very much. We are not talking about try- ing to just drown in some ecstasy all the time. We want to enhance our service. Just like someone saying, “Oh, lam very troubled with sex life.” But when Krsna comes in His holy ‘name, then we will see these other things as pale. We will just want to be the servant of Krsna. It seems that the good servant is also good at serving the holy name; specifically, I mean at the time of uttering his six- teen rounds. To be concerned at one's deficiencies in improving japa is the first requirement. Otherwise, if we just absentmindedly ‘g0 on chanting without even stopping to think that our chant- {ng needs improvement, then where is the question of actual- ly improving. But if you are actually concerned, you have to do something about it. Do not simply allow yourself to stay ‘on the mental platform. Just as we do not allow our senses to do what they like in other areas, s0 also the mind has to be restricted and brought under the control ofthe intelligence. You ‘may not be able to control your mind every second of the day, bbut you should not become helpless and just let it roll on. Do 2REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS your best, and Krsna will help you as you struggle to chant in the morning. Prabhupada instructed everyone to chant sixteen rounds a day, That is a fact; we chant Hare Krsna because Prabhu- pada told us to. Although the name of Krsna is fully nectarean and we should chant it spontaneously, we actually chant it on the order of our spiritual master. And whatever sweet taste ‘we get progressively in chanting we also know is due to the mercy of our spiritual master, who has given us the hari-ndma. We want to serve Krsna, and chanting itself is service. In fact, the maha-mantra, consisting of the three words Hare, Krsna, and Rima, means, “O Lord, O energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your service.” So the chanting in itself is a prayer to Kryna to engage us further in His devotional ser- vice. If one is able to continue chanting like this, he can become purified of all sinful reactions from previous lives, because the chanting washes away all the accumulated dirt in the heart Ceto-darpanam-marjanarh. If we chant the holy name, Krsna takes that as giving love even though our hearts are hard and devoid of feeling. Krsna regards any little effort favorably. A gulf of qualitative dif- ference lies between the little love offered in our beginning chanting and the love of Haridasa Thakura and Lord Caitanya’s chanting. In the prayers of lamentation by the dcaryas like Narottama dasa Thakura and Bhaktivinoda Thakura, they take the role of the conditioned soul. They cry out that they have no devotion for Krsna, and yet within this lamentation is purification. If [lament my sinful nature and yearn for Krena 43JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK conscious love, then that is also an expression of love, isit not? At least I desire to have that love. So this is sadhana. Although lack spontaneous love, I chant Hare Krsna, because I have some love for the order of my spiritual master, rascal that Iam, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati says dusta mana, tumi kisera vaisnavat “My dear mind, what kind of devotee are you? Sim- ply for cheap adoration you sit in a solitary place and pretend to chant the Hare Krsna mahd-mantra. But this is all cheating. ‘So he is speaking to the heart about the cheating propensity that we all have to some degree; it can manifest itself even in such a pure activity as chanting Hare Krsna. He’s talking about solitary chanting—a babajt trying to get some credit. But in other ways also we may try to impress people that we are some kind of great chanter of the holy name. But especially he refers to this solitary bhajana. So we should not cheat. Early in the morning, walking, working, chanting the holy name, bead after bead, round after round, hour after hour, it takes hard work and endurance. 1 remember when Srila Prabhupada came to the humble little temple we had in Boston, We had advertised all over town, painted and cleaned the building, and made so many differ- ‘ent arrangements for the arrival of Krgna's pure devotee. We worked and worked and worked, and in the process, our hearts were cleansed. And when he actually came, Prabhupada was praising the glories of the holy name, how Krsna appears in the holy name in this fallen age. Krena’s pure devotee was tell- ing us, “What if Krsna Himself were to come—and Krsna can ‘come through that door just like we can—how would you “REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS: receive Him?” So what if you heard this? What could you do? ‘You wouldn't know how to prepare. Certainly you would try to make the most gorgeous reception, the greatest welcome; the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself is coming. There is no limit of things you would do or the extent to which you ‘would go to make a wonderful reception for Krsna. The point is that Krsna does come in the form of His holy name and because he is very kind, He doesn't even require a reception. You can just chant Hare Krsna. Krsna wants to make it easy in this age—there are no hard and fast rules for chanting, Srutadeva was very poor, but cer- tainly he did everything he could to receive the Lord. We are poor in heart, but because we are lazy and envious, we don’t even invite the Supreme Personality of Godhead—but He comes anyway. His pure devotee carries the holy name— “Please, you are suffering from material disease, and this is the best medicine. Except for he who is carrying the medicine, what friend do you have in this material world? Please take the medicine—har-ndma mahé-mantra, and be happy.” So He ‘comes to your door. You don’t even want to receive the holy name, but He induces you to accept Him. “Iam so unfortunate that I have no attraction for the holy name." I am supposed to bea devotee, but when I hear that the Supreme Personality ‘of Godhead is coming—I remain rascal number one. By my inattentiveness the reception is ruined. Krena is coming and ‘you remain inattentive; therefore it is called nama-aparidha, If you make an offense in cooking or Deity worship, what do you do? You chant Hare Krsna. But if you make offenses to the holy name, then what do you do? There is nothing! There is no other way, no other way, no other way! This is the last mercy, and if you don't take this mercy then there is no other 45JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK rcy. A Vaignava poet says that, "What is the value of my living?” Better I were dead! ‘We should learn how to make our hearts pure and avoid the offenses in chanting, so Krena can come home. The spiritual master is representing Lord Caitanya in delivering this holy name to us and by accepting his guidance, we can chant Hare Krsna and go back to Godhead. Your japa is a barometer of your spiritual life. Your changes of consciousness will show up there. So when your japa is strong, then you are strong. That is why I place em- phasis on chanting. It is such a source of strength. “There are so many dangers in this material world that cone may fall down from an exalted position at any time. Yet, if one keeps himself always pure and steady by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, he will be safe without a doubt.” —Bhagavatam 6.1.63, purport ‘Too much mental anxiety indicates poor quality japa. In- attentive japa is a symptom of spiritual illness; certainly it causes it. You must improve the quality of your japa. If you improve your chanting, all other anxieties will clear up, and immediately you'll see in the proper perspective. If after chanting your rounds, you realize there was no furor, no urgency, no struggle, then that is a bad sign. A lot can be accomplished simply by approaching japa sincerely. Keep a daily progress report. Work daily on your japa and you will see a difference. Japa is especially weakened by material desires. Avoid the ten offenses. The best way to remember you 6REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS are not your body but the soul, the servant of Krsna, is to follow the orders of the guru. “The essence of all Vedic knowledge—comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity (karma-kanda, jfdna-kanda, and ‘upiisana-kainda) the chanting of Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods—is included in the eight syllables Hare Krsna, Hare Rama, This is the reality of all Vedanta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience. Chanting the holy name is the chief means of at- taining love of Godhead. This chanting of devotional service does not depend on any paraphernalia, nor on one's having taken birth in a good family. By humility and meekness one attracts the attention of Krsna. That is the verdict of all the Vedas. Therefore if one becomes very humble and meek he can easily attain the lotus feet of Krsna in this age of Kali. That {s the fulfillment ofall great sacrifices, penances and austerities, because when one achieves ecstatic love of Godhead he attains the complete perfection of life. Therefore, whatever one does in executing devotional service must be accompanied with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.” —The Narada-paficaratra When we chant, we should enunciate clearly. If we are ‘speaking to some important man, we take it as an important ‘occasion; we don't mumble to him. “What are you saying?” So similarly, Krsna knows what you are saying, what you are thinking. As we are offering the name, the sound vibration, He knows His name, and He has many people glorifying Him already. But He will be pleased if you also glorify Him. So it should be done like that. Its just another sign of care, con- 7JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK ‘cern, that you say the names nicely. You could even be chant- ing something les than the thirty-two-syllable mantra—leaving ‘out one of the names. Hare Krsna mantra isa scientific arrange- ‘ment, so it has to be chanted in that order. Don't be neglect ful. Don't leave out His name—Hare or Krsna or Rama. ‘Chanting and hearing in an attitude of service means when wwe chant Krsna’s name we should be desiring to be engaged in His service. The eighth offense to the holy name is to chant ‘asa pious act to get some material benefit. So we are not pray- ing to God for material benefit. That is what is meant by ser~ vice. Also, the act of chanting and hearing, when done very carefully, is also a service. Surrendering yourself to chanting clearly and hearing with rapt attention is also chanting and hearing in service attitude. The chanting is deceivingly simple—just repeat some names. But the mind is rebelling because if you say these names, then all sense gratification will go away and you will become ‘a devotee of Krsna. The mind wants us to be a devotee of our nonsense mind. So although it is deceptively simple, itis hard to actually chant. Therefore, we stress it always. Itis a simple process, and if you try it in a simple way it will not be dif- ficult. But if you go on listening to your mind, it will be very difficult. Unfortunately we have no taste for hearing and glorify- {ng the Lord's name and activities. Developing a taste for hear- ing and chanting the holy sound is done through the medium ‘of service to the pure devotee of the Lord. Sampradaya-vihind ye mantras te nisphala matah. The mantra has to be chanted 8REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS in sampradaya, received from the bona fide spiritual master. ‘As Prabhupada says, “The taste for hearing and chanting the holy name is done through the medium of service to the pure devotee of the Lord. The Lord is reciprocally responding to His devotee. When He sees that a devotee is completely sincere in getting admittance to the transcendental service of the Lord and has become eager to hear about Him, He acts within the heart.” Don't put any imposition on your mind. Just chant and try to hear the holy name. Everything will automatically come. Just drive out other thoughts and hear the holy name. It is not very simple to improve chanting. Therefore, like any good thing, it has to be worked at. Prabhupada once said that good trees that bear certain nuts take a long time in fruc- tifying, So similarly, a good thing may take a while to achieve. ‘Complete concentration is necessary. Otherwise your rounds are done, but they aren't done well. You're just trying to get the job done, like a factory worker. You get the credit that “I chanted my rounds,” but there will be far more credit if you chant with the right quality. Attentive doesn't mean only that you don’ fall asleep or that you don't leave off a “Hare,” but it means being attentive to how Krsna may reveal within ‘your heart more understanding ofthe holy name. But you have to concentrate. Anything that you want to do well, you have to think about it, and you have to put other things out of your ‘mind in order to do it. That's very basic definition of con- centration. Concentrated is only one thing, nothing diluted, nothing impure—just the essence. So when you concentrate 49JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK ‘on anything, it’s like that—one thing. The karmis concentrate so that they get the most out of sense gratification. Any worker has to concentrate to do something right. So a yogi, a bhakti- xyogi, has to concentrate also with all his senses and his mind. ‘We actually chant japa just a couple of hours, but it should ’be done like that—with concentration. Everybody knows this, ‘but we have to do it. It's an easy process. It’s not a hard proc- ss, it's an easy process—you just have to chant and hear. You don't have to sit in a certain place and control your breath and give up food. But it’s an easy process for somebody who's not very austere—meaning the average soul in the Kali-yuga— but it's also the topmost process. So if this easy process, if you can't do this even, then literally there's no hope for you. What other hope is there if you can’t chant? Krsna doesn't say that if we chant Hare Krsna we won't, have trouble. But He says if we chant Hare Krsna and then think of Krsna at the time of death, we may never have to come back again. Even Queen Kunti, who always thought of Krsna, had so many difficulties. Prabhupada says we should chant at least loud enough that we can hear our own sound vibration. The process is to chant and hear. If you just chant in your mind then there is no hearing in the proper sense. So don’t think it a contradiction that we say, “If you, become pure, then you will be able to chant.” But then we say, “Chant and then you will become pure.” Ceto-darpana- ‘marjanari. Chanting will purify you, but you can’t just leave everything the way itis. That's called committing sins on the 50REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS strength of chanting, Although very impure, Jagai and Madhai ‘were given the holy name, but then they had to promise, “Now ‘no more do your sinful activities.” This cleansing process works ‘but don’t add dirt at the same time. Just like a fire produces heat, but if at the same time I am throwing water on it, then can’t blame the fire. “This fire is falsely advertised as pro- ducing heat. It doesn't work.” This process will work, but don't defeat it by your impure activity. Chanting has to be done within a whole devotional life—not as a professional perform- lance or a part-time performance—to receive the real effect. Ifyou just try tole go of your different plans and material desires and let the chanting work, so many realizations will come, and you will fel very attached to the holy name and. to this process. During japa time, don't talk and converse and socialize. There are other times for that. Srila Prabhupada wrote to Sivananda, December 4, 1968: “Regarding your first question, is it offensive to think of Krishna's pastimes while chanting, I think you should know that it is not offensive, but rather it is required. One must try for the point when he simply hears Krishna and immediately all of Krishna, His Pastimes, His Form, His Quality, are in his thoughts of Krishna. This is our process. When we are full in Krishna then where can there be any chance for maya in us? So this is our duty to always remember Krishna's pastimes. ‘One who cannot remember Krishna, let him always hear Hare Krishna, and then when he has perfected this art, then always he will remember Krishna, His Activities, His Qualities, etc.” 51JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK ‘Then to me on April 10, 1969, he wrote: “Regarding your question, hearing the vibration of Hare Krishna automatically reminds one of Krishna's Pastimes. So both of them arise simultaneously in the mind when one is sincerely chanting. So ‘you cannot make any distinction between listening to the sound and thinking of the Pastimes. But the process is to hear, and then Krishna's Pastimes, Form, Qualities, etc. will automatic- ally come to mind: That is very nice.” From these two letters Prabhupada says that the first step isto simply hear and then from that, naturally the spontaneous stage will come, when one thinks ofthe pastimes of Krsna. This is indicated when he says, “One who cannot remember Krishna, let him always hear Hare Krishna, and then when he has perfected this art, then always he will remember Krishna.” ‘And in the second letter Prabhupada says that we cannot make a distinction between listening to the sound and thinking of the pastimes, “but the process is to hear, and then Krishna's Pastimes, Form, Qualities, etc., will automatically come to mind.” This is similar to Krena's statement in the Twelfth Chapter of the Gita that one should always think of Him spon- taneously, but if he cannot, then he should follow the rules and regulations. Don’t artificially impose thinking of Krsna on your mind while chanting. Hear, and thoughts of Krsna will come. “At the time of death, one is certainly bewildered because his bodily functions are in disorder. At that time, even one who throughout his life has practiced chanting the holy name of the lord may not be able to chant the Hare Krsqa mantra very distinctly. Nevertheless, such a person receives all the benefits of chanting the holy name. While the body is fit, therefore, 82REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS why should we not chant the holy names of the Lord loudly and distinctly? In conclusion, one who chants the holy name of the Lord constantly is guaranteed to return home, back to Godhead without a doubt.” —Bhagavatam 6.2.48, purport For strong chanting, chant louder; that will make you strong. If you extend a little more energy in your chanting, in your articulation and emphasis, you will more easily cap- ture the rambling mind. If we stay fixed in following Krsna consciousness and chanting at least sixteen rounds, then by that full participa- tion in devotional service we should not become very disturbed. ‘We should not come to the point where we are unable to do any devotional service and have to stop all activities and chant all day sixty-four rounds, etc. But if despite ourselves we come to this point, then such chanting is good. “Regarding your question, there is no such requirement that japa should be silently and chanting should be done dif- ferently. Loudly or silently, everything is allright. There is no such restriction. Only thing is that we should chant very at- tentively, hearing the vibration very distinctly.” Letter from Srila Prabhupada to Satsvariipa March 8, 1969 Krsna consciousness is dependent on chanting Hare Krsna. If the rounds are good, the consciousness will reflect them, the intelligence will reflect them also. The chanting of Hare Krsna is very important. 53JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK Japa is an important part of devotional life. If your japa is not up to standard, this is serious, You must reform. That is, out of your regret may come success. Prabhupada used to say failure isthe pillar of success. Assess yourself, and try to improve your chanting of Hare Krsna. ‘One may question that if the holy name can take away ‘more sins than the devotee can commit, why we still have to suffer sinful reactions? But those sinful reactions are given by Krona; itis no longer karma. There is no questioning why this isso. If Krona makes us take some token reaction, that is His mercy just so that we will actually be purified once and for all. Krsna is all-good and just, so whatever He sends the devotee, the devotee accepts. That does not diminish the power of the holy name. We have to go on chanting the holy name and taking whatever reactions are there from the Lord. Then we may come to the stage of pure service to the holy name. If you are always repeating the Hare Krena mantra ‘whenever you can—within yourself or even aloud—it will solve ‘many problems. If Krena is with you all the time, then you will not be in anxiety—if you can develop this constant chant- ing. It will take time to be able to always chant Hare Krsna. Srila Prabhupada used to say, “Chant sixteen rounds on beads and then innumerable rounds off the beads.” The fifth offense in chanting is to consider the glories of chanting Hare Krsna as imagination. This means that if one doubts that the chanting of Hare Krena actually is the name ‘of God then that is actually negating the great benefits that ‘are working on one. It isa kind of material skepticism. If you 54REFLECTIONS /JAPA MEDITATIONS have no faith at all then that is a great offense, but if one has some faith but also has some doubt that is also offensive. Any doubt we have in chanting Hare Krsna is offensive. Prabhupada answers the question, “What is the ultimate goal of chanting Hare Krsna?” “When one becomes accustomed to inoffensive chanting, then his fruit is that he is promoted to the stage of pure love of Godhead, or prema, This prema is the perfectional stage of consciousness and the most blissful by far.” —Letter to Sivananda December 4, 1968 When I chant Hare Krsna, I chant because Srila Prabhu- pada brought the chanting and told me to chant. So, I'm chant- ing directly to Krgna, but I don't banish my spiritual master. ‘The inference is always, “Well, can we get rid of the spiritual master and go directly to Krsna?” But it’s not like that. You go directly to Krsna through the spiritual master. He's not in the way—Jesus Christ says he is the way. So the spiritual master is not in the way. He's introducing you to your intimate rela- tionship with Krsna. So he says, “Chant Krsna, Krsna,” s0 1 chant Hare Krena. I'm saying Krgna's name on his order. If you have not received the mantra you are chanting in isciplic succession, it will not have effect. Your spiritual master doesn't get in your way, because he is not material. Material ‘body means defective vision, 20-20 is not perfect spiritual vi- sion. Everyone needs this transparent guide. Sometimes peo- ple think, “We don’t want these priests, we don’t want these ‘gurus. God is in our heart, let us just go to God.” But the spiritual master is a humble representative of Krsna and I 55JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK should approach with even more humility to accept Krsna in this way. Because I may have personally been cheated before doesn't mean that the system of disciplic succession is invalid, All a real spiritual master wants is that his disciple be fixed in his relationship with Krsna, chant Hare Krsna, and be happy in Krgna consciousness. He doesn’t want money, he doesn’t ‘want worship, he wants the disciple to go to Krsna. He is com- petent to help him do that. The Purdnas say there are many gurus who are expert in taking your money, but a guru who ‘can take your anxiety away and give you spiritual life is rare. The actual representative of Krena can relieve the fire of repeated birth and death. We don't adopt the process of chanting all day and night. Haridasa Thakura could do it, but if you try you will sleep and dream of different material desires. So just try to increase the quality of your chanting; that is the main thing. “Then the Bhattacérya asked Caitanya Mahaprabhu, ‘Which item is most important in the execution of devotional service?’ The Lord replied that the most important item was the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.” Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport, “When asked which item was most im- portant, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu immediately answered that the most important item (of the nine processes of bhakti) is the chanting of the holy names ofthe Lord— Hare Krgna, Hare Krsna, Krona Krena, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rima, Rama Rima, Hare Hare.” In the next verse Lord Caitanya ‘quotes the “Harer Nama” verse of the Brhan-naradiya Purina, and Srila Prabhupada writes, “Because the people of this age are so fallen, they can simply chant the Hare Krsna maha- 56REFLECTIONS/JAPA MEDITATIONS ‘mantra. In this way, they can rid themselves of the bodily ‘conception of life and become eligible to engage in the Lord's devotional service.” Ce. Madhya 6.241 If you are feeling great happiness in chanting Hare Krsna, that isthe good result. Always chant in the service mood. We are not chanting to enjoy sensations, even spiritual sensations. ‘We should chant to serve Krsna. The eighth offense to chant- ing is to consider it as a pious activity or to use it for some utilitarian purpose. This means the meaning of the chanting is to serve Ksgna: “O Radha, O Krena, please engage me in Your service.” As you chant, pray to become the unalloyed servant in your particular service to Krsna. tan nirvidyamndnam icchattm akuto-bhayam yoginarh nrpa nirnitarh harer namanukirtanam “O King, constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all, including those who are free from all material desires, those who are desirous ofall material enjoyment, and also those who are self-satisfied by dint of transcendental knowledge.” —Bhagavatam 2.1.11 “A devotee either in danger or in happiness constantly chants the Hare Krgna mantra, When he is in danger he is im- mediately relieved . . .. This is the absolute nature of the 7JAPA REFORM NOTEBOOK maha-mantra, Either in danger or in happiness, it can be chanted without limitation. —Bhagavatam 4.12.21, purport To improve your japa, very scrutinizingly read over and memorize the Siksistakam prayers of Lord Caitanya. If you are still thinking that life in the stool pile is the pur- pose of human existence, then it is something like insanity. In such a condition you cannot afford to chant japa “like back- ‘ground music.” You have to cry to Krsna. And if you cannot cery, then you have to cry because you cannot cry. By cry, I simply mean take with all seriousness your japa time and hear with all your heart. As far as sleeping in japa, if you get a good six hours of rest you should be able to avoid it. Keep walking. Put water ‘on your face if necessary. Pray to Krsna to help you concen- trate. The focal point isthe sound of the name and the prayer, “O my Lord, please engage me in Your service." You can take shelter of Krsna by taking shelter of the devotees. tis most important that you follow this vow of chanting Hare Krgna sixteen rounds a day. Of all the spiritual master’s instructions, this is the most important. Of course, our move- ment is very active, and we have many things to do besides chanting sixteen rounds. But unless we chant the sixteen rounds, then we cannot do anything. If we try to do some ser~ vice, it will be almost like karma. And after a while we will not be able to perform service. We will lose enthusiasm. The reason we make a solemn vow—you must do it—is because 58