chanting in unison

[Guest guest]

> Sometimes devotees chant the maha-mantra in unison, i.e. all chanting at the

> same speed and saying the syllables together. Around 1977 devoteees in

> Bhaktivedanta Manor used to chant one round a day together like this, but

> then Tulasi dasa Prabhu came from LA and said that Srila Prabhupada did not

> approve of this.

>

> Any more information or insights on this?

 

I personally feel that this kind of chanting can be called kirtan rather than

japa. In japa you chant softly so that you can hear. In kirtan you first hear

other devotee chanting, then repeat the same alongwith other devotees. In this

kind of group japa with simultaneous chanting, one cannot hear his own

chanting. He hears the cumulative sound of the group or the loudest devotee in

that group etc. If one wants to hear his won chanting then one has to scream

above the voice of other devotees.

 

Your servant,

Nayana-ranjana das