Srila Prabhupada Japa tape

[Guest guest]

Dear Kurma Prabhu,

 

Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

I usually tolerate the "let's have Prabhupada chanting with us" phenomenon

and without making too much of a fuss of it it seems to unmanifest itself

about as quickly as it appears.

 

I also don't like it too loud.

 

Your servant,

 

Aniruddha Dasa

 

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Kurma (das) ACBSP (Perth - AU) [Kurma.ACBSP (AT) pamho (DOT) net]

Tuesday, 16 December 2003 1:27 PM

Bhakti Vikasa Swami; Hari Sauri (das) ACBSP; Aniruddha (das) BJD

(Melbourne - AU); Jaya Tirtha Charan dasan; Mahat-tattva (das) (Los Angeles,

CA - USA); gregjay (AT) softhome (DOT) net; (Arcana) Deity Worship; (Krsna) Katha

Srila Prabhupada Japa tape

 

Dear devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

I was wondering about the history of the Srila Prabhupada Japa tape.

 

Did Prabhupada ever make any comments on it being played in the temples, or

rather just for personal use, or whether he made no comment on it at all?

 

I seem to recall that it was compiled before Srila prabhupada passed away,

and I also recall someone saying that Srila Prabhupada said it was a

concoction that we 'should' play this tape while we are chanting japa.

 

The tape, as you know, is a 10 or 12 minute recording of Prabhupada chanting

on initiates' beads at a yajna somewhere, with the famous 'sit properly'

order punctuating the event.

 

I visit many temples where this japa tape is played in the temple during

japa time, and it is religiously turned on, (often loudly) for the full

duration of Japa time. Some temples even have a devotee rostered to put it

on, and turn the cassette over. Some devotees explain that it is put on as a

meditation as the Prabhupada murti is 'chanting japa', and to accompany and

sanctify our chanting.

 

Personally, I find it distracting to play this tape while I am trying to

hear my own japa. This is especially if there are only a few devotees in the

temple at the time, and the tape is booming out through the sound system.

 

Sometimes, other like-minded devotees turn the tape down to barely audible,

but then this begs the question as to why it needs to be on at all.

 

My comments on this phenomena have aroused surprise and even horror amongst

some (usually younger) devotees - how could I suggest that Prabhupada's japa

tape could possibly be a distraction! But I am sure you get my drift. The

tape contains a lot of other ambient sound (the whole assembly at the

yajna), and I find this a challenge on my concentration to hear my own

chanting.

 

Since I have done a fair bit of research for my own book on Srila Prabhupada

in Australia, I am interested in finding out more on this subject, since I

have traced quite a few bogus devotee 'habits' - albeit fairly innocuous

ones - over the years.

 

Any comments?

 

Hoping you don't find this letter too self-indulgent.

 

Your servant,

kurma dasa

 

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[Guest guest]

> > I think that the original Kurma prabhu's point was not about whether

> > Prabhupada's japa tape helps someone to become more absorbed into his

> > personal chanting of maha-mantra or not, but about making it a standard

> > practice within our temples. Apparently we don't have any direct

> > instructions either from Srila Prabhupada or from our acaryas on the

> > matter. So in my humble opinion introducing any new things into our

> > basic sadhana requires sabda pramana. To introduce a new standard in our

> > temple rooms without any scriptural support just on pretext that it

> > helps someone to become more absorbed (and that's quite subjective

> > feeling) is somewhat speculative and goes against the principles given

> > by Srila Prabhupada himself.

>

> How do you conclude that this is a new thing? When I joined the temple

> twenty-seven years ago, Srila Prabhupada's Japa tape was being played, and

> it is continued to be played in many temples up till today. Hearing Srila

> Prabhupada's japa tape in the temple during japa time is a sure protection

> against hearing prajalpa that devotees often indulges in during japa in

> the temple.

 

The reasoning that the twenty seven years period makes the things old and

therefore authorized as well as the other inference-like proposals as to why

we think the japa tape could be played do not sound as appealing as merely a

single statement by Srila Prabhupada instructing us to listen his japa tape

during our own japa time.

 

At a whole the japa tape issue becomes REALLY BIG issue only when some of

our overly enthusiastic devotees start playing it TOO LOUDLY and afterwards

make it traditional, labeling others who like to listen their own japa as

"enamored by maya". I think it won't be too interesting to many of us to

discuss which decibel the "too loudly" point actually begins at...

 

Your servant

Visista dasa