question from bhn.Milijana

[Guest guest]

Camp: ISKCON, Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir---India. Sri Radha Madhava's

Puspa-dala Water fountain and flower mandap festival. Youth Camp.

 

My Dear Spiritual Daughter Bhn Milijana,

 

Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thankyou for your letter cited below with comments.

 

> Dear Guru Maharaja,

> please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of Your lotus feet! All

> glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada!

> All glories to the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya!

> Some devotees claim that You have given permission to Your disciples and

> followers that,while chanting,they can chant one part of the Maha mantra

> in their minds if they find it hard to say the whole mantra because of

> breading.For instance,someone is chanting...HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA

> KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA...and the rest they chant in

> their mind.

 

I teach that one may chant more than one mantra per breath. Several mantras

per breath or more is also possible. About chanting internally, I may have

given some specific devotees some personal instruction about this based on

some special circumstances, otherwise I haven't given any general

instruction.

 

 

The sastra instructs that there are three ways of chanting: loudly, softly

and mentally. Srila Prabhupada recommended that we chant loudly under

normal conditions since we only chant 25,000 names a day which isn't so much

compared to the 100,000 which used to be chanted by vaisnava saints, what to

speak of the 300,000 names per day chanted by Haridasa Thakura. So one of

the three bona fide methods of chanting is mentally, but we use that for

Gayatri Mantra or when for some reason we can't chant outwardly. There may

be some occasions when mental chanting is all right.

 

I don't remember the exact circumstances, but some devotees were finding it

difficult to chant for some individual reasons and there mind would go off

while breathing so instructed them to try chanting while breathing inwards

also. It may sometimes be useful for some people to keep total focus on the

chanting. It isn't something needed for all and general application. Also,

I can't give my "followers" such a general instruction since spiritual

masters like Harikesa Swami don't permit it at all. So any siksa disciple

initiated by another spiritual master would have to seek permission from the

diksa guru to do this. So I haven't given such a general advice.

 

> I remember,when being on japa workshops,how much You insisted that we say

> the whole mantra and how important that is for our spiritual life.I don't

> think it is hard to say the whole Maha mantra in one breathe,of course if

> the person is not sick(like heaving astma or something like that).I would

> really want to know Your opinion about it and what is Your attitude

> towards that.

 

Some people are sick or have some problems or individual circumstance. Yes

one can chant many mantras per breath if one is healthy.

 

> Please forgive me all offences!

>

>

> Your servant

> bhn.Milijana!

 

I hope this finds you blissful and healthy in Krishna consciousness.

Your ever well wisher,

Jayapataka Swami