Proper way of chanting....

[Erik]

According to Srila Prabhupada we should chant loudly.

 

Sometimes I see in the Temple during Bhajans ,or even during Mangala Arati one time, devotees who are busy with chanting while listening to Bhajans, softly.

 

Sometimes I see devotees chanting mentally.

 

What is the best way of chanting ?

 

erik

[Beggar]

From Prema-Vivarta

by Srila Jagadananda Pandita

Japa and kirtana defined

Soft, but barely audible chanting is known as japa, and kirtana is always loud and clear. Both of these are a part of smarana or remembrance, meaning meditation on the Lord and His pastimes. Kirtana is also loud singing. It is imperative for everyone to know how to properly chant the holy name and accrue the best results from it.

[Erik]

That means that everyone has to figure out for his or her self how to chant, I know Bhaktivinoda Thakur chanted in a meditation room with a thick door and Sanatan Goswami chanted in a cave 20 feet under a house just to be emerged in concentrated chanting....

[Beggar]

Srila Sridhar Maharaj:

 

The sound and its effect depends upon the attitude we accept, and the quality we can conceive, because the actual vaikuntha nama is infinite. In that plane, the divine name is equal to the substance named. When the sound aspect is one and the same with the original aspect of the thing, that is vaikuntha nama. Here in this world, a blind man's name may be Padmalocan - lotus-eyed - but really he may be blind. The name and the figure may be entirely different. But in Vaikuntha, in the infinite world, the name and the named are one and the same. Yet to experience the vaikuntha nama, one must avoid both nama aparadha, offenses to the holy name, and namabhasa, the shadow of the holy name. By namabhasa, we get some relief from this worldly bondage, and by nama aparadha, we become entangled in this mayik world. But the ordinary physical sound cannot represent the real name, which is supernatural.

It is said that one name of Krsna can remove more ignorance and sin than a man has the power to commit. But what is the quality of that one name? We may chant the physical name of Krsna so many times without getting the result of even one real name. There is a great difference between the ordinary sound of the name, the superficial mayik name, and the pure name. The pure name is one and the same with Krsna, but that descends down to our level only by His grace. We cannot vibrate it simply by dint of our moving our tongue and our lips. The pure name of Krsna is not lip deep, but heart deep. And it ultimately goes beyond the heart and reaches the land of Krsna. When Krsna comes down, the name Krsna comes through the heart and moves the lips and tongue. That vibration is the holy name of Krsna, krsna nama.

 

[cbrahma]

 

 

 

"Chanting a mantra or hymn softly and slowly is called japa, and chanting the same mantra loudly is called kirtana. For example, uttering the maha-mantra (

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

) very softly, only for one's own hearing, is called japa. Chanting the same mantra loudly for being heard by all others is called kirtana. The maha-mantra can be used for japa and kirtana also. When japa is practiced it is for the personal benefit of the chanter, but when kirtana is performed it is for the benefit of all others who may hear. In the Padma Purana there is a statement: "For any person who is chanting the holy name either softly or loudly, the paths to liberation and even heavenly happiness are at once open."

Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 9

 

 

[AncientMariner]

I like to chant mentally personally because I find it kind of rude to force people to hear something if they don't want to hear it. I realize the acaryas advocate chanting loudly to the public and all that but I am not built that way. I feel rude trying to push my religious views on others.

[Erik]

I chant both mentally and loudly, but I prefer concentrated chanting.

 

I do a lot of Japa walks to an ancient village around which costs me 2 hours of walking along harsh roads with cars passing by and people looking surprisingly to my beadbag, yet, I chant concentrated, as long as my thoughts are not replacing the mantra the chanting is concentrated, the thoughts become very subtle, and I know it's better to not have thoughts at all, but a nice Japa walk in the spring sun is very nice, especially along the riverside.