Ten Transcendental Tips To Better Chanting

November 26, 2008

Here are tens tips for improved chanting:

1. Serve those who serve the Lord, don't criticize them out of envy or false ego.2. Worship Krishna as the " source of all spiritual and material worlds " , " the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities. " Show respect to demigods like Lord Siva or Ganesh and personalities like Hanuman as exalted devotees of Lord Krishna.

3. Show full respect to the spiritual master in thoughts, words and actions, considering him to be a representative of the Lord. Carry out the orders of the spiritual master with enthusiasm and attention to detail.

4. Honor (and study) the scriptures as the instructions of the Supreme Lord (dharmam tu saksad bhagavat pranitam) with the desire to understand how they are correct (not if they are correct).5. Have faith that the Holy Name is not a mundane sound vibration, but is in fact transcendental sound, descending from the (pure) spiritual platform.

6. Have faith in the explanations and glorification of the Holy Name given by guru, sadhu and sastra. This knowledge is given by those who have experienced the glories of the Holy Name, and who have " seen the truth. "

7. Root out the desire to commit sins. A sin is an action that is not connected to the Supreme Lord; something done for the gratification of the senses. Acting only for the pleasure of the material body brings you further from practical realization of your factual identity as an eternal spirit soul (separate from the temporary material body).

8. Give up ritualistic pious activities. Transcend feelings of duty and obligation and perform all activities for the pleasure of Krishna.9. Discuss the glories of the Holy Name with servants of the Lord who will relish hearing about it.

10. Chant attentively, absorbing your full consciousness in the transcendental vibration of the Holy Name.If you can seriously follow the above ten guidelines your chanting will improve by leaps and bounds.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari-- At the present moment we are the slaves of our senses. When our senses dictate, " Give me this or give me that " , we dutifully accommodate them. What we fail to realize is that the senses are not us and that satisfying them therefore does not satisfy us. If we want actual happiness, we should limit the senses to what they actually need not giving them everything for which they feel greed. In this way we can channel the major portion of our serving propensity towards the Supreme Person, the source of all existence. When we water the root of a tree all the leaves and branches. Similarly when we serve the Original Person we become fully satisfied and we give full satisfaction to all living beings.

Chant:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare