Hare Krishna Mantra question

[peter]

Hare Krishna

 

I have been told many times the amazing effects of this mantra.

 

1: When chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, is it enough to silently chant it in my head, or does it need to be out loud?

 

2: Could I listen to it (on tape) or does it need to be chanted for full effect?

 

Thank you for helping me.

 

Peter

 

[Guest guest]

hearing the mantra is very important. as Prabhupada said, the vibrations of the chanting of the maha mantra is spiritual and benefits anyone who hears it.

 

[Nrsinghadev]

Forgive me if I understood wrong, but this is how I understand it so far:

 

1. the potency of the mantra is in the sound vibration,and as it is stated the name Krishna is non-different from Krishna Himself so silently chanting isn't as effective.

That said, when doing the japa meditation it is not uncommon for devotees to chant only parts of the mantra audibly and the rest under one's breath. But if the names are not uttered, one should at least actively engage the tongue in speaking the names.

 

2. Though effective to a degree, when listening to it trough an intermediate alot of the potency is lost, it becomes second hand mantra. The more effort you put into your service to the Lord, the bigger the reward. The chanting of the mahamantra is considered a form of austerity, so just listening to it through a second hand medium is not. Hope this helps!

 

Haribol!

[Guest guest]

1: When chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, is it enough to silently chant it in my head, or does it need to be out loud?

--.. generally chanting with voice, engaging more senses and energies gives more concentration

 

2: Could I listen to it (on tape) or does it need to be chanted for full effect?

--..virtually hearing (sravanam) and speaking (kirtanam) are two equally effective ways to serve the lord.

 

Again, generally speaking, chanting makes us more concentrated than simply hearing, also because chanting is also hearing with our ears what we are saying with mouth..

 

Another important thing is that all spiritual practices have a real value, useful to quit immediately the material world and go back to krsna, only if they are given to us by pure acharyas.. and acharyas recommend to gaudya vaishnava practitioneers to chant a fixed number of mantras everyday and not simply hearing it

 

if we are faithful to this injunction, krsna will be faithful to us and he will understand that we are serious in following the bhakti process and the spiritual master and he will give his mercy