To Chant or Not to Chant...?

[Shakti-Fan]

Calcutta, West Bengal, India — Friday, April 14th

A Blog by Sripad Bhakti Lalita Akincan Maharaja, Sanyasa disciple of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda-Dev Goswami Maharaja

Sadhana is also service

For the past three weeks, Srila Gurudeva has been frequently quoting, regularly reminding us of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's truism: "My service is to chant and glorify the divine name of Lord Krishna."

Why so much emphasis on this? Everybody knows this already, right? It's not like this is something new. It's cliché. Let's move on. We get it!

Um, perhaps Srila Gurudeva keeps quoting this axiom because we don't get it. Perhaps we need to be reminded because, as Srila Gurudeva said the other day, "nobody follows the rules and regulations any more."

Sometimes we think that because service is stressed above all else, our sadhana (regulated spiritual practice, like chanting japa and gayatri) is not so important. This cavalier interpretation, if we are not careful, can become a slippery slope that leads to doing nothing at all because our sadhana is also our service to Srila Gurudeva.

When Srila Gurudeva initiated us into the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra he told us to "chant sixteen rounds or more every day," and as a concession to some of the many other service obligations that we might have, he told us to "chant a minimum of four rounds daily."

But the concession soon became the norm, the exception soon became the rule, the minimum soon became the maximum... and now we justify chanting four rounds a day with the excuse: "I'm doing service!"

How much service do we do anyway?

Think about it...

A pujari serves almost twenty-four hours a day: there are very few of us who can claim to follow such a rigorous schedule. Yet one such hard-working pujari who was late opening the doors to the temple room one afternoon provoked this stern aside from Srila Gurudeva: "He is lazy..."

So where does that leave us? We are doing almost nothing compared to the pujari, so how can we think that our meager service excuses us from chanting our full complement of rounds?

When we received initiation we made a vow to follow the rules and regulations (to chant all our rounds, to avoid the ten offenses against the holy name, to keep the four regulative principles) but now, as Srila Gurudeva once lamented, "Circumstances are changing our promise, and we are becoming a slave to circumstances."

When we neglect our sadhana, we gradually lose our motivation; when we lose our enthusiasm, we become disillusioned; when we become disenchanted, we begin to doubt the process. But faith is a prerequisite on the path of Krishna consciousness:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya

tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah

In the beginning we must have faith (sraddha). When our faith grows strong in the association of the devotees (sadhu-sangha) we will aspire for a life of dedication, request initiation from Srila Gurudeva, and begin our devotional service under his direction and guidance (bhajana-kriya).

The very first service that Srila Gurudeva gives us when we are initiated is "to chant and glorify the divine name of Lord Krishna." His Divine Grace promises: "If you chant this maha-mantra without offense, Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart."

How can Krishna reveal Himself in our hearts if our hearts are impure? How can the process of purification begin (tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat), how can we develop resolute faith (tato nistha), how can we get a real taste Krishna consciousness (rucis tatah), if we do not follow Srila Gurudeva's first and most basic instruction?

If we do not have faith in Srila Gurudeva's instructions, how can we profess to be his disciples? According to the Bhagavad Gita, a good disciple must have three qualifications: sincerity (pranipatena), humility (pariprasnena), and dedication (sevaya). If we do not follow Srila Gurudeva's order "to chant and glorify the divine name of Lord Krishna," we disqualify ourselves on all three counts.

We must not forget that our sadhana (chanting the holy name) is also our service to Srila Gurudeva. We cannot ignore our sadhana and still expect to make advancement in Krishna consciousness.

[Beggar]

Srila Prabhupada once said (although I can't quote the source), "Chant, chant, chant; Can't, can't, can't". Of course he was referring to the lamentable position of neophype practitioners such as us. http://www.imonk.net/about.html This the URL for Akincan Maharaja's Blogs. (I Googled it.) Interesting.

[Guest guest]

 

Calcutta, West Bengal, India — Friday, April 14th

A Blog by Sripad Bhakti Lalita Akincan Maharaja, Sanyasa disciple of Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda-Dev Goswami Maharaja

Sadhana is also service

For the past three weeks, Srila Gurudeva has been frequently quoting, regularly reminding us of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur's truism: "My service is to chant and glorify the divine name of Lord Krishna."

Why so much emphasis on this? Everybody knows this already, right? It's not like this is something new. It's cliché. Let's move on. We get it!

Um, perhaps Srila Gurudeva keeps quoting this axiom because we don't get it. Perhaps we need to be reminded because, as Srila Gurudeva said the other day, "nobody follows the rules and regulations any more."

Sometimes we think that because service is stressed above all else, our sadhana (regulated spiritual practice, like chanting japa and gayatri) is not so important. This cavalier interpretation, if we are not careful, can become a slippery slope that leads to doing nothing at all because our sadhana is also our service to Srila Gurudeva.

When Srila Gurudeva initiated us into the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra he told us to "chant sixteen rounds or more every day," and as a concession to some of the many other service obligations that we might have, he told us to "chant a minimum of four rounds daily."

But the concession soon became the norm, the exception soon became the rule, the minimum soon became the maximum... and now we justify chanting four rounds a day with the excuse: "I'm doing service!"

How much service do we do anyway?

Think about it...

A pujari serves almost twenty-four hours a day: there are very few of us who can claim to follow such a rigorous schedule. Yet one such hard-working pujari who was late opening the doors to the temple room one afternoon provoked this stern aside from Srila Gurudeva: "He is lazy..."

So where does that leave us? We are doing almost nothing compared to the pujari, so how can we think that our meager service excuses us from chanting our full complement of rounds?

When we received initiation we made a vow to follow the rules and regulations (to chant all our rounds, to avoid the ten offenses against the holy name, to keep the four regulative principles) but now, as Srila Gurudeva once lamented, "Circumstances are changing our promise, and we are becoming a slave to circumstances."

When we neglect our sadhana, we gradually lose our motivation; when we lose our enthusiasm, we become disillusioned; when we become disenchanted, we begin to doubt the process. But faith is a prerequisite on the path of Krishna consciousness:

adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sango 'tha bhajana-kriya

tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis tatah

In the beginning we must have faith (sraddha). When our faith grows strong in the association of the devotees (sadhu-sangha) we will aspire for a life of dedication, request initiation from Srila Gurudeva, and begin our devotional service under his direction and guidance (bhajana-kriya).

The very first service that Srila Gurudeva gives us when we are initiated is "to chant and glorify the divine name of Lord Krishna." His Divine Grace promises: "If you chant this maha-mantra without offense, Krishna will reveal Himself in your heart."

How can Krishna reveal Himself in our hearts if our hearts are impure? How can the process of purification begin (tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat), how can we develop resolute faith (tato nistha), how can we get a real taste Krishna consciousness (rucis tatah), if we do not follow Srila Gurudeva's first and most basic instruction?

If we do not have faith in Srila Gurudeva's instructions, how can we profess to be his disciples? According to the Bhagavad Gita, a good disciple must have three qualifications: sincerity (pranipatena), humility (pariprasnena), and dedication (sevaya). If we do not follow Srila Gurudeva's order "to chant and glorify the divine name of Lord Krishna," we disqualify ourselves on all three counts.

We must not forget that our sadhana (chanting the holy name) is also our service to Srila Gurudeva. We cannot ignore our sadhana and still expect to make advancement in Krishna consciousness.

[Shakti-Fan]

I'm assuming technical difficulties in the last post. Akincan Maharaja's blog was really nice. But it also shows that even one of Srila Govinda Maharaja's close sannyas disciples is lamenting about not following the sadhana properly including chanting of the gayatri mantras. This indicates what we thought all along, that Govinda M. means that the "gayatri is not so important", only in theory and in relation to the Holy Name. Their practice of chanting gayatri is certainly followed. So much for those who will twist an acarya's words to support their own mental concoction. (This post is composed by Shati-fan and Beggar together).

[Nrsinghadev]

Haribol,

 

great blog by Akincan Maharaj, moreso because the purport of it can be applied to all aspects of sadhana, not just to the chanting of the holy name. I particularly found the following line quite striking, as it shows quite accurately how surreptitiously letting slip the reigns of regulated principles actually takes place:

 

"But the concession soon became the norm, the exception soon became the rule, the minimum soon became the maximum"

 

The workings of this tendency through other aspects of sadhana already becomes evident if we browse even through some recent posts in topics of this very forum; topics about it's okay to eat chocolate because Prabhupada once ate a bit(exception becoming the norm), about it's not so bad to eat garlic and onion because hey it's vegetarian, about it's okay to worship any God whimsically because they're all the same One God anyway etc. etc.

Some may seem insignificant, and that is why they're dangerous. Keep letting the small things slide and bigger things may follow. Soon you'll find yourself engrossed in material lifestyle again and wonder what happened. Or worse you may not wonder and just give in to it by thinking that chanting a few rounds daily will cancel out the sins, which is an offense to the chanting of the holy name. All in all an inspiring read, thank you for posting that.

 

Hare Krishna

[D B Cooper Jr]

I found a quote in Srimad Bhagavatam that says if you recite the story of Prahlada Maharaja in the morning and evening with faith and devotion then all or your material needs will automatically be taken care of by Krishna and you will be guaranteed to go back to Godhead when you quit your body. I don't know if this means there is some flexibility in devotional service. From what I have read Prabhupada was very strict about chanting 16 rounds and following regulative principles but then I have read other statements where Prabhupada says the most important regulative principle to follow is no illicit sex and that if you are going to eat meat make sure and not to eat cows. I guess it changes for the audience he is speaking too or something. Maybe he was making concessions because western culture is so blind to spiritual realization.

 

Haribol,

great blog by Akincan Maharaj, moreso because the purport of it can be applied to all aspects of sadhana, not just to the chanting of the holy name. I particularly found the following line quite striking, as it shows quite accurately how surreptitiously letting slip the reigns of regulated principles actually takes place:

"But the concession soon became the norm, the exception soon became the rule, the minimum soon became the maximum"

The workings of this tendency through other aspects of sadhana already becomes evident if we browse even through some recent posts in topics of this very forum; topics about it's okay to eat chocolate because Prabhupada once ate a bit(exception becoming the norm), about it's not so bad to eat garlic and onion because hey it's vegetarian, about it's okay to worship any God whimsically because they're all the same One God anyway etc. etc.

Some may seem insignificant, and that is why they're dangerous. Keep letting the small things slide and bigger things may follow. Soon you'll find yourself engrossed in material lifestyle again and wonder what happened. Or worse you may not wonder and just give in to it by thinking that chanting a few rounds daily will cancel out the sins, which is an offense to the chanting of the holy name. All in all an inspiring read, thank you for posting that.

Hare Krishna