{"id":125,"date":"2007-05-10T21:17:01","date_gmt":"2007-05-10T21:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/?p=125"},"modified":"2013-10-01T21:17:23","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T21:17:23","slug":"more-on-chanting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/more-on-chanting\/","title":{"rendered":"More On Chanting"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 10, 2007<\/span><\/p>\n

Some further hints about how to increase the quality of Japa have come to
\nmind. I have been practicing these for some time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Actually chanting nicely in the morning starts the night before. What we do
\nright before taking rest at night affects our consciousness not only while
\nwe are resting but also for the next day particularly the morning time.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vedas describe that there are two stages of sleep: unconscious and
\ndreaming. Even those two stages can be broken up into different activities
\nof the brain and the mind. For example while we are dreaming we are
\nprocessing (what we received in the past), predicting (working through
\nevents we might have to go through in the future), and venting (throwing out
\nunnecessary or unwanted data).<\/span><\/p>\n

These activities involve the subconscious mind which is connected with our
\nsubtle body.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, for example when we are absorbed in something, particularly at right
\nbefore we go to sleep that very subject matter is processed during the night
\nand affects our consciousness when we wake up in the morning. It is said
\nthat that half hour before sleep is critical and that whatever we are
\nconscious of during that half hour will enter into our subconscious mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

I will give you one experience I had many years ago when I was a teenager.
\nMy father had bought me a manual shift car, but I did not know how to drive
\nthis type of car. Every attempt I made was unsuccessful. So I studied the
\nmovements and theory behind shifting the car, meditated on it, dreamt of it,
\nand the next morning I was able to drive a manual shift perfectly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Srila Prabhupada understood this principle very well. That is why he
\nadvocated an evening program, and especially reading the Krishna Book before
\nresting at night.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words if you absorb yourself in Krishna Katha before you take rest at
\nnight during the night your mind and brain will be processing Krishna Katha,
\nyou will likely wake up thinking about Krishna, and your subtle body will be
\npurified! Wow! What a nice way to become Kcon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes when I read Krishna Katha at night I become so excited that I
\nstart bouncing off the walls and can’t sleep! That I guess is an
\noccupational hazard! So, one should pick a type of Krishna Katha that is
\nmore meditative-like that contained in Krishna Book!<\/span><\/p>\n

Another point is how one should wake up the next morning. Generally people
\nwake up in a groggy state (although it will be less likely if you are
\nhearing Krishna Katha the previous night). But, whatever state you wake up
\nin, you should immediately start to chant the Mahamantra out loud.<\/span><\/p>\n

I sing when I am going through the bathroom procedures. I often take this
\nopportunity to learn new kirtan tunes. Sometimes the kirtan gets so ecstatic
\nthat I have to remind myself that I have other things to do in the morning
\nthan chanting in my house to myself!<\/span><\/p>\n

An alternative is to listen to a class or kirtan by Srila Prabhupada. It is
\nvery important that if you listen to a class or kirtan it be one by a pure
\ndevotee.<\/span><\/p>\n

We should be very very discriminating as to what Kirtans or classes we
\nlisten too. If someone is chanting or speaking and they are not strictly
\nfollowing, our consciousness can even get covered by the modes of nature by
\nour listening to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

avaisnava-mukhodgirnam
\nputam hari-kathamrtam
\nsravanam naiva kartavyam
\nsarpocchistam yatha payah Padma Purana<\/span><\/p>\n

So, the above two suggestions (what to do before resting and what to do when
\nwaking) prepare the mind for chanting proper japa.<\/span><\/p>\n

One final suggestion is that when you sit down to chant japa, and relax the
\nbody, you tell the mind in a very positive way to focus on the sound
\nvibration. If you repeat this several times to the mind and feel positive
\nabout it, the mind will be obedient.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my next blog, I would like to write about the devotee who I consider the
\nbest disciple of Srila Prabhupada!!!!!
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 10, 2007 Some further hints about how to increase the quality of Japa have come to mind. I have been practicing these for some time. Actually chanting nicely in the morning starts the night before. What we do right before taking rest at night affects our consciousness not only while we are resting but read more>><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[23,21,22,13],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}