Waves of Devotion

Rathi Krishna dasa March 16th, 2009

 

Published November 2008.

Purchase here

 

 

Japa Meditations: Contemplations on Entering the Holy Name is a collection of selected personal realizations on japa meditation by Srila Dhanurdhara Swami. Along with his own personal realizations, Maharaja shares the realizations of other sadhakas through interviews and essays.

From the Introduction by Dhanurdhara Swami:

“You should compile these together in a book!” This simple “mantra” offered by Yadunatha dasa, an enthusiastic subscriber to my online journal, struck a chord. He was referring to my “Japa Thoughts,” my personal realizations on how to enter the holy name, a popular entry often found in my journals during the Indian lunar month of Karttika.

Every Karttika since 1974, with the exception of two years, I have resided in Vrindavana, the sacred land of Lord Krsna. Like many Vaisnavas, during that month I take a vow to substantially increase my daily spiritual practice by increasing the time spent in japa meditation. Since 2000, however, I have spent Karttika not only in Vrindavana, but have lived at the foot of Govardhana Hill, the most hallowed ground within the greater Vrindavana area. It is at this time I decided to write my realizations on how to more deeply enter, to become absorbed in, japa meditation. In one fairly recent journal entry I shared the basis of such realizations:

“What is a japa realization? It is the recognition of the obstacles that block us from attaining our next level of meditation and the form of mercy necessary to help us reach beyond those barriers.” (November 1, 2006)

 

One good fortune of living in a sacred place, especially Vrindavana, is the association of deep sadhakas (spiritual practitioners) that often reside and visit there. It is by their association that I am guided in my own meditation. After being inspired to write this book from the simple message “You should compile these together in a book,” it dawned on me that if some were inspired by my realizations, how much more they would get from those that inspire me. I thus decided to ask these devotees if they would agree to be interviewed on how they enter the holy name. I was doubtful how successful I would be; serious sadhakas who reside in the Vrindavana are very busy in nama-bhajana and other devotional practices. However, not one person refused my request!

 

Included are the realizations of:

• Samapriya devi dasi
• Dhruva Maharaja dasa
• Sacinandana Swami
• Aindra dasa
• Partha-Sarathi dasa Goswami
• Mahanidhi Swami
• Nityananda dasa
• Bhurijana dasa
• Niranjana Swami
• Vaisesika dasa
• Srimati dasi
• Kesava Bharati dasa Goswami
• Radha-Vallabha dasa
• Yajna Purusa dasa
• Radhanatha Swami
• Mahatma dasa
• Hari-kirtana dasa

 

From the backcover:

“My experience is that chanting is not a matter of simply endeavoring to articulate some syllables. Actually, such chanting is not really chanting. Chanting looks like chanting, but actually chanting is Krsna dancing. By his own sweet will He is making His divine descent from Goloka-dhama and dancing on our tongues. The holy name is a beautiful, sweetest-of-all-sweetest cowherd boy. He is a cowherd boy, a beautiful, blue cowherd boy, handsome and completely captivating to the heart. By the mercy of Hare, Radha, out hearts have become undeniably, intensely enchanted by the sweetness of that little cowherd boy Krsna, and because we have become enchanted by Him, and He is aware of that, naturally, He won’t leave us alone. Again and again and again He pastures on out tongues, by forcing His way into our consciousness, dancing on our tongues.”

~ Aindra dasa

 

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Publication Details
Published November 2, 2008.
Softcover
112 pages
ISBN-10: 0970358121
ISBN-13: 9780970358127

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