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Monday Morning Greetings 2021 #19 – Monday Morning Musings V

May 10th, 2021

Krishna is fully present in His holy name, but like any person He does not give Himself to those just offering words. The words must have heart.

 

I caught myself chanting listlessly. The problem? Chanting must be grounded in a spiritual identity. What is that identity? We are consciousness meant for service. I listened carefully to the mantra to see if my soul, a call for service, was sufficiently amplified.

 

It has become clear to me that the quality of my morning chanting does not just depend on my determination when I sit down in the morning, but how I have lived my life the day before. How else can I explain why the clarity of my chanting sometimes varies day to day, even when my effort is relatively the same?

 

Only in samādhi is one focused without distraction for extended periods of time with absolutely no cognizance of anything outside the object of meditation. Until that point, we will certainly, to one extent or another, be distracted during meditation. Before chanting, I try to place myself at the feet of our great teachers and in the lap of the most holy places, so that when my mind wonders instead of going to the mundane, it will reside in a sacred place that inspires me to refocus on the holy name.

 

Chanting inspires reading because it is important to have the right thoughts in mind while chanting.

 

A Chinese proverb that I previously wrote about suddenly came to mind: “Patience in a moment of anger can prevent one hundred days of sorrow.” It became so clear to me during my meditation how, in life, overreaction to challenges to the false ego can needlessly entangle one’s time and mind in a world of drama for days. As a result, those thoughts inevitably violate the sacred space reserved for the name during chanting.

 

Chanting must be grounded in spiritual sentiment. Go in consciousness wherever you can find it. Give life to your entreaty to the holy name.

 

Chant in gratitude. You can never sufficiently pay for what you get, for the holy name is Krishna, and there is nothing equal to the joy it gives. Have I fully realized it? Enough to be very grateful to Śrī Śrī Guru and Gauranga. The voice of “thank you, thank you” is the foundation of my chanting.

 

 

“I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Kṛṣ-ṇa’ have produced. When the holy name of Kṛṣṇa is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert.”  (Cc. Antya-lila, 1.99)

 

 

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