REGARDING NUMBER OF ROUNDS OF CHANTING HARE KRISHNA MAHA MANTRA

HARE KRISHNA ALL,

hare krishna to all devotees,

i joined ISKCON last year in april. i started chanting 16 rounds after 1 month.after few months i started following 4 regulative principals.

last year in nov my contract in job finished n i started chanting 24 rounds as i also found interest in chanting. now my new job is starting in may this year and i will b able to do only 16 rounds n not 24 as i will b very busy in job. ( though i feel sad tht i will b able to chant only 16 n not 24).

my question : will my bhakti decrease due to this ?

will my love towards lord krishna decrease as i will be able to chant only 16 rounds n not 24 ?

as i wanted to increase frequency of my chanting even from 24 to 32 as i love to chant n taste of chanting was coming.

please reply

HARE KRISHNA

it shouldn't. I really can not speak on chanting as I do meditation. 3-4 hours on a normal day although ive done plenty of all day ones. Can easily sit all that time in Samadhi all though its excessive. Usually try to do 1 1/2-2 hours morning and night. And prayer, that is now i connect, right or wrong. It gives me devotion. I find on days where i meditate less its not my devotion that fades and certainly not my God that beats me up. It tends to be me. If i do not let my mind still it kind of flogs me for having not done my usual amount. Its very silly really. All of life is a meditation. Just from what I have heard and read it would seem devotees transfer this same methodology. Chant in your head while you work. Make your work an offering to divinity. Even cleaning a toilet can be an offering. My devotion never changes, it would seem that the mind simply gets you down about how you see yourself in comparison to what you were doing. Truth is, your chanting may have built your devotion up. But in reality your devotion is what makes you chant. Meditation for me built up my devotion in God, but now its really my devotion in God that makes me want to meditate. I wake up earlier to get my meditations in and sleep less. And then there is always determining what is truly necessary. Do you need your job in relationship to rounds of chanting? you may, you might need food on the table and such. Whether a sanyasa goes around begging or you have a job, you have to eat. Its all the same, just the amount of effort you want to put in to unfold what is and has always been there. Spiritual life is not separate from material life. It is separate from the importance put on certain things. This is my opinion. You asked for a senior devotee though, so don't take my answer if you do not like it. I am not a senior devotee, not in this movement, for sure.

Replies

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Mohini Madhavi May 5, 2014 at 12:48pm

Hare Krishna Prabhu, my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

No matter what we have to do 16 rounds attentively and when we walk, sit...if our hand is idle we can carry our beads and chant and complete 24.

It is not good to break a vow but since You did not give a vow to chant 24 so You may not chant that much. But if i were You i would continue it no matter what. Maybe decrease my dinner and sleep little less...

I do 16 and other rounds are just in case...

But another thing is there if we weaken our sadhana it may happen that we will further weaken it more...

Summary: no matter what 16; other rounds just in case...

Your servant,
adam steinberg May 4, 2014 at 3:47pm

it shouldn't. I really can not speak on chanting as I do meditation. 3-4 hours on a normal day although ive done plenty of all day ones. Can easily sit all that time in Samadhi all though its excessive. Usually try to do 1 1/2-2 hours morning and night. And prayer, that is now i connect, right or wrong. It gives me devotion. I find on days where i meditate less its not my devotion that fades and certainly not my God that beats me up. It tends to be me. If i do not let my mind still it kind of flogs me for having not done my usual amount. Its very silly really. All of life is a meditation. Just from what I have heard and read it would seem devotees transfer this same methodology. Chant in your head while you work. Make your work an offering to divinity. Even cleaning a toilet can be an offering. My devotion never changes, it would seem that the mind simply gets you down about how you see yourself in comparison to what you were doing. Truth is, your chanting may have built your devotion up. But in reality your devotion is what makes you chant. Meditation for me built up my devotion in God, but now its really my devotion in God that makes me want to meditate. I wake up earlier to get my meditations in and sleep less. And then there is always determining what is truly necessary. Do you need your job in relationship to rounds of chanting? you may, you might need food on the table and such. Whether a sanyasa goes around begging or you have a job, you have to eat. Its all the same, just the amount of effort you want to put in to unfold what is and has always been there. Spiritual life is not separate from material life. It is separate from the importance put on certain things. This is my opinion. You asked for a senior devotee though, so don't take my answer if you do not like it. I am not a senior devotee, not in this movement, for sure.

This reply was deleted.