Forum

I am very glad to receive your letter dated
February 28th and have noted the contents with
great pleasure. The transcendental experience
which you had during kértana performance
at Loyola University is very nice. Relishing the
transcendental sweetness of kåñëa-kértana is only
possible when one is actually advanced towards
perfection. Srila Rupa Goswami used to say that
if he possessed millions of ears and billions of
tongues he could relish the chanting of the Hare
Krishna mantra. In the conditioned stage we chant
the Hare Krishna mantra officially without any
attachment and try to finish the rounds as soon as
possible. Sometimes we also forget to chant the
prescribed number of rounds. Even at the last stage
of his life Haridas Thakur was chanting 300,000
beads. Lord Chaitanya personally asked him not
to labor so hard, but Haridas Thakur said that he
would continue the practice until the end of his
life. So that is the position of transcendental taste.
Please therefore chant very sincerely with your
present aptitude of mind, and Krishna will bless
you more and more in understanding this secret
of transcendental vibration. Of course, sometimes
the public may misunderstand such tears of bliss,
so it may be better to check such things from the
vision of ordinary persons. Regarding the strange 

colors, etc., it is better that when you see all these

things that you chant and hear. That will help you

to understand what they are. (Also it may be some
effects of your past drugs habit.) ·
— Letter to a new devotee, 11 March 1969.