There is a great connection between stillness and listening. “Don’t move” we say when we hear some noise around the house in the middle of the night. In yoga we hold the body still in order to hear the breath. We will hold the shoulders of our child while we tell her something important.
In the tradition of mantra meditation, the repetition of a sacred sound, how we listen, how we hear the mantra is the difference between a successful practice or not. Although in the Krishna Bhakti practice the
Good chanting does not depend on our adherence to mechanical rules. It is not a matter of just doing the dos and avoiding the don’ts and then our job is done. No, not at all! Chanting is an offering of the heart – a heart filled with feelings of humility, a desire to surrender and a sincere service attitude. It is ultimately a loving call to Sri Sri Radha and Krsna. This means we need to chant with a firm understanding of our relationship with Them (sambhandha). “My Lord, I have a relationship
HG Padmakshi Vinodini Mataji and HG Govinda Vallabha Mataji (from Left to Right)
For the warriors of COVID-19
Reported by Dr. Chetan Hazaree
We often hear that devotees live a life of mature compassion. They perform multifarious activities out of their compassion for the welfare of all living entities. While performing these compassionate acts, their vision is set on serving the Supreme Lord and begging for mercy, not for themselves, but for others. Each mature devotee performs different acts o
By Indradyumna Swami
One day, we pray, we’ll chant and dance with them again!
A verse in the Brahmanda Purana states: “Those who get the darsana of Acyuta, the son of Devaki, can attain Visnuloka and never fall back to the material world. A person who celebrates the festivals of Lord Krsna with full faith becomes free of all sins and goes back to the spiritual world.”
Srila Prabhupada explains the importance of chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna Mantra every day and how Krishna protects you.
By Nanda Kumar Dasa ACBSP who was Srila Prabhupada’s personal servant in the early years of ISKCON.
From the time I took initiation from Srila Prabhupad in Los Angeles in June of 1969, I was blessed to be able to keep my vow of chanting 16 rounds a day for some time.
Then not long after becoming Srila Prabhupad’s cook and personal servant, I missed doing 16 rounds fo
By Vijaya Prabhu
One Muslim boy was reluctant to take a book from me because it was from outside his tradition. I saw him another day, and he said, “I had this dream the Bhagavad-gita came to me glowing.” I again encouraged him to get the book, and after repeated attempts, he finally accepted it.
This knowledge can pull people out of the modes of material nature.
We are still tinged, but we have come a long way.
We are not distributing paper and ink but jewels.
I tell the people, “You cannot pu
In Vrindavan, on September 13, 1975, Srila Prabhupada spoke on Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.2.11:
na niskrtair uditair brahma-vadibhis
tatha visuddhyaty aghavan vratadibhih
yatha harer nama-padair udahrtais
tad uttamasloka-gunopalambhakam
“By following the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or undergoing atonement, sinful men do not become as purified as by chanting once the holy name of Lord Hari. Although ritualistic atonement may free one from sinful reactions, it does not awaken devotional service, unlike
From “On the Holy Name” at Kirtan-mela in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Oct 5, 2019:
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains that if we are humble will seek the help of another. Otherwise, we will not be inclined.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that “trnad api” is the siddha-pranali, the mantra to attain perfection.
Lord Caitanya said to string that verse on the garland of the holy name and wear it around your neck.
Lord Caitanya says that even if a tree is drying up, it does not ask for
Srila Narottama dasa Thakura says, samsara-visanale, divanisi hiya jvale, judaite na kainu upaya: “We are always suffering from material pangs, and our hearts are burning, but we cannot find any way out of it.” The materialistic person can also be called a tapasvi, which means someone who is always suffering from material pains. One can get rid of all these material pains only when he takes shelter of the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. This is also explained by Narottama dasa Thakura: golok
It has come! It has come! After a whole year Sri Navadvipa Parikrama has come once again inviting all devotees to enter its prema filled islands.
Around 6 am, in the hazy morning of the 26th , vaishnavas and vaishnavis from all walks of life and of multifarious cultural and ethnical backgrounds gather at the Sri Yogapith.
The first of many kirtans to come began startling the hearts of all with vibrant earnestness, humility and courage. “Jiv jago Jiv Jago”
The procession of Gaura bhaktas headed
Chanting Krishna’s name in mantra meditation is a concentrated effort. Although we remember Krishna here and there throughout the day, japa is a focused and full immersive experience in hearing the holy name.
The invitation to japa is to listen. To listen to the sound of the mantra through our own voice chanting it. Just hear, Prabhupada once said, Just hear yourself chant sincerely.
Our mind and body tend to get restless with extended listening to the mantra. The body may ache as we sit, or
There are so many mantras out there? Why is the Hare Krsna mahamantra considered to be the most powerful one?
Mantras are all invested with power. Previously, there were sages, who by chanting mantras, could do many things. Some people were fighting with mantras. Now we think we are very sophisticated these days; we have missiles for instance. But in the old days, you could just chant a mantra and invoke a great power. So mantras are known to have all kinds of powers. People could light fire by
One of the books I truly love is the JAPA book my Bhurijan Prabhu. It is such a practical, beautiful and deep book. It just makes so much sense and puts things in perspective.
Crowds of revelers in Dublin, Ireland enthusiastically joined devotees in dancing and chanting the Holy Name to ring in 2020 this New Year’s Eve.
The exhilarating experience has been a tradition for ISKCON Ireland for over three decades, and is well known to the Dublin public.
Started by enthusiastic younger devotees in the early days who wanted to bring the maha-mantra to large crowds, it saw record numbers of devotees participate during the late Tribhuvanatha Prabhu’s tenure in Ireland. For
Kadamba Kanana Swami: What happens when you chant Hare Krsna? There is a change if you chant Hare Krsna. You look at me, everyone looking? Okay, look now, “Hare Krsna!” Did you see any change?
Devotees: Yes.
Kadamba Kanana Swami: Okay, what did you see?
Devotees: “Happy!” “Lots of energy!” “Enthusiasm!” “Blissful!” “Positivity!” “You made us all chant!”
Kadamba Kanana Swami: No, you got it all wrong, sorry. No, what really happened is that the subtle body has changed. Yes I may smile, but I do
By Pancharatna das
It’s been just over a year since we launched the completed Chantnow.com on Radhastami, 17th September 2018 and the results have been very encouraging.
We began with an experimental Facebook advertising campaign that resulted in a surge of 275 people enrolling in our 7 day Chanting workshop at an advertising cost of just about $1 each. We knew we could generate student enrollments, but could we keep them progressing?
To focus on student services, we then turned to fine-tuning o
By His Divine Grace ACBS Srila Prabhupada
A conversation about the Hare Krsna mantra between Srila Prabhupada and John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison
Montreal Star, June, 1969:
Reporter: Where do you get your strength?
John Lennon: From Hare Krsna.
Yoko: That’s where we get it from, you know. We’re not denying it.
In September 1969. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acarya (spiritual master) of the Hare Krsna movement, arrived as a house guest at Tittenhurst Park, the beautifu
In the Gaudiya way of bhakti, you offer everything to Krsna, the good, the bad – your life. You share everything with someone you are close to, the barriers are low, close friends are intimate. In bhakti this is called mamata, a strong sense of ownership, or relation to the Lord, that “He is mine and I’m His”. This type of love can be attained by two types of devotional service, as it is stated by Narada Muni in Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta: “One develops that love by practicing the devotional servi
“I am happy to hear that you continued to chant despite so many doubts and skepticism. That is the process. Even there may be doubts and skepticism, but if one continues the chanting process, the doubts will all disappear, and real knowledge will be revealed by the grace of Krishna. The example is given of the jaundice patient. He is suffering from disease, and when given sugar candy, which is the cure, he finds it very bitter and distasteful. But that does not mean the sugar candy is not sweet
