I sit quietly focused on my practice
but little hands of distraction climb
up the back of my neck.
They carry small bags
of amusing off ramps.
Off ramps of my past,
off ramps to future dreams—
some horrific
some graphically palpable.
Small hands climb to where
the road ends…my mind.
They set up shop there.
Soon a festival of cotton candy
and freak shows—a three ring circus.
Clowns, acrobats, trapeze artists,
magicians, and lion tamers—
all in my mind.
All vanish quickly—
once I realize I hav
Excerpt from the lecture by HH Nirañjana Swami
Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 8.16
Śrī Māyāpur Dhāma, March 4, 2014
The following is a partially-edited transcription of an excerpt of a lecture given on March 04, 2014 in Śrī Māyāpur Dhāma – CC, Ādi-līlā 8.16
This verse stresses the importance of chanting the Holy Name so that one can achieve the ultimate goal of this chanting. I wanted to read something also in connection to this. It is short but very relevant to this verse. In the words of our p
The following is a partially-edited transcription of a lecture given on May 01, 2001 in Moscow – Our Progress in Life is Gauged by Our Chanting
I am very happy to be back in Moscow after six months. It’s hard to believe it’s already been six months since the last time I was here. One realization I am getting a lot is how fast time goes. Doesn’t seem very long ago that I was sitting here giving a class, but it’s already been six months.
As we all know from various understandings of Kṛṣṇa conscio
Excerpt from the lecture by HH Nirañjana Swami
Baltics Winter Festival, January 17, 2014
The following is a partially-edited transcription of an excerpt of a lecture given on January 17, 2014, at the Baltics Winter Festival – Chanting with Feeling
Today I wanted to read and speak from a few quotes about the Holy Name. Some of them I have read recently and found a lot of significance to them, not only to myself but those with whom I shared them. A lot of times the devotees struggle to make their
The gift of the Holy Name is the greatest treasure because it is Krsna Himself. Everything is contained within the Holy Name. The Holy Name is more merciful than Krsna Himself. When you offend Krsna yourself, you can purify that by chanting the Holy Name. But if you offend the Holy Name, then what? Even that we can purify by chanting the Holy Name. The only remedy is chanting the Holy Name!
Source: https://www.kksblog.com/2021/05/chanting-is-the-only-remedy/
Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Tejiyas das sent me this remembrance, and I thought to share it with you.
During Srila Prabhupada’s visit to the Hyderabad farm, there was a lot of tension created by one devotee, as he was so politically minded that he could see me and Hamsaduta only as enemies (his mindset was “enemy or friend”).
Srila Prabhupada tried to mediate, sometimes roughing me up with words such as “Do not be bureaucratic,” and even instructing me to “go out in back and fight it out with t
We are all very fortunate, whether we are present in person or whether we are present through electronic means, because it does not really matter. It is transcendental sound vibration and it is the connection with this sound that is very important. Srila Prabhupada was very unique because he had faith in recordings and he recorded the Holy Name and he had faith that all the potency was in this Holy Name. This was revolutionary! Prabhupada would give second initiation by tape where he would spea
The acaryas were so absorbed in chanting that they did not want to do anything else. When Gaura Kishor das Babaji was chanting and would get hungry, he would simply eat some clay from the Earth. He was hungry, but he did not want to be distracted by going elsewhere to eat since he wanted to keep on chanting. How can we understand this, how can we understand such a high taste for chanting?!
It is said in the Sri Caitanya-carita by Murari Gupta that, “Gopinatha Acarya took the path of hearing Sri
Our chanting is not based on a technique. I read a book that described that certain types of music create alpha waves, causing the brain to become very receptive. I thought, “Rubbish!” Even if it would work, it would only be a temporary fix. It would not be substantial at all because if we really want to chant, we have to become attracted to Krsna. That is how we come to the point of chanting attentively.
It is said that currently, our consciousness is invested in the sensual platform, therefore
At the time of initiation, even if the vows are taken sincerely, how deep is our sincerity? Even in the best scenario, when the disciple very sincerely from the heart says, “I am going to give my life to you”, how deep is that sincerity anyway? By the definition of Kunti Devi:
janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir
edhamana-madah puman
naivarhaty abhidhatum vai
tvam akincana-gocaram
(Srimad Bhagavatam 1.8.26)
Kunti Devi points out that unless one is materially exhausted, unless one has no more attachment
If you fix your hearing, chanting will happen automatically.
Chanting is the essence.
If one chants the holy name of the Lord just to make a show, not knowing the secret of success, he may increase his bile secretion, but he will never attain perfection in chanting the holy name.
Purport on Chaitanya Caritamrta Adi Lila 7.95-96
GBC Strategic Planning Team invites you to learn Bhakti alphabets (ABCDE) in their 8-day Sadhana series special talks.
Join us for Day 3 of our series with alphabet “C”- chanting with Sri Gauranga Das.
About Sri Gauranga Das
Sri G
When we feel that we have no taste for chanting and when we think to ourselves, “Oh I have no desire to chant sixteen rounds… it is taking such a long time and it is appearing to me as boring“, this is because we have no remembrance of Krsna. However, it is so easy to remember Krsna through His pastimes, because they are filled with rasa, with taste. They are not boring at all; they are actually full of excitement.
Are we religious? No, we are not religious. We are attracted to the pastimes of
It is the Holy Name of the Lord that awakens our natural love for Krsna. So by hearing and chanting the Hare Krsna Mahamantra, we will awaken our pure love for Krsna. We have faith, somehow or other, to make this our desire. We have the good fortune that by the association of devotees we got faith because faith is the key to everything.
One time, I was in Mayapur and there was one person that arrived who looked like the twin brother of Salvadore Dali. He had a little pointed beard and a moustach
By Kadamba Kanana Swami
The essence of the process that we are following in this movement is the chanting of the holy name. This process is the yuga dharma – the dharma (religion) for this age of Kali. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has made this chanting of the holy name widely available to us and also added his extra mercy. The holy name has been chanted widely throughout the millennia but in this particular millennia, there is the added mercy of the Lord himself. Therefore, now it is very easy and
The reason why we chant without taste or without being attentive is because we are chanting without remembrance of Krsna. The more we remember Krsna in our daily lives, the more naturally we will be inclined to chant with taste. For instance, while Srimati Radharani was churning yoghurt to make butter, she was remembering Krsna constantly. And as she was remembering Krsna, she was also chanting Krsna’s name. So it is this remembrance of Krsna that is really lacking in us. When we are not feeling
Krsna is everywhere because He is all-pervading. Not only is the brahmajyoti (effulgence) of Krsna present everywhere, on which everything is resting, but Krsna Himself is present everywhere in different forms. Sometimes He is in the form of Nrsimhadeva, sometimes He is in the form of Varaha and other times He is in His sweet form playing His flute. So basically, Krsna’s mercy is constantly there.
The dust jacket of the First Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam is very special as Srila Prabhupada de
Haridasa Thakura said that if the holy name is being chanted purely when the cleansing has been done, then the holy name will give us real love of God. He continued that it is said that it is just like the rising of the sun.
In the morning, before the sun rises, there is already light in the sky but the sun is still behind the horizon. You do not see the disc of the sun, yet the light is already there. Then slowly, the red disc of the sun comes along the horizon, and then we see the sunlight di
Since last few months I have come across devotees who have lost their chanting beads. If this in itself was not bad enough, then what was even more painful for them was that in all the cases, save one, their spiritual master declined to chant again on new chanting beads.
For the devotees the most precious and dear most treasure are their chanting beads- on which their spiritual master has chanted and which they had been given at the time of their initiation ceremony. If the chanting beads are m
