In remaining determined there are different factors that can affect us. Let’s first look at a big one: creating the proper environment in your life to support your determination. If I am determined to not eat sweets, but I stock my house full of sweets, that will likely work against me. Rather, I would do […]
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Creating a Sacred Place for a Sacred Relationship If you were studying for an important and difficult exam, and you had the choice of studying in a library or at a party, which would you choose? Since the right environment is conducive to good study, you’d choose the library. Similarly, the environment in which you […]
Be Here Now Doing one thing while thinking of something else is to not “be present.” It’s a symptom of the mode of passion and ignorance. As mentioned in the last installment, in order to focus on hearing the mantra well you want to at least be in the mode of goodness while chanting. In […]
Sit Properly Several times Srila Prabhupada interrupted a lecture or a japa session to tell someone to “Sit properly.” Prabhupada writes: “First one must be able to sit properly, and then the mind and attention will become steady enough for practicing yoga.” How we sit, stand or walk, or whether our eyes wander when chanting, […]
I came across this lecture by Srila Prabhupada’s early disciple Yamuna Devi. It is so wonderful that I thought make it this month’s newsletter. (Plus, I am writing a book to go with a new preaching program I am developing and need to focus my writing time on this project). I trust this will both […]
This newsletter is about japa. What kind of japa? Japa that’s mindless, heartless and robotic. Japa that ends up being more of a ritual, a chore to get over with, rather than an act of loving devotion. You know what I am talking about. We’ve all been there, done that. And it’s time to move […]
In this issue we discuss one of the offences to the holy name: to maintain material attachments. Detachment follows bhakti. To maintain an attachment is to hold onto it while it is naturally being pulled away from us by the process of bhakti. We’ll look at why and how this happens. May you always think […]
What you think not only affects you, it affects those around you. It can even affect those not in your immediate presence. Your consciousness also affects matter. Did you know that a scientific experiment is affected by the person observing the experiment? Srila Prabhupada said the world would become Kṛṣṇa conscious if one percent of the […]
If we want to chant good rounds, we need to live our lives in a way that supports and nourishes our chanting. Thus, to chant well on a consistent basis we need to live what I call “a holy name lifestyle.” What is a holy name lifestyle? First, let me give you an example from […]
What can you do to insure that you take advantage of these lessons as well as continue to improve your japa? Improving japa is an ongoing process. Utilizing the tools in this course (and the many other tools offered in The Japa Workshop) is meant to continue throughout your life. If you do this, you […]
Is There Anything More Important Than Chanting? Chanting is the most powerful way to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. The following statements explain the importance of japa in bhakti. “Of all the regulative principles given by the spiritual master, the instruction to chant 16 rounds is most essential.” (Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya-lila 22.113) In initiation letters it was […]
photo by Taruni Tulsi Dasi The maha mantra is a prayer in which the devotee petitions the Lord for pure love. Prabhupada said the quality of one’s chanting depends on feeling, or the intensity of one’s prayer. Feeling is first expressed in the heart before it’s expressed in words. The same is true with chanting. […]
The Holy Name is the Most Valuable Possession I Have Without the holy name I would practically have no spiritual life, no real happiness, no intimacy with Kṛṣṇa, no peace of mind, and no ability to control my senses. My entire relationship with Kṛṣṇa, the most important relationship in my life, is revealed through His […]
Everything You Do Affects You Good japa does not exist in a vacuum. What you do in the day is reflected in your japa. A more Kṛṣṇa conscious lifestyle naturally lends itself to better japa. So the more important japa is in your life, the more concerned you will become about doing things throughout the […]
What’s Your Blueprint? We all have a japa blueprint. This blueprint manifests in the quality of our chanting, which tends be more or less the same every day. This works for us or against us, depending on the quality of the blueprint. Chanting good japa consistently is possible for you. It’s a matter of making […]
Chanting is Not Just a Process; It’s a Relationship. Chanting is one of the nine processes of bhakti, but we can easily define or relate to a process as something mechanical and think that externally executing the process will guarantee specific results. When you think of chanting as a relationship, you become aware that the […]
Japa is not a ritual. It is not a mechanical, mindless robotic process. It is an offering of the heart, a pleading for mercy, a begging to be accepted by the Lord. It is a crying of the soul to be engaged eternally in the Lord’s service. The emotions these moods invoke nourish our chanting. […]
Dear …, I wanted to send you a note to remind you how much mercy is always available to you. I saw you yesterday as you were talking with your devotee friends about Me. This gives Me great pleasure, and the bliss you were feeling was just My way of reciprocating. I saw you sleeping […]