The ramification of samskaras and the environment on our vows. Analyze your daily activities in relation to vows you have taken by determining if the way you live supports or undermines your vow. For example, do you ever feel that the way you live, act or think makes it difficult to keep some of your […]
Japa Mini-Course Installments 10 – Bringing It Home 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 […]
Japa Mini-Course Installment 9 – Aligning Your Life with the Holy Names 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 Krishna conscious lifestyle naturally lends itself to better japa. So the more important japa is in your […]
Japa Mini-Course Installment 8 – Chanting is a Relationship 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 […]
Japa Mini-Course Installment 7 – Entering Into the Mood and Meaning of the Mantra It All Depends on Feeling 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 […]
Japa Mini-Course Installment 6 – Creating Your Sacred Space 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 […]
Japa Mini-Course Installment 5 – Be Present 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 […]
Japa Mini-Course Installment 4 – How Physiology Affects the Mind 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, […]
Japa Mini-Course Installment 3 – Your Japa Blueprint 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 […]
Japa Mini-Course Installment 2 – The Importance of Japa in the Practice of Bhakti Is There Anything More Important Than Chanting? Chanting is the most powerful way to become Krsna 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 […]
Japa Mini-Course (JMC) Installment 1- Building Your Foundation There are ten installments in this japa course. I suggest that you focus on one to two installment per week, integrating what you have learned into your japa that week. At the end of each installment I ask you to write me the realizations you got by […]
Are you properly dealing with problems that negatively impact your bhakti? I have often neglected to wholeheartedly deal with my personal problems and I can testify that they rarely go away on their own. But when I step back, look at how they affect me, and make a concerted effort to deal with them, I […]
I was checking for a document on my computer and came across a letter I wrote to a devotee who had recently come back to devotional service. Over the years he had his ups and downs and wrote me because he was concerned this pattern might continue. I thought it would be useful to make […]
In this newsletter I share with you a powerful process for dealing with material desires and attachments. The presence of unwanted desires is disturbing because they deviate our mind from Krishna. Sometimes we can even be tormented by these desires. But there is a way to counteract their influence: we can use such attachments as […]
There is a correlation between our daily activities and our chanting. Chanting good rounds doesn’t only involve what we do while we chant; it is also affected by what we do when we are not chanting. We look at this subject more closely. Also, you’ll get to note ways in which you can live a […]
Since Mahaprabhu instructs that we should chant the holy name in a humble state of mind, in this newsletter we discuss humility – specifically how humility is our natural position. I also thought it necessary to look at the relationship between humility and self esteem, as the qualities of the humble soul are often mistaken […]
I am writing about vaisnava aparadha in this issue. Why? Because I want to help you chant better. What does aparadha have to do with chanting? Everything. Attempts to improve chanting (and to improve in devotional service in general) will be undermined if we allow ourselves to offend devotees. Also, I recently had a bout […]
I admit it. I’m addicted. But it’s not my fault. Really, I am innocent. I was simply asked to co-facilitate some japa retreats and workshops and I innocently accepted. And now I’ve become a japa retreat addict. I drop whatever I am doing and go to the next retreat or workshop. I simply can’t control […]
What is a problem? Are there really any problems? When we see everything as Krsna’s mercy, we see that “problems” are meant to help us; they are simply opportunities to learn and grow. This means there really are no problems; there’s only mercy. Thus, the only problem is that we think there’s a problem. So […]
We have been discussing vows in the past two newsletters. Any discussion on vows would not be complete without addressing falldown. Falldown can be traumatic. In this issue I focus on positive and productive ways to deal with falldown, ways that will enable you to move forward with renewed enthusiasm. May you always think of […]