Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna! It is quite striking and astonishing how universal many instructions of Shrila Prabhupada appear to be. “Anything good should be accepted.” So simple and universal. Many good and valuable advice was left for us, which aim to foster and enhance our spiritual practice of Bhakti Yoga. Regular chanting of the Holy [...]

I’ve been noticing lately how inattention can happen without me even realizing it. I had been thinking I was attentive, but on closer inspection discovered all these ways that I wasn’t. Some of the things I realized I was doing are: – Opening and closing doors while going from one room to another- Turning lights [...]

It’s something that I can easily fall into if Iam not careful, the dreaded “Mouse Japa”…it’s a great temptation but I avoid that temptation and just sit back and look at the beautiful image of Lord Caitanya on the LCD screen. Whenever I get any thoughts of Mouse Japa (bead bag in one hand, mouse [...]

I really love the ocean. I don’t live near it, and so am always longing for the times when I can be there, and just dive in and swim and swim. I was chanting today and I realized that actually Krishna’s Holy Name is the real ocean that I am longing for. No matter how [...]

We try to keep it as our daily practise to hear some glorification of the Holy name, from the lectures of the sadhus, from sastras and from the Japa Group also. I just heard lecture from one of our sadhus who spoke about the glories of the Holy name. When someone speaks with realization the [...]

I recently was part of a conversation about the use of the clicker rather than beads….the devotee was explaining that they were chanting on a clicker because they felt that some chanting was better than nothing. I prefer chanting on my beads…it’s Tulasi – a pure devotee of Krsna….it also helps with my concentration by [...]

Here are 4 ways that I discovered can be helpful for attentive chanting: 1. Listen very carefully to the sound coming out your mouth…by hearing we can control the wandering mind2. Pronounce each word very clearly (even if it means slowing down your chanting)3. Don’t do anything whilst chanting Japa4. Read the Mantra whilst you [...]

“Nish, nish, ram, ram, nish, nish, ram, ram.†Prabhupada once imitated how we sometimes chant without focus, without concentration, without proper pronunciation – how we chant when we don’t feel like chanting. You know the mood behind this chanting; “I have to chant but I’d rather be doing something else.†And in our minds we [...]

We’ve been discussing obstacles to our chanting in the Japa Room since the beginning, it’s one of the main things that we focus on. We cover a lot of other aspects of chanting Japa, but with this aspect we ask everyone to monitor their Japa constantly and we take some time to discuss everyone’s obstacles [...]

I was listening to a Japa workshop conducted by Bhurijan in Melbourne….he was emphasising the importance of hearing the Holy Name. All the devotees would chant together at the same speed along with him and make a concerted effort to properly hear what they were chanting.I have found this of great importance myself….hearing is the [...]

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world . . . . simply send me an introduction email and I will be happy to make you a member: rasa108@gmail.com ys Rasa Rasika dasa http://japagroup.blogspot.com ShareTweet

Srila Haridasa Thakura then said, “O Lord Caitanya, to Srila Sanatana Goswami here in Jagannatha Puri and Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami in South India, you taught that the holy name must be chanted attentively. Inattention in chanting is namaparadha. One may carefully avoid all other namaparadhas, yet still not experience the ecstasy of the pure [...]

“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, if one continues the chanting process, the doubts will all disappear, and real knowledge will be revealed by the Grace of Krishna. There is the example given of [...]

Arranging festivals like Sri Gaura-Purnima is nice and blissful but your sadhana often goes out of the window. Sometimes you don’t take any breaks for the whole day but there might still be 10 or 12 rounds to be chanted at 5pm. I once tried to serve prasadam H.H. Kavicandra Swami in late afternoon or [...]

Over the last few days I have been having intense discussions about all the ins and outs of chanting Japa….it’s been very satisfying and purifying for my devotee friend and I.This then reminded me of the importance of Krsna katha, in this case Japa katha. I have noticed a boost of enthusiasm with my chanting [...]

Today I was thinking about this aspect after I chanted my Japa….there is a gulf of difference between just listening to our Japa (as you would listen to a music CD in the background) and actually hearing every single word and syllable of the Maha mantra as we chant.When we actually hear properly, it is [...]

Pramada means madness but inattention and carelessness are also synonyms of this word. Inattentive chanting sows the seeds of anarthas which soon develop in the heart. Inattention is of three kinds.The first is called Audasinya or apathetic devotional service meaning a lack of fixed resolve in sadhana.The second type is Jadya – laziness or even [...]

I was reading in the Harinama Cintamani today about Anuraga (spontaneous attraction for the Lord’s name):“It is essential to give special attention to chanting while Anuraga is undeveloped. By a special stroke of good fortune, a jiva develops enough sraddha to take shelter of the Holy name. By regularly chanting a fixed number of holy [...]

“Most people are naturally very attached to material things, their memories always absorbed in matter. They may indeed chant the Holy name of the Lord, but their minds may be far away from the chanting. Even if they daily chant one lakha (one hundred thousand) Holy names on the japamala, not a drop of taste [...]

“One must make it his daily routine to chant for an hour in the company of saintly Vaisnavas in a sacred, undisturbed place. Taking note of the Vaisnava’s devotional attitude and their relish for the Holy name, the neophyte should try to emulate this mood and gradually rid himself of his apathy to chanting. Step [...]

“Advanced Vaisnavas advise that chanting is best performed in the presence of Tulasidevi and in a place of Lord Krsna’s pastimes. The chanter should always seek the association of saintly devotees and emulate their discipline. He must follow in the footsteps of previous acaryas in the joyful method of worshiping the Lord through His Holy [...]

“Another effective method for ridding oneself of apathy towards the Holy name is to sit in a closed room alone and meditate on the name as did the previous sages. Or one can cover the head and face with a cloth and concentrate on the sound of the Holy name. This will immediately fix the [...]

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world….simply send me an introduction email and I will be happy to make you a member: rasa108@gmail.com ys Rasa Rasika dasa ShareTweet

“The first regulative principle is that one must chant the Hare Krsna maha−mantra loudly enough so that he can hear himself, and one must vow to chant a fixed number of rounds.” Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Antya 11.24 ShareTweet

We participated in an enlivening Sri Vrindavan festival – senior devotees like H.H. Mahanidhi Swami and H.H. Janananda Gosvami had many nice sayings concerning the Holy name: “If you want to love the Lord of play, you must chant your days away” “The more you chant, the more Krsna likes you to chant” “Everything in [...]

I know this is a simple concept and everyone who reads this Japa Group website knows this, but I was just realizing (further and deeper) this and wanted to write about it. Forgive me please if it’s too simple or basic for anyone.I was thinking about association and how important association is to our spiritual [...]

Over the years I have discovered some effective ways to overcome inattention: 1. Don’t do anything else whilst chanting Japa 2. Listen very carefully to the sound coming out your mouth…choose a quiet place to chant – or some devotees hold a cupped hand to their ear to hear more clearly 3. Pronounce each word [...]

“Inattention arising from laziness (jadya) prevents a person from relishing the nectar of the Holy name. He is slow to chant and remember the Holy name. Even after trying, he very soon finds the effort unendurable and wants to sleep or otherwise engage himself in frivolity. Advanced devotees are cautious against such an offense. They [...]

The material energy is always bombarding us constantly every single day.So we have to chant our rounds very carefully and very attentively every single day so we will be strong enough to cope with it. Our Japa is our protection. Hare Krishna Navasi ShareTweet

“It is the nature of saintly Vaisnavas to be always engaged in devotional activities. They never waste time uselessly. One should become attracted to this devotional trait. One should ask himself how he also can become like these devotees, immersed in meditation upon the Holy name; how, from this very day, he can increase his [...]

In The Japa Room one of the things we instruct devotees about is sleeping enough, and also not sleeping too much. I really got a strong reminder this morning of just how much of a problem sleeping too much is.For reasons that aren’t important to mention, I had to sleep much more than I usually [...]

I was listening to a lecture by a devotee about chanting Japa the other day. She brought up what I consider to be a great idea for chanting.Her suggestion was to say a prayer to guru and Krsna before each round or even between each and every bead if you want to.I have tried this [...]

“Distraction in chanting breeds illusion which becomes the cause of further serious offenses against the Holy name. This illusion, difficult to overcome, engenders attraction to wealth, women, position, success and the cheating propensity. When these attractions cover the heart, the neophyte becomes neglectful of the chanting of the Holy name.” Harinama Cintamani ShareTweet

It will be a good choice for all of us to follow this simple rule – “Early to Bed, Early to rise”. This one rule can make our chanting strong. If we rise early then we can chant early and have a good 2hrs of ride on the transcendental platform of krsna consciousness where all [...]

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world….simply send me an introduction email and I will be happy to make you a member: rasa108@gmail.com ys Rasa Rasika dasa ShareTweet

Someone asked in the Japa Room this weekend a very nice question: “How do we take shelter of the Holy Names?” Well, wow, I just loved that question because on the surface, taking shelter of the Holy Name would seem like a rather abstract concept… right? I mean, how do you “take shelter” of a [...]

Let’s be honest. We are chanting Japa daily fixed number of rounds so we need to be able to keep that fixed . You do 1 round daily or you do 2 rounds or 16 no problem. But we should be honest in terms of quantity and quality. We should know that Krsna is present [...]

“The devotee should make it a regular practice to spend a little time alone in a quiet place and concentrate deeply on the Holy name. He should utter and hear the name distinctly. It is impossible for the jiva to singlehandedly avoid and overcome the illusion of distraction. By the mercy of the Lord, however, [...]