“One has to chant personally for his advancement in Krishna Consciousness, 16 rounds daily on his beads. There are helps in chanting attentively. One of these helps obviously is simply the beads. The beads are given to you by the Spiritual Master, and you chant Hare Krishna, paying attention to each bead. And this vow [...]

In relation to the ten offenses I found something from Srila Prabhupada talking about the first offence: “The sincere devotee who wants to attain a perfection (Siddhi) for himself by the process of chanting the Name of the Lord must refrain from the ten kinds of offences which are quoted below from the “Padmapuranam.†The [...]

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 [...]

Our Japa Room today was very nectarian, with lots of good realisations from devotees. We can see how each one of us is developing our chanting. Becoming more aware of offenses, being attentive of how to chant constantly, paying attention to each word, pronouncing them distinctively and also concentrating on the sound vibration. Those basic [...]

We already know how difficult is to apply the philosophy to our lives….like realising we are not these bodies, subdue our minds and acting in our constitutional position of eternal servants of Krsna. Srila Prabhupada says in the Bhagavad Gita As It Is in the introdution that we are meant to serve. We are always [...]

The days have been quite busy for the last month. Maha-cleaning of the temple, festival management, distributing prasadam in the Etno Festival, cooking, visiting sadhus, Ratha-Yatra, Millions of e-mails and phone-calls. Basically everyday something new and unexpected appears, hardly any time for reading.When I am not able to chant in the morning, my quality usually [...]

It is very important to chant all 16 rounds very nicely but qualitatively. Quality is a very important factor in terms of Japa. Prabhupada says that quality is not cheap but it does not mean that we should not strive for quality chanting.One of the most important and practical ways to improve our Japa is [...]

This week we are surrounded by messages talking about Lord Krsna’s advent. The one we have been dedicating our lives as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the one we pray everyday before our chanting, the one we share our problems…who speaks in our hearts…who bless our daily life. He is the all attractive – He [...]

As Janmastami progress’s today and I chant extras rounds, I had this thought about Japa and how Krsna is very pleased when we chant the Holy names….if Krsna sees that our efforts are serious, then He reciprocates in a serious way – bestowing the nectar for which we are always anxious.The taste for chanting comes [...]

This weekend in the Japa Room I got some nectar from the sessions. Every weekend I identify with a topic, this time I liked it when I heard that Krsna likes His names pronounced in the right way – I mean nobody likes to have the name mispronounced. I know this because I work with [...]

Reading the Teachings of Lord Chaitanya Chapter 13, I found a very nice and important quote that I am sure can be very useful in our everyday devotional life. Here follows the quote: “If, due to some righteous activities which provoke devotional service, one is influenced by the service attitude and takes shelter of the [...]

“Everything starts by the aural reception, by hearing. We first hear about Krsna and by doing this process we become purified and then we may understand more about the philosophy and then apply it in our lives. Everyone starts by hearing. The bhakti yoga system starts like that according to Srila Prabhupada. He says the [...]

This is a rather long post – and for that I apologise. However it has helped so much with my japa. It is taken from Mahanidhi Swami’s book, entitled ‘The Art of Chanting Hare Krishna.’ There are prayers for before, during and after japa (although honestly I’ve thought of the prayers during japa of more [...]

I can say that there are many kinds of motivations to become better in our chanting. I myself look for it in many sources like association of devotees who are also interested in improving, listening to lectures concerning japa, reading Srila Prabhupada lectures, remembering my vows with my gurudev, and many others. This week I [...]

There is no better service than serving the vaisnavas. I experienced this during this Radhastami and for me it was an amazing experience. I was on the farm near my city and all the devotees needed someone to cook…others to decorate the temple, others for garlands and even to be a messenger and take information [...]

How do I know I have chanted good rounds? One of the best indicators for me is that when I finish my rounds I want to keep chanting because I am getting such a nice taste. If I am relieved to put my bead bag down after my last round, that’s an indicator that my [...]

We should not try to invent our own method of bhakti according to our own fertile imaginations. Such invented bhakti systems will not liberate us from this material existence. We must instead follow the pathway chalked out by the great liberated souls of this past. This and only this will bring about our deliverance. Since [...]

It was Janmastami, the appearance day of Lord Krishna. Devotees rushed to the temple during Mangal Aarti. It was great to see such a large number of devotees chanting and it was blissful. During festivals, it would be wonderful to chant extra rounds, to get that extra special mercy! I sat down with my beads [...]

We have free accomodation in a place of one friend who has a tattoo studio in his home. Not the most typical place for brahmacaris but it is quite neat and clean and free of charge. Our friend has spent maybe a year’s budget from a poor country to collect all kinds of underground art, [...]

Hare Krsna Maha-mantra Ki Jai!  Thank you sadhus for allowing me to partake in this wonderful group.  I am praying for the mercy of all of the Vaishnavas so that I may develop suddha-ruci for the holy name. I wanted to share with all of you as my first post, a personal meditation that spontaneously [...]

Everyone is looking for pleasure in this material world. Our soul is willing to have a relationship with the Lord…we have the potency of the maha mantra, these names connect us with the Supreme, that is why even by commiting offenses we still can feel some bliss and start a relationship with the Lord. Connection [...]

The previous post was very inspiring…just a small comment that although I am very fond of travelling, my home temple is my favourite place for japa. I am a bit neurotic about hearing unnecessary sounds during japa, and I easily get carried away by sounds of a fan or even by devotees loudly pacing back [...]

Reading the post from Muniraja Prabhu I can say that I agree with him on saying that my home is the best place for chanting. I had an opportunity to chant in the temple, with others in front of Tulasi Devi, but I still prefer my home. First because I feel more confortable to pray [...]

Below is from a class of Srila Prabhupada talking about the chanting of the maha mantra. I liked it so much, I hope you take great advantage of it also.< “So this is the benefit of chanting Hare Krsna maha-mantra. Both the order carriers of Yamaraja and order carriers of Lord Visnu, they’re everywhere, just [...]

We had amazing sessions this weekend in the Japa Room. The topic was about the importance of composing a prayer for reciting before Japa….then we were taught the emphasis of developing a relationship with the Lord, first by positioning ourselves in a humble way towards the Spiritual Master prayer, Panca Tattva and also our personal [...]

Recently in the Japa Room I was discussing with the members about the nature of the mind and how it can trick us. Even if we are reforming our Japa and have aquired good habits to overcome inattention, pronounciation and hearing etc. after sometime the mind may start to talk to us – “Don’t worry [...]

I wanted to share some of my realisations with chanting….we have been listening everyday about the mind and how to have it engaged in chanting and hearing the Holy Names during japa, however we may not apply those facts to our lives. That’s what happened to me these days, I can say my mind was [...]

From all regulatives principles, the chanting of 16 rounds a day is the most important. This is the faith Srila Prabhupada always had in the Holy names. He revealed that if a devotee chants he will definitely follow all the other principles. Listening to a lecture from my Gurudev yesterday given this month in a [...]

This weekend in the Japa Room we talked about what to include in our prayers so we can make our chanting more effective and directed to our goals. It’s very common for everyone to pray for some lack even in material life, we are conditioned to many things and we sometimes want to share with [...]

I was thinking today about what should be our state of mind when we pray before Japa….listening to a lecture I found out that we should first of all praise the Lord while praying, recognize that He is superior maybe even quoting the sastras and Brahma Samhita. In the Brahma-saḿhitÄ (5.33) we have information of [...]

We usually say that whatever we do, we should do it for Krsna . So the same thing for Japa. We chant the Holy Name for Krsna’s pleasure. And it is more pleasing for Krsna if we get up early and chant our rounds before sunrise.We should say that “If I get up early to [...]

After years of inattentive chanting I’m starting to realise that inattentive chanting creates moroseness and in one way it kills our enthusiasm in Krishna Consciousness. More inattentive rounds create more distaste towards the sweet name of the Lord. Even though one sticks to the process of Krishna consciousness even after years of inattentive chanting one [...]

Jaya Srila Prabhupada. How you start your morning has a lot of influence on the rest of the day. It is best to rise immediately when the alarm clock rings – using snooze 3-5 times and wandering in semi-sleep for an hour is not the formula for success. After a shower, putting on tilak and [...]

This weekend in the Japa room we shared our prayers, some devotees were asking for strengh to chant in the proper mood, others asking to help with offenses, attain love of God, taste for chanting and even association of pure devotees.Sharing prayers drives us to a sense of humility towards the spiritual master and makes [...]

The following is a letter that Sacinandana Swami sent to a community member about chanting. Hoping it would enrich our Japa I decided to share it. “Srila Rupa Gosvami says that we can chant in all situations of life, whether loud, softly, while working, while going, etc. But there is great benefit, when one sits [...]

This is another important article from Sacinandana Swami’s site which made me feel very enthused to apply to Japa:“Let us think about our relationship with Krishna. Sambandha is the joining of the Lord and jiva-atma. How can we put Krishna in our spiritual practices? What does it mean, for instance, to put Krishna in kirtan? [...]

Being talkative for Krsna and silent for maya is our aim. One of the 26 qualities of a devotee is that he is silent, he just engages his tongue in talking about Krsna, chanting the Holy Names and eating prasadam. But how can we be silent while chanting? When we chant we try our best [...]

This weekend in Japa Room we talked about the 10 offenses to be avoided when chanting the Hare Krsna maha mantra. The session was nicely facilitated by Rasa Rasika prabhu who solved many doubts about how to control the mind and avoid such offenses. I asked a question about chanting with feeling and if this [...]

As time goes on in spiritual life I reflect on what is helpful for spiritual advancement – definitely good quality Japa is number one on the list….because Japa is the cornerstone of our sadhana, it supports the rest of our spiritual life, much like a cornerstone is the strong part of the building that the [...]

Hare KrishnaAll glories to Srila Prabhupada.All glories to prabhujis and matajisIt was on this Janmastami that I landed on ground 16 finally and chanting has never been the same since then – now chanting for me has become a way of life. Although I am very much aware of the offences I commit sometimes while [...]

Recently I was listening to a lecture and I remember a sentence coming from a devotee in a retreat: “Before the retreat my Japa was an impediment to my life, after this retreat my life is an impediment to my Japa”.Wow this a good thing to think about, how important is Japa in my life. [...]

Hare Krsna dear Prabhus. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga. It is essential for myself as an aspiring Bhakta to understand where actually I have received the mercy to have access to sri-krsna-nama. That actually, my only connection to Sri-Krsna-nama is due to the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, [...]

I am going to try here to talk about a very advanced topic in Krsna Conciousness and also in chanting….I think it’s one or maybe the last stage of chanting because we must be surrendered to have this chanting. Chanting with the heart is for the ones who have their hearts opened, soft and that [...]

In the yoga-sutras, Patanjali says one can control the vrittis(though waves) by fixing the mind on one who has transcended human passions and attachments(vita raga-visayam ca cittam). So by thinking of a liberated soul or by looking at his picture, one can pacify the mind, purify the heart and increase one’s concentration on japa. Remembering [...]

Today I want to stick again to the point of chanting with our hearts opened. I got so inspired with this topic, made me listen to lectures and try to get some knowledge from it. This is the first step, to understand how we can apply some nice behavior in order to attract Krsna’s heart. [...]

Our humble obeisances – Jaya Srila Prabhupada. This is from the recent kartika diary of one of our sadhus – I think he likes to stay anonymous… To chant with affection one must be conscious that chanting should be done not only in the mood of purification for oneself, but also done for the pleasure [...]

This is a very nice article from Sacinandana Swami and I am sure there is a lot to add to our spiritual path. “This little historical story (when Draupadi turned to Krsna for protection when disrobing threatened her) tells us a little bit about endeavor. It´s not enough to just chant Krishna´s name, you need [...]

"I am very glad to learn also that you are feeling joy while chanting the mantra Hare Krishna. Yes, it is exactly like this. If anyone chants this mantra in good faith and in simple understanding, then surely this transcendental vibration will act immediately in spiritual bliss. Please therefore continue to chant this mantraas many [...]