Japa Retreat—Questions and Answers Day

Sacinandana Swami: We would like to greet all of you for this last day of our Barsana Japa and Kirtan Retreat.

During the following session, we will make an honest and sincere attempt to answer the questions, which have remained and were not answered. What we will do is we will do our best to talk concisely and briefly, because we can see the basket is full, there are many questions. And I think this is a good sign, because during a retreat, we want to stir up our Krishna consciousness, we want to get it moving, we want to touch the deeper things, the things, which we often tend to forget, or overlook in our sometimes so fast life.

So, the way we will do this, Giriraj Maharaja, and later Bhurijana Prabhu and myself, will grab into the basket, and at random, take your questions out and answer them. And then, we hope that we can get through all the questions, and if not, we will do something very magical. In that way, your questions will possibly be answered, but let’s see. [laughter]

Okay. So, I suggest we start with Giriraj Maharaja. You can also stir up the bear, yes. [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: “Hare Krishna. I’ve experienced and realized that chanting japa in front of Tulasi-devi increases our concentration and quality of rounds. Please comment.”

I have experienced the same thing. [laughter] [applause]

Sacinandana Swami: This was a very brief answer.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. [laughter]

Sacinandana Swami: The next question. “After hearing so much, still, my mind doesn’t want to cooperate for chanting. What to do?” [laughter]

I suggest to you a three-step program. First step: Sit down peacefully before either a picture, or a Deity, or in front of Tulasi-devi. Move yourself in a sacred atmosphere. Second step: Bring your attention to the constant repetition of the holy name, in the same way as you enter into the stream of the Ganga. In other words, bring your attention, your mind, out of the normal mental atmosphere, and just enter into the holy name. Third step: Whenever you see that your mind gets diverted, bring it back into the Ganga stream of the holy name.

At the same time, this is a practical manual for mind control; go into a different atmosphere physically, and then enter a different atmosphere mentally, by listening and by bringing your mind back. At the same time, listen or read those literatures, which talk about the cultivation of the holy name. There are many good books, which have been written now, on the ISKCON book market, and become in this way convinced from all perspectives that chanting indeed is the best. Also, live a life when you avoid to pollute your mind with bad relationships with others.

This is a very brief answer. Thank you very much.

Giriraj Swami: “Is it possible that we get blessings from all the japa retreat teachers for nice connected chanting?

Yes. [laughter]

Sacinandana Swami: So, that means, actually, you will somehow [SS makes buzzing sound] [laughter] No, we will pray for all of you, don’t worry, we have a special task that is meant to be fulfilled. Thank you.

“Hare Krishna. Since we are in a japa retreat and have no other work like family and business, we can focus nicely. When we go back to our work and family, how to maintain the same mood?”

I want to now say something very important. You have to take something with you from this japa retreat, something which you have learned and which you like doing, and you have to apply this consistently over a period of at least a month, preferably forty days. If you do this, you will form a new habit, which will bring you through your life.

Why are you doing excellent here, and you’re not doing so well when you have work and business and family all around you? It’s because here you are developing a different habit of rising earlier, chanting in the association with devotees, being in the holy dhāma.

I have very bad news for you. When you go back to your old life, your old habits will be at the door. [knocking] “Hello!” [knocking] “Hello!” [knocking] “Hello!” “No, no, no! Don’t come in! I’m not here! I’m not at home!” [laughter] “Hello! I know you have come back from Varsana! Hello!” [laughter] “No, no, no!” “Yes! Yes! Yes! Look at me now!” [laughter and applause] 

Really shouldn’t do this anymore, and there’s this wonderful, innocent documentary; very pious. You’ll see that. The old habits kicks in, and you may find yourself wasting time. So, all these old habits will come back, they’re waiting already for you. Fifty old relatives before your door. Good news is you can change habits by adopting a new habit, and just take from here a new habit, something which you should be doing, but you really don’t like it. That won’t make it. You have to take something, which you liked doing here, and apply that, and your life will change 100 percent. 100 percent! Take a habit from here at home, very far.

Giriraj Swami: “It was said that one must chant japa in the mood of a relationship. How to develop this relationship with Krishna, so as to chant japa properly?”

Yes, we want to become attracted to Krishna, and the beginning of developing the attraction is hearing. By hearing about Krishna, we do [coughing over].

I had an experience reading the book by His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami called Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava, and just by reading about Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and immersing myself in his thoughts and activities, I developed a very strong desire to meet him. I was feeling, “Oh, I wish one day, I could sit at his feet and hear him speak, and he’d cast his glance upon me.” And it came from hearing.

Another way is by following the instructions. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gītā, “If you follow the rules and regulations of bhakti-yoga, you will develop the desire to attain Me.”

I had a little experience yesterday morning chanting japa here with all of you. Everything was perfect and complete, except that I was missing Bhurijana Prabhu, because for all these days, we would chant japa sitting next to each other. But I found that when I tried to chant one mantra at a time to forget everything else and chant one mantra at a time, it was as if he was sitting next to me. And as soon as I started thinking, “Oh, how many rounds have I done? How many do I have to finish before the kirtan begins?” It’s like he was gone. So, yes, by hearing, it begins from hearing. And of course, associating with devotees who have faith in Krishna, who are attached to Krishna, who want to develop their relationship with Krishna. You will get that quality by associating with them, hearing from them, and serving them. Hare Krishna.

Sacinandana Swami: “For Sacinandana Swami.” [laughter] You said yesterday, there are five results of humility, and you mentioned one. What are the others?” Symphony! [laughter]

The results which appear when you are developing humility are:

One, you will feel in your heart the need to place urgent appeals before Sri Sri Radha and Krishna, “I cannot go on like this. Please help!”

The next result is your inability to think clearly. What this means is you are no longer interested in thinking clearly on the material platform, “I just don’t care any longer. Something else has taken possession over me!”

Please remember the humility of which we speak here. The Sanskrit is dainya, and it means something which is a deep feeling of insufficiency. It means in American English, “I blew it in my life. I made a mistake. I’m nowhere here,” and you feel wretched even if you’re very qualified. So, you are unable to think about anything else.

And the third is depressed thinking and feeling. I know for a modern man this sounds awkward, but I want to be self-confident, not depressed. What this means here in this context of spiritual life is you feel really, “I made a mistake in leaving Krishna.”

The next result of dainya is you feel stunned. You don’t want to move forward in material life any longer. You’re stunned.

And then, the fifth result is chinta, you feel anxiety. Like Mahaprabhu, “Where is Krishna? Where is Krishna? Where is Krishna?” It’s no longer, “Oh, it would be nice to be more Krishna conscious; it would be nice to see a nice picture.” No, no, no. These days are over. When you feel dainya, you are ablaze, you are on fire. You want something very strong, and that is the only guarantee to get Krishna.

Generally, spiritual life doesn’t mean you feel satisfied in your material life. This doesn’t mean it! It means you come to a situation where you are a place of eagerness, and you want the unobtained, and yet, it’s seemingly so far, creeper in your mercy, and the only sustenance for your life, this is dainya.

Five results; urgent appeals, inability to think clearly, you think and feel in a very long way, depressed way, you’re stunted, and chinta, anxiety comes over you. These qualities came up in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and we see them as a paradigm. Exemplary person who teaches us this one question, which comes out in you: If this life is too complicated for you, one is sufficient, “Where are you, Krishna?”

Giriraj Swami: “If we are already practicing devotional service from the platform of raga, that is, we are spontaneously attracted to do service and we do it with taste, but we are not on the platform of ruci as defined in the lectures, unlimited desire for chanting and hearing, free from false ego and identification with the body, what are the obstacles between the two stages, and how to overcome them?”

The question itself uses the word raga in a very general term, it’s not in a specific sense. The actual definition of raga is beyond even prema. Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta explain that when we are in the material world, we can come up to the stage of prema, which is our goal, but then we will take birth on the planet where Lord Krishna is manifesting His pastimes. And gradually, by associating with Krishna’s eternal associates there, our love will increase to further stages, including sneha, mana, raga, anuraga, bhāva, mahā-bhāva. These are very high stages of development, and most of these are possible only in Vrindavan, not even in Vaikuntha.

So, someone who is filled with raga is called a ragatmika devotee. And one who has greed or extreme eagerness to have that mood of devotion and wants to follow that category of ragatmika devotees is called a rāgānugā devotee. So, these are very advanced stages.

But still, it’s true, we may have some spontaneous attraction to serve, and that’s very good, but we won’t have that same spontaneous attraction for chanting. So, what to do? Well, as we’ve been discussing, we have to practice chanting. Srila Prabhupada said, “Practice makes perfect, even in spiritual life.” And it’s similar to the answer that Sacinandana Swami gave about how to take the retreat back with us after; we replace the bad habits with good habits.

And again, it’s like the question that one disciple asked His Holiness Radhanath Swami, “I’m so eager to serve. I’m always thinking of ways to serve, and even while chanting, I’m thinking how to serve more, how to serve better.” And His Holiness Radhanath Swami replied, “That is very good, but chanting itself is service. And when you’re chanting, your service is to chant with attention, that’s your service. And if you’re thinking about how to do other service, you’re not really doing your service of chanting properly. So, when you’re chanting, you should do that service properly.” As far as the obstacles, we’ve been discussing the obstacles and how to overcome them. Now, Maharaja, would you like to add something to this?

Sacinandana Swami: No, I think you answered it very nicely. Especially when you make clear that raga is very beyond taste, or ruci.

There are now four questions in one; this is illegal. [laughter] But we will take one of the questions, the first one, and then we will pass the others, and then we have the end of possibilities.

“Why is it that for a person, there are always ups and downs in the level of enthusiasm, even the gap of a minute.” [laughter] Oh wow!

Well, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura answered this question. It’s enthusiasm, which is not rooted in deep realization. It’s utsava maiti, enthusiasm, which is dependent on externals. And he gives an example of a brahman boy who wanted to have a book, to be part of the grown-up world, a sastra. Brahmans study specific shastras and make these books their own books.

So, finally, this boy got the sastra, Bhagavad-gītā, and he very proudly carried this Gītā for a day under his arm, showing everyone, “I’m also brahman, I also have a sastra.” But he really didn’t know so much Sanskrit and could not understand much of the philosophy of Krishna. His enthusiasm was very external, so therefore, he, after one day, put the book aside and started to play again in the sand box. So, this is the situation of someone who is on the platform of the beginner’s enthusiasm. He feels happy, “I’m blessed now like a devotee. I’m therefore, also a devotee.”

I remember when I got my first dhoti, I went into the streets of Hamburg, danced abundantly on the streets, and repeated again and again to the German populace, “I’m going back to Godhead!” [laughter] “Look at me in my dhoti!” I was enthusiastic, but based on externals. Now, after forty years back, I hope that my enthusiasm is not arrested any longer on dhotis, but that there are some deeper convictions, experiences, which are the basis of that enthusiasm.

So, you have flickering enthusiasm, up and down, because you are not yet rooted deeply in Krishna consciousness. But be patient as you continue with your japa practice in a group way, and take this with you home and continue to practice there, you won’t experience any longer this embarrassing psychological down. You see, it has been studied in psychology about spiritualists who are very new, that they have this, they call it, achterbahnfahrt for enthusiasts. If you know German, you will know what it means. What is it?

Devotee: Roller coaster.

Sacinandana Swami: Roller coaster! Thank you! Roller coaster of enthusiasm. And sometimes you’re on these cars that go up, [SS hums a roller coaster sound], and as they go up there, they make a [SS voices a quick stopping and whinny sound] [laughter] and then they go right, down, and you are all up. [laughter] [Unintelligible 00:29:33]. But the beginning of spiritual life is always like this. Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: “Thank you very much for your holy association.” This must be for you.

Sacinandana Swami: No. [laughter] For you, for you.

Giriraj Swami: “Sometimes for a fraction of time, by some causeless mercy, the Holy Name, the holy dhāma reveal themselves. But again, we are back: this life, this body with its requests, social life, duties. How to deal with it?”

Actually, that first thing was sort of a joke, but at the end, he says for His Holiness Sacinandana Swami. [laughter]

Sacinandana Swami: He is less holy, Sacinandana Swami. He’s just trying to serve. You are more. [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: I’ll take two.

Sacinandana Swami: I repeat. “Sometimes for a fraction of time, by some causeless mercy, the Holy Name, the holy dhāma reveal themselves. But again, we are back: this life, this body with its requests, social life, duties. How to deal with it?”

I know what you mean. I can only say very sincerely, try to bring Krishna consciousness into all these areas, which seem to pull you down. Decorate the body with nice tilak, wash it nicely when you go and fulfill bodily requests, like visiting that room without windows, then, think, I’m doing this to become strong for Krishna. If I keep it inside, I will be poisoned. So, I will do this for my service. In your social life, just try to introduce Krishna conscious subjects. In your duties, try to do things dutifully for Krishna. You need to put the light of Krishna consciousness into all these dark corners of your life, which are still disturbing you sometimes. And in this way, you can gradually become enlightened in Krishna consciousness in all areas. Don’t be impatient, but the art is to not separate your life.

I think in ISKCON, we have taken a sharp sword and done something, which is not to be done. We have separated one type of life from the other type of life, and live a divided life.

Prabhupada used to say we should make all parts of our lives Krishna conscious. Sleep for Krishna. Before you go to bed, think of Krishna. Chant the holy name until Brother Sleep embraces you and brings you into another land. Just don’t make the separation. Instead, live a life of yukta-vairāgya, where you also use seemingly material things to assist you in your bhajan, as the secondary external things. They are secondary, they are not mukta, they are [Unintelligible 00:34:53]. They are not direct spiritual practices, but they assist your direct spiritual practice. And by means of contact, you can be Krishna conscious.

See, I’m doing this japa retreat, and personally, I do not participate in the full amount of time, which I wanted, but I needed to rest. So, if I would have been doing this rest and thought, Oh no! You’re in maya! You’re sleeping! You are sick! Look at you—you nonsense sannyasi! You’re lazy. You’re good for nothing. You’re too much. Suddenly, you took rest, Sacinandana Goswami. I was just drawing poison on top of the typhus. But then, I thought, Let me do this so that at least I can do a little sevā, and in this way, make resting something, which is helping the spiritual platform.

Don’t believe in this world. This world is material. It’s not philosophically assumed that you should cut your life into, “This is my material life. This is my spiritual life.” No, spiritualize even those aspects of your life, which you have mentioned, by making them helpful for your direct spiritual practice. This is yukta-vairāgya: connected through renunciation, proper renunciation. The other is very immature.

Giriraj Swami: Oh, this has three questions. “Should we increase our daily number of rounds?” Three questions in one answer. “If we have free time, what is better, to chant more rounds, or to do some practical service for the mission?” “If some devotee is displeased with me, how will it influence my chanting?”

On one morning walk on Juhu beach, His Holiness Lokanath Swami asked Srila Prabhupada why he prescribed sixteen rounds. And Srila Prabhupada replied, “I did not prescribe sixteen rounds. Sixteen rounds minimum.” Lokanath Swami said, “Well, there are devotees who are setting other minimum numbers of rounds for themselves.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Who is stopping them? You can increase the number from sixteen, but not decrease. If you could chant sixteen thousand, that is welcome.” Then, maybe Lokanath Swami, or maybe someone else asked, “How do we know if we are just imitating Haridasa Thakura?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Imitation of a good thing is not bad.” But then, finally, Srila Prabhupada said, “But if there is service, and you refuse to do the service, saying, “I’m busy imitating Haridasa Thakura, don’t disturb me,” that is very bad.

So, within this conversation are a few instructions, that, yes, if our schedule permits, we can increase, that it’s most welcome. But at the same time, when we chant, we are praying for service, and chanting itself is service. So, chanting can produce more service of chanting.

At one airport, when we were seeing Srila Prabhupada off to New York, a reporter asked him in a sarcastic way, or a challenging way, “What does this chanting accomplish?” And Prabhupada smiled with a sort of broad, oceanic smile and said, “Chanting accomplishes chanting.” [laughter] “The more you chant, the more you chant.” But if we see ourselves as servants of the holy names and of the other servants of the holy names, then our other service is not separate from chanting. It’s just another type of service to the holy name.

I’ll give one personal example. His Holiness Niranjana Swami was staying with me at my small ashram in Santa Barbara, California. And he is the type of person who never asks for anything for himself, especially not from his godbrothers. But in general, he just never asks for anything for himself. So, one day, as I was about to leave for the beach to chant, he very mildly said, “If it’s possible, if you can come back early enough, I would like to see you before I take rest.”

So, I went to the beach, and I was chanting, by my standard, very nice rounds. The rounds were really flowing; I was just going deeper and deeper and deeper. And that was also part of my thought, Niranjana Swami has taste for the holy name. If I serve him, I will also get more taste for the holy name. That was my general idea. But chanting and chanting, going deeper and deeper, relishing and relishing, and then suddenly, I remembered he wanted me to come back. So, I was torn. Should I keep chanting, or should I go back? And then, I got this message – maybe it was just my mind—but I got the message from the holy name, I imagine that it was coming from the holy name, “Niranjana Swami is very dear to Me, so you should go back and serve him. And whatever you miss by not continuing to chant and by going back, I will make it up to you.”

So again, if we see the practical service as service to the holy name, as a variety of services to the holy name, and pray to the holy name for guidance, then we can learn to reconcile these different demands. Hare Krishna.

Sacinandana Swami: “The consciousness, right now, by chanting japa, is very good. How does one maintain the same consciousness when one goes back to their respective cities?”

I feel this question is already answered, but let me summarize again. I think you should take a habit from here; a new habit, which you like doing. And also, you should convince yourself, through the respective literature, this is there, on chanting of the holy name, that you should chant.

For my own life, I have seen that it became clear to me both by experience and as well as by reading our philosophy on the daily level, that chanting is the best process. And nowadays, I am also very clear that this chanting is tremendously aided by saṅkīrtana. So, what you could do when you go back to your respective city is develop something like a japa circle. You can invite people once a week to come to your home, or maybe once every two weeks, or once every month, according to your availability, and you can do chanting together with them. Because when you do things together at your home with others, it will implant a very firm impression.

We do this in our preaching tours. We have a concert, we call it, and afterwards, we take the addresses of people and invite them for kirtan and japa circles, which are done by our junior members in the different towns where they live. And in this way, it helps the junior members, and it also helps the newcomers to chant together. Saṅkīrtana, very important, it is helping you, it gives you a lot of strength because the light of the holy name, when you plant it in many hearts, shines brighter.

Giriraj Swami: “Srila Prabhupada liked very much that Jayananda Prabhu was driving his taxi and chanting japa at the same time. This is in Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta. Can we also drive and chant, especially at times it is the only time available to chant? What do you advise?”

Well, our philosophy is kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ, “We should always chant.” So, we should chant while driving as well. But for that to be the only time that we chant is not a very good situation. We should try to chant at least sixteen rounds with full attention, which means we should try to arrange a schedule that includes two hours for chanting without any other activity. That would be ideal. And, it may just be some organization; some intelligence and organization. At least some time, as much as possible, we should be set aside for chanting properly, as we’ve been doing here, as instructed. This answer, at times, it is the only time available for chanting. It seems that one could adjust one’s schedule in such a way that one has other time to chant.

Often, devotees would [Unintelligible 00:50:06], and Srila Prabhupada would say, “Do you have time to eat? Do you have time to sleep?” We do have time, because we think these are necessities, but chanting the holy name properly is the primary necessity. It may also be that we do the other things because we have more taste for them, and we have less taste for chanting. But the way to develop taste for chanting is by practice.

As Rupa Goswami says in the Nectar of Instruction, we’re in a diseased condition. And in our diseased condition, the chanting tastes bitter. It’s like the person who’s suffering from jaundice. The cure is to take sugar candy, but in the diseased condition, the sugar tastes bitter. But we keep taking it, and gradually, we become cured. And then we taste the rock candy as it is, which is sweet like nectar. And speaking of sweet like nectar, we welcome His Grace Bhurijana Prabhu.

Devotees: Haribol! [applause]

Bhurijana Prabhu: How are the questions and answers going?

Sacinandana Swami: Wonderful! Wonderful! And you are the next one to give the answer. [laughter]

Bhurijana Prabhu: The basket is still full!

Giriraj Swami: That’s why we need help. [laughter]

Bhurijana Prabhu: Maybe you should take one, you take one, I take, and we all answer at the same time. [laughter] Okay. Sacinandana Maharaja, could you pick one for me?

Sacinandana Swami: Okay, what question do you want to have? A challenging question? [laughter]

Bhurijana Prabhu: No.

Sacinandana Swami: Or an easy one?

Bhurijana Prabhu: Easy one. [laughter] “It is said that chanting the holy name is a sacrifice. Is it acceptable if we interrupt the sound? Can we continue that interrupted sound?”

Giriraj Swami: Round.

Bhurijana Prabhu: Oh! Round. Thank you. [laughter] You choose this. [laughter] “It is said that chanting the holy name is a sacrifice. Is it acceptable if we interrupt the round? Can we continue that interrupted round, or should we start from the beginning?”

This is an easy one. [laughter] Because Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura answered this question, and he said that if you interrupt the round, and then just continue it, you are very lazy. [laughter]

Sacinandana Swami: “How to keep a relationship with devotees if you know he/she is doing wrong, especially if he or she is older?”

Srila Rupa Goswami gives a very good definition with whom to associate. He says these devotees where we derive the greatest benefit of association is when they are affectionately related to us, they are a little bit more [Unintelligible 00:54:49] in our own mood. You’ll see this when you confide in someone, if they’re not in your mood, it’s not helpful for you. Better at that time to see, “I might be so conditioned that I see this as a mistake, but I don’t need to. I can look for the association where I feel there is affection flowing, there is a similar outlook flowing, and that relationship is helping me.” You don’t have to associate with everyone in the world of devotion, just go to those who nourish your own devotion according to the three guidelines, and you will never be disappointed.

Giriraj Swami: “Hare Krishna.”

Bhurijana Prabhu: Hare Krishna. You should say “Hare Krishna” again.

Giriraj Swami: Hare Krishna.

Devotees: Hare Krishna! [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: “Can we use earplugs during chanting japa?”

His Holiness Radhanath Swami has said not to use, because japa means to hear the maha-mantra, and not the echo from within. Srila Prabhupada did not use earplugs, he chanted loudly so that he could hear his japa meditation.

The holy name of Krishna is absolute. Krishna and His holy name are the same. This is the whole topic, because the holy name itself is beyond the material world; it’s beyond our voice, it’s beyond the echo of our voice, it’s beyond our minds. It is a purely spiritual entity that exists beyond the material modes of nature. But that absolute reality can be perceived by us through the medium of sound, or even through the medium of the mind.

It is said that nāmācārya Srila Haridasa Thakura would chant three lakhs’ names daily. That’s three times sixty-four rounds. And one lakh he would chant loudly, one lakh he would chant softly, and one lakh he would chant within his mind. So, I agree that all other factors being equal, it’s better to chant without ear plugs. And certainly, one should obey the instructions of his or her spiritual master. And if His Holiness Radhanath Swami has instructed his disciples not to use ear plugs, then that is the best instruction for them.

But that said, there are other experienced chanters of the holy names who do use earplugs. And maybe I have a tendency to compromise. So, I use one ear plug in one ear, and I keep the other ear free, trying to get the best of both. [laughter] And I think it’s an individual matter. And as Prabhupada often said in different circumstances, if it works, it’s good. If you try it, and if it works, it’s great. Hare Krishna. [laughter]

Bhurijana Prabhu: Sacinandana, could you pick one for me? [laughter]

Sacinandana Swami: A little more difficult, or not? [laughter]

Bhurijana Prabhu: No, no, no. [laughter] I couldn’t have answered that one probably. Thank you. “How to pronounce correctly Hari and Hare and Rama. While chanting, it sounds like Hari and Rama. Should you pronounce Hari or Hare, or Ram or Rama?” Could you answer this one? [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: Well, in the Sanskrit mantra, the correct pronunciation is Hare, with the Ha, and Rama. In Sanskrit, and I’m not an expert by any means, but I’ve learned that every consonant has a sort of a short ‘a’ after it, so it would be Rama. If that short ‘a’ were meant to be dropped, there’d be a little diagonal line under it, and that indicates that that short ‘a’ is dropped, but that is not there. So, the proper pronunciation is Rama.

There is a japa tape in which it sounds like Srila Prabhupada is saying Ram Ram. I have heard, I didn’t do the exercise myself, but I’ve heard from devotees who’ve listened carefully, that he does pronounce the short ‘a’ in the Rama. But it’s a little hard, because when you get going, there is that tendency to drop the short ‘a.’ And because sometimes you hear kirtans and even Prabhupada’s japa tapes where it sounds like that ‘a’ is dropped. But in terms of proper pronunciation, it should be there in Sanskrit. I mean, I guess there’s Bengali pronunciations and Hindi pronunciations, but Sanskrit, it would be Rama, Hare Rama. Hare Krishna.

Bhurijana Prabhu: Can I say why I asked you to read it, too?

Giriraj Swami: Yes.

Bhurijana Prabhu: Well, when I hear questions like this, I’m wondering if the person is asking about their own chanting, or they’re thinking about correcting anyone else’s chanting. So, if they’re thinking about correcting their own chanting, then it’s simple to answer. And if they’re thinking about correcting everyone else’s chanting, then we wish them all the luck in the world. [laughter] It’s very difficult to correct everyone in the world, and it’s basically most important to correct oneself. And when we do correct others, it should be when there’s a proper relationship, and not senior people. And it should be with someone you have an affectionate relationship with, and it should be done only for their benefit.

So, because all that went through my mind, I thought I couldn’t answer it, because. . .

Giriraj Swami: Well, in trying to fulfill the conditions for correcting others, I would like to mention the pronunciation of the name Gadadhara. That is the pronunciation. Once, my godbrother, Madhavananda, he led kirtan—the first time he ever led kirtan in front of Srila Prabhupada. And afterwards, Srila Prabhupada said, “You chanted very nicely. I so much appreciated your kirtan. But one thing, the name is Gadadhara, not Gadadhara.” And there are certain tunes that devotees can easily slip into: Sri Advaita Gadadhara, but it’s not Gadadhara, it’s Gadadhara. That said, if I offended anyone, please forgive me, that’s not my intention. I’m not even sure if I was qualified to say that, but I did want to say it in guru’s service.

Now, there’s another side to this. [laughter]

Sacinandana Swami: There’s always another side. [laughter]

Bhurijana Prabhu: Maybe I’ll do better than this, but it’s really hard.

Giriraj Swami: Are you sure? I’m your servant – aspiring servant.

Bhurijana Prabhu: “What is the time limit for chanting one round for beginners, neophyte devotees? While I’m chanting slowly, I can hear the mantra. But when I increase the speed, I cannot hear the mantra properly. Which one will you recommend?”

So, the question seems to be: Should I recommend chanting quickly and not hearing the mantra? So, of course, we cannot recommend chanting quickly and not hearing the mantra. Or should I chant slowly and take seven or eight hours to chant my rounds? [laughter] And of course, I can’t recommend chanting slowly and taking seven or eight hours to chant your rounds.

Could you answer this question? [laughter]

Giriraj Swami: I can quote some things that I heard from Srila Prabhupada on the subject. He said, as a general rule, in the beginning, one can take seven and a half minutes to do a round. He said eight rounds in an hour. But he said, as one becomes more proficient, he could chant twelve rounds in an hour, or five minutes a round. But I’ve spoken with many godbrothers who are quite experienced chanters and do have taste, and they, at least the few that I asked, they said they take around seven minutes per round.

On another occasion, when Srila Prabhupada was asked, the question was asked in such a way like this, as if it was better to chant more slowly, and Srila Prabhupada said, “Slow is not more spiritual than fast.” And there have been devotees who have found that they can chant more attentively if they chant more quickly. That if they chant too slowly, they tend to space out. Whereas if they chant more quickly, they’re more focused. So again, it’s sort of a matter of what works.

In my own japa, sometimes a little faster works better, and sometimes a little slower works better. So again, it’s an individual matter, and the ultimate consideration is what works best. But, if one has taken a vow to chant sixteen rounds, then it’s hard to fulfill the vow by chanting very slowly. Well, you should chant sixteen rounds. Somehow or other, you should chant sixteen rounds, and try to hear. Hare Krishna.

Sacinandana Swami: “Will there ever be a time when we will be free from doubts and have certainty on our spiritual path? Will there ever be a time when we will become free from doubts about our spiritual life? Will we ever have certainty on where we are going? How to get such certainty?”

There is one great teacher who gives you certainty, and that is the teacher of experience. During these japa retreats and kirtan retreats, we try to create an atmosphere where it is easy for you to make an experience with the holy name, and that experience will always help you in times when doubts come. Doubts will most probably come as long as the mind is not yet purified and still accepts and rejects, even spiritual things. The doubts can come, but if you have an experience, then you say, “I’m right now in a low energy mode. No wonder that I have this little problem.”

So, Sanatana Goswami says, “Experience is the best teacher.” And therefore, in his masterwork, Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, his main hero, Gopal Kumar, is talking about his own experience on the spiritual path, to convince the brahman. So, drink deep from the cup of experience. Then, the doubts will be put into their relative positions, and you will not be very oppressed, even if the mind might somehow produce such doubts.

I even sometimes think, when I’m ill, when I’m overworked, and so on, I find my mind thinking, Does it really work? This chanting, does it really work? My mind, after forty plus years of chanting, produces this doubt in me. But by now, I can really say that this is only a mental junk fabrication like so many other junk fabrications in my mind, which I don’t need to take seriously, because there is no substance to these kitschy, junk thoughts. Experience—best teacher.

Bhurijana Prabhu: “There are two voices inside. One has an interest in enlightenment, and the other does not. One has enthusiasm for hearing and chanting, and the other does not. One is willing to participate in the VIHE, japa and kirtan retreat, and the other does not. [laughter] What does one do when confronted with deeply rooted spiritual indifference and aversion?”

Well, the person who wrote this obviously knows what to do, because they obviously conquered the lower voice with the higher voice, because they could not have written this unless they were here.

So, there is spiritual intelligence, which is generated from, we can say, the sincere part of us. And the Bhagavad-gītā says to control the lower self, with the higher self. And the simplest, in one sense, and best means for the best part of us to blossom, and the least part of us to dwindle, is good association. And also, in addition, you know that little story about the two wolves? You know that one probably.

There were two baby wolves. Someone was looking at them. And there was only enough food for one wolf. So, the question is, which wolf will live, and which won’t live? And the wolf that gets fed will be the one that lives, and the wolf that doesn’t get fed will be one that dies.

So, when we’re confronted with these choices, good and bad, up and down, the one that gets fed with our attention will live, and the one that gets neglected will die. So, we have choices to make all the time. What do we wish to flourish, and what do we wish to dwindle?

“What does one do when confronted with deeply rooted spiritual indifference and aversion?” By the way, whoever wrote this, we don’t know who wrote it, is a very good writer. I recommend that they write, also. Prabhupada recommended that we keep our intelligence active by writing every day. So, whoever wrote this should keep on writing, and that will give attention also to their higher self, and that will flourish. But yes, we have choices to make. We have choices to make, and our choices determine which direction we go on. So, give it attention. That which evokes spiritual enthusiasm, you should give it attention. That is my recommendation.

Giriraj Swami: There are four questions here. “How should we properly make sankalpa? In the affirmative form, or like a request?”

[Unintelligible 01:20:41]. I think it’s in the affirmative form.

Sacinandana Swami: We’ll be discussing this in our Govardhana parikramā. There are two forms of sankalpa. One is an affirmative form, “I will do this,” and the other is a request, that is, an aspiration.

There is this book called Sankalpa-kalpadrumah by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, where Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura writes down his aspirations in devotional service, aspirations which lead him directly to the service of Srimati Radharani. So, these are appeals, requests. But then, there are sankalpas, “I will do sixteen rounds minimum, and follow the principles.” These are more sankalpas in the affirmative. So, at different times, in different circumstances, in different situations, in different spiritual things, you should choose between the two.

I personally just feel—this is only a personal feeling—that beyond the main sankalpas, which we give during the initiation vows, it’s good to be in the request mood, in the aspiration, “My Lord, I wish to offer this to You. Please, please help me.” Because when you call out for the help of Krishna, then you choose the cat way, which is much better than the monkey way. I think you know what that means. And if not, you can ask the older devotees, between these two ways. You are more dependent on Krishna, who has all the strengths, when you just humbly request Him. So, of the two, this might be in the majority of cases, more favorable. But then, there is a simpler thing like attending the japa retreat and to focus on one thing. There is a possibility to just say, “I really want to abide myself to this now and offer this.” But generally, the devotee always asks for the higher support, generally.

Giriraj Swami: “Could you please share how you feel Srila Prabhupada’s presence after his disappearance, and what are your relationships with him?”

All three of us. Well, we feel his presence by adjusting. . . Well, we do feel his presence. We always think of him and how to please him, what would please him, what his instructions were, how to execute his instructions. We also feel his presence by talking about him. Like we discussed Krishna, nāhaṁ tiṣṭhāmi vaikuṇṭhe,“ that Krishna says, “I’m not in Vaikuntha, and I’m not in the heart of the yogi. But I am there wherever devotees are chanting My glories.” So, when we speak about Srila Prabhupada, we feel his presence. And we should feel his presence; we should listen, read his books, listen to his tapes, hear from devotees who have had association with him, and even from devotees who may not have had a physical association with him, but who have realizations of his presence, who have established their relationship with him even without having had his physical association.