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Friday, April 18, 2008

Listening and Hearing



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 also good so we can monitor our pronounciation and hear if we are mispronouncing or slurring or skipping the words of the Maha mantra. When we just listen, we can be chanting something that is not the Hare Krsna mantra and we wouldn't even be aware of it (unless someone points it out to us).
When we just listen, it gives the mind license to wander off all over the universe, thinking about this, that and the other (sometimes known as Wandering Mind Syndrome). When we actually HEAR the Maha mantra properly, concentrating on what we are chanting, then the mind is kept focused and we are able to overcome the wandering mind.
Sometimes we don't even realise that the mind is wandering, such is the power of the material energy, but if we consciously HEAR the Hare Krsna mantra, then there is no danger of the mind wandering off.

Devotee: Srila Prabhup��da, it's very difficult to control my mind when I chant. It wanders.
Srila Prabhupada: So what is the controlling of mind? You have to chant and hear. That is all. You have to chant with your tongue, and the sound you hear. What is the question of mind



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