Re: Offender chanting Hare Krishna

Respected Swamiji and all Vaisnavas,

          Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krishna! Please accept my respectful obeisances!

          Owing to a last minute glitch my last post was interrupted before I could complete it.

          Sometimes I wonder at the ability of the English language to confound a reader. It offers a lot of room for confusion and argument over what people think was actually said. For those who are new, I would just like to mention that the OOPs book (which is certainly offensive) is only one example in a long line of debates on various controversial issues that exist over what our acaryas have said. It is very difficult to stop speculating even though we know it is dangerous and there is no point doing it. We have to be very careful not to end up getting caught in all these debates as they are very bad and discouraging for the cultivation of devotion.

           Coming to irregularity, let me make one thing clear that improvement is an ongoing process. Everything takes time! As Swamiji mentioned earlier, the mantrarajas will give their benefit at all times. Another thing is that since we have just started, we are in some conflict between the spiritual path and material path. But as we get purified more and more, chanting will become more and more steady. Right now the mind is still impure, so it has a tendency to go up on one day and completely down on an another. But for a person who keeps chanting, it will go in time. One should be very determined to chant properly. The rest will then fall into place

            Logical analysis is flawed. If A then B, or if not B then what about A? It isn't binary logic. By studying theory academically one cannot understand how the mantrarajas do their work. Chanting may be unsteady in the beginning, but the practioner IS being purified and eventually it will become steady. One can look at the example of devotees. Remember what Hadai prabhu wrote about his experience. It takes some time, but it will become steady. Theoretical academic study and practical realisation are two different things. Somewhere along the way, this logic has to be stopped.

            Logic can cause so many permutations that we are bound to get confused. What if this, then that?. It is a vicious and endless loop of arguments. It doesn't consider the personal power of the Lord's names. Whatever one knows should not fall apart because of the urges of the mind to speculate. It is not a case where its either all or nothing. 0% or 100% -- No. In material terms everything has to be perfect or else the whole thing's a failure. But spiritual progress is always improving. In my case my road seems to be going like this :

          1) First things may start peacefully and go on for a few days.

          2) But then as the dirt starts coming out, a person may suffer from re-emergence of old material desires and he may feel what are called 'withdrawal symptoms'. I have a feeling of being stuck in between and not being able to fully make up my mind to go either way. It is usually at this time that chanting tends to be unsteady. We may find ourselves committing offenses because we find it a struggle to leave them.

           3) But later on as the heart clears up, those agitations will die down and we will start to like our chanting and wait for the opportunity to chant. Chanting will become very steady and relishable.

           4) Eventually the practioner will advance further and further across all the various stages as described by our acaryas. Since I have no realisation on this, I humbly request senior devotees to please fill up the blanks.

            But really, each one's path is unique. To each his own as they say.

          The offensive mentality will go and chanting will become regular. But it all takes a little time! And that time we should be willing to give. I understand what problems you are having, so did I. But don't fall for the trap! The name of the Lord is not an object. The naama prabhu will do what is logically impossible. This logic is a great hindrance to surrender to the Lord as it prevents us from having any trust in his mercy.

           Whatever you may study, it all comes down to "Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna!" Hope that helps!

Your unworthy servant,

Srinath

 

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