Do you still Chant Hare Krsna daily? How, and Much, Vote for if you chant still, much/how Options

[metamorphosis]

Who?


"I have noticed that even Iskcon gurus now allow their householder disciples to take a vow for a smaller number of rounds (often as low as 4) during initiation and I applaud that approach."

I know of a few friends who got their initiation from "Krishnapada" , not just householders, and the minimum is 4 rounds.

[Homer]

Who?


"I have noticed that even Iskcon gurus now allow their householder disciples to take a vow for a smaller number of rounds (often as low as 4) during initiation and I applaud that approach."

I know of a few friends who got their initiation from "Krishnapada" , not just householders, and the minimum is 4 rounds.

Does the initiate taking the reduced rate pay any extra compared to those poor sods who spend all day mumbling?

[0Banu0]

hi!

here's the newbie ;-)

saw them chanting on these clickers all the time in europe (especially scandinavia). i never understood it: it's so much more intense with beads

[Prisni]

one of my most persistent doubts about GV practices is the emphasis on quantity of names chanted during japa. maybe for a renunciate it is a good way to fill your day with meditative practice, but for a regular working class dasas and dasis even 16 rounds is a chore.

I don't understand the practice either. Except for, I find that having forced myself to chant for so long time before, now the mantra pops into my mind without effort. The required set of brain neurons have grown into a mantric circle, and just by almost no effort, they can start to spin in that circle. And the spinning can create a kind of hypnotic effect in the brain, which can rival sex or a drug. Like a buddhistic prayer-wheel, but made up by gray matter.

[0Kula-pavana0]

Who?


"I have noticed that even Iskcon gurus now allow their householder disciples to take a vow for a smaller number of rounds (often as low as 4) during initiation and I applaud that approach."

This is something between the guru and the disciple. I know from some of the disciples but I am not at a liberty to name names.

[0Kula-pavana0]

I know of a few friends who got their initiation from "Krishnapada" , not just householders, and the minimum is 4 rounds.

who is "Krishnapada"? I am SO out of touch...

I thought the only guru who does it openly is Tripurari Swami, but he is not in Iskcon.

[metamorphosis]

Who?


"I have noticed that even Iskcon gurus now allow their householder disciples to take a vow for a smaller number of rounds (often as low as 4) during initiation and I applaud that approach."

This is something between the guru and the disciple. I know from some of the disciples but I am not at a liberty to name names.

from here>>>>>>
His Holiness Bhakti-Tirtha Swami Krishnapada, the founder and director of the Institute for Applied Spiritual Technology, was born into a pious family in Cleveland, Ohio with the name John E. Favors. In his early years, he appeared regularly on television as a child evangelist.

[Prisni]

Isn't he an ISKCON guru or ex ISKCON guru? I could read nothing of ISKCON and Prabhupada in the presentation of him I got by following that link. But maybe I did not read it scrutinizely enough?

[0Kula-pavana0]

Isn't he an ISKCON guru or ex ISKCON guru?

he has left this world a while ago while acting as an Iskcon guru. at one time he had some pretty strange ideas.

[Prisni]

he has left this world a while ago while acting as an Iskcon guru. at one time he had some pretty strange ideas.

Then somehow he was not proud of ISKCON, while still in this world, or his disciples are not proud of ISKCON after his leaving, or he edited the homepage from wherever he is now.
Whatever.
There is nothing as ever fresh as history revision.

[metamorphosis]

"A Forum for Former Vaisnavas and Friends"

But as i have pointed out a few times, this is not really true, present Vaisnavas are the majority! Vaisnavas meaning those who like to chant Hare Krishna, or Prayers for a Person God. = 83.35%

33.33%=I chant Hare Krishna daily, minimum of 4 rounds, and lots of singing type.
11.11%=I chant in Bhajans with friends, not daily, but often.
5.56%=I only chant Hare Krishna to myself, under my breath, in my mind.
5.56%=I chant Hare Krishna occasionally, about once a week, song type.
5.56%=I chant Hare Krishna all ways and since i am a babaji, i chant Hare Krishna no less than 64 times a day.
5.56%=I only chant Hare Krishna once in a year, like when i attend the temple functions.
5.56%=I only chant Hare Krishna, not hear it, because i am deaf.
11.11%=I chant another mantra, or prayer.
thank you for your association

While only 16.67% are "former Vaisnavas"
11.11%=I make my vote here, which is none of the above.
5.56%=I hate the chanting of Hare Krishna.

[Dhyana]

I don't understand the practice either. Except for, I find that having forced myself to chant for so long time before, now the mantra pops into my mind without effort. The required set of brain neurons have grown into a mantric circle, and just by almost no effort, they can start to spin in that circle. And the spinning can create a kind of hypnotic effect in the brain, which can rival sex or a drug. Like a buddhistic prayer-wheel, but made up by gray matter.

It's similar for me. From time to time I find myself chanting japa with a lot of effort. When this happens, I know I must be dreaming, and I usually wake up

[Emma]

I never chant rounds now i still have my beads in my top drawer...and about 5 beadbags. I will never get rid of the beads but i might give away the bags.

[zanardi]

I did chant regurarly for 16 years. Late december 1999 I started to get panic attacks and tried to cool myself down by chanting and it made me feel even worse. It made me stop chanting. Bad memories! I may say a mantra or two during my day but I dont do it to gain something or out of devotion. Besides, analyzing the content of my mantras, hymns or prayers would constitute something which we used to call rasa-bhasa. Top of the Pops.

[Dhyana]

The staircase of the building where I work has excellent accoustics. I am often tempted to sing when I am out (I use the stairs and elevator a lot), and it's usually the HK melodies that come to mind. I have to be careful, because even if I am alone in the stairs, people in the elevator can hear me quite well... and they might be my patients!

I don't do it for any spiritual aim either. Rather for pleasure. (I like the sound of my voice )

Somehow, among the songs I like best, many have religious lyrics. No top of the Pops for me. For example, I have a hauntingly beautiful CD by a Norwegian singer Tone Hulbaekmo, Kyrja, that contains adaptations of the Pentecostal movements' songs from 19th century. I have listened to it so many times that I have started getting the Norwegian. So I find myself joyously singing hails to "Kristi brud" and stuff about Jesus who is waiting for me the pilgrim, etc. That is perhaps even more embarrassing to be caught in the act with, than the HK mantras...

[0Kula-pavana0]

While only 16.67% are "former Vaisnavas"
11.11%=I make my vote here, which is none of the above.

I think there are even more Vaishnavas here

for example: I voted "I make my vote here, which is none of the above" as I regularly chant a lot but do not count the rounds.

[0dayalu0]

one of my most persistent doubts about GV practices is the emphasis on quantity of names chanted during japa. maybe for a renunciate it is a good way to fill your day with meditative practice, but for a regular working class dasas and dasis even 16 rounds is a chore.

I have noticed that even Iskcon gurus now allow their householder disciples to take a vow for a smaller number of rounds (often as low as 4) during initiation and I applaud that approach.

I still chant regularly - mostly on beads, but also while driving, yet I no longer count my rounds or strive for any fixed number of names. I have chanted 16 rounds minimum for more than two decades but at some time I just stopped counting them. Perhaps that happened when I lost my counting beads    I love chanting at night, while walking through the woods. Early mornings are even better but with my work schedule that is possible only on weekends.

I like chanting and I do feel the benefit of good japa. I also like kirtans in the temple a lot more than I ever did, especially if they are good. The only bhajans I like are the Jaya Radha Madhava prayers, Mangalacarana, and the Maha Mantra. But harmonium is almost a must in these bhajans. Most of the Bengali bhajans do very little for me. And I do like Damodarastakam very much when the time comes for it.

The vast region called Brahman in general bears a peculiar quality: that the sound in the form of mantra or transcendental name is identical (in aspect) with the object indicated by the sound. This is different from all sounds within this plane of duality, this mundane world. I realized this important fact before I became a disciple maybe when I was 17. Therefore the Holy Name is directly Krishna Himself, we are told, but due to offences we are unable to perceive Him. We are asking to serve Him. “O My Lord, O Energy of the Lord, kindly engage me in Your service.” That is why we chant His Name, to revive that dormant consciousness within us. If we do not have the submissive attitude of a servant first, then the chanting will not melt our heart, grow and become newer and newer, as Krishna reveals Himself gradually and in different ways. We are servants of one who tastes the nectar of the Name Divine. In this way our spiritual master is seen. Nitai-Gaura.
I do not regularly chant on beads though I wish I could but I am always conscious of Him, I see it as His causeless mercy I can know Him at all. In the Gaudiya line it was usual to not let a perspective disciple chant the Name on beads until he was engaged as a servant for at least a year. Then the ground was prepared to accept the real Name, with all His potencies, and to live a life of service, to get the association of Krishna. Did Arjuna chant on beads? Did the cowherds and gopis? Their chanting is not mechanical, it is based on a serving, loving relationship, and Krishna is the shelter of all loving relationship, Rasaraja. And all service to Him is under Her, who actually has love for Krishna, She is Mahabhava. That’s what chanting is really all about (according to my small realization)
And I do bhajan when I can and anything at all even remotely connected with Krishna (like this forum) because years of serving the physical world has dampened my spiritual edge through constant association…Gaura Hari Bol!

[0Kula-pavana0]

The vast region called Brahman in general bears a peculiar quality: that the sound in the form of mantra or transcendental name is identical (in aspect) with the object indicated by the sound. This is different from all sounds within this plane of duality, this mundane world...

I have a feeling that this is even more complicated. The way I understand it (an even perceive it to some extent) there is sound in the air (any sound vibration), vibration of the ether by a conscious thought, and vibration of the spiritual reality (Brahman).

Thus the mantra can be spoken, expressed in a thought, and simply realized by us as existing eternally in it's own reality. That is the aspect of the spiritual name being identical with the spiritual object - on some level of awareness we simply discover what is already there. we dont really make that vibration, we simply become aware of it's spiritual presence when we make the effort by our chanting.


anyway... sorry if I became "too devotional to bear"

[Kalisurfer]

There is a lot of the ISKCON experience that I left behind, but chanting is not one of them. I chant only because I like it, it relaxes me and puts me in connection with something deeper, but I follow no rules or theory about it. I prefer long walks while doing japa, I consider it a walking meditation. I usually walk daily with a clicker for about 5 miles during my lunch period in a nature reserve in the city, for some reason, the clicking keeps me focused on the mantras, so I keep the this method of keeping track of rounds, though I don’t worry about keeping track of how many were chanted, but it usually reads a little over 1900 mantras on a typical walk, if that is the only mantra I use. I have also used other prayers and mantras while walking, but Hare Krsna comes more easily at this point. I consider it one of the many tools that I have acquired over the years to use for spiritual and mental purposes. This practice keeps me centered and refreshed mentally to go on and finish my day or any creative projects I am working on.

I often wonder, how can someone so inimical towards ISKCON and the GV tradition of so many rules and regulations still like to chant the main mantra? I don’t have an answer, though plenty have told me it’s because I’m brainwashed, still devoted subconsciously, a deviant who is breaking all the chanting rules, a bona fide practitioner of rasa-bhasa, a new age combiner of everything but a practitioner of nothing.

I do believe in a God, whatever form that may take, so chanting prayers, be it from any tradition, keeps me connected. Though I do not consider myself a practicing Gaudiya Vaisnava, I do like its method of chanting. I remember one friend a while back who glued a large Tulsi bead onto the protruding part of the clicker you push down on to click, it was his way of making it more a GV experience in terms of tradition. It's amazing what makes all of us in our individuality and diversity still operate in a group or with slight traces of a previous group we may have belonged to... while still feeling good about who we are and what we do in our own particular way.

[0dayalu0]

There is a lot of the ISKCON experience that I left behind, but chanting is not one of them. I chant only because I like it, it relaxes me and puts me in connection with something deeper, but I follow no rules or theory about it. I prefer long walks while doing japa,  I consider it a walking meditation. I usually walk daily with a clicker for about 5 miles during my lunch period, for some reason, the clicking keeps me focused on the mantras, so I keep the this method of keeping track of rounds, though I don’t worry about keeping track of how many were chanted, but it usually reads a little over 1900 mantras on a typical walk, if that is the only mantra I use. I have also used other prayers and mantras while walking, but Hare Krsna comes more easily at this point. I consider it one of the many tools that I have acquired over the years to use for spiritual and mental purposes. This practice keeps me centered and refreshed mentally to go on and finish my day or any creative projects I am working on.

I often wonder, how can someone so inimical towards ISKCON and the GV tradition of so many rules and regulations still like to chant the main mantra? I don’t have an answer, though plenty have told me it’s because I’m brainwashed, still devoted subconsciously, a deviant who is breaking all the chanting rules, a bona fide practitioner of rasa-bhasa, a new age combiner of everything but a practitioner of nothing.

I do believe in a God, whatever form that may take, so chanting prayers, be it from any tradition, keeps me connected. Though I do not consider myself a practicing Gaudiya Vaisnava, I do like its method of chanting. I remember one friend a while back who glued a large Tulsi bead onto the protruding part of the clicker you push down on to click, it was his way of making it more a GV experience in terms of tradition. It's amazing what makes all of us in our individuality and diversity still operate in a group or with slight traces of a previous group we may have belonged to... while still feeling good about who we are and what we do in our own particulr way.

You cannot give up the Divine Name? That Name that only the liberated souls relish? Who could after tasting it's nectar even once? In my case, for years I couldn't hold the beads but I remembered that I was told that speaking (preaching) was the most effective means to concentrate on the Name and revealed the true object to be accomplished by the chanting. After all one can fall asleep, drift off, be adverse to service whereas speaking to another always requires full concentration and service attitude...just a thought, O thoughtful one!