IMPORTANCE OF PLACE and POSTURE DURING JAPA!

You fill up your lungs with air. When we take in a little air we don’t say the mantra properly. If you take a deep breath and say the mahamantra, then it is loud and clear. Then slowly release the air as you say the mahamantra. Then there is boost. Slowly release the air as you say the mahamantra. When you take lot of air in and then release it, you are also doing pranayam, which is ultimately meant for concentration and meditation. By this your blood will be purified and oxygenised which will reach the brain and you will remain fresh and your memory will become sharper. There are lot of benefits of doing this. Otherwise the way we breathe is also not good for health. It also doesn’t lead to effective chanting . It’s only whispering, because the air is less, and you are not making an endeavour to say the name and hear the name with attention. We are in another world and then we stop chanting. You should take a deep breath and then chant 3, 4 or 5 Hare Krishna mahamantras in one breath. Then again take a deep breath and repeat it same way. It has lots of benefits. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but many devotees practice that way. You can also try.

Here we are in Mayapur dham. As I told day before, I left Noida yesterday and arrived in Mayapur dham. I was chanting in Delhi, and Noida also. Those who attend the conference regularly, they know every few days I am in another location. Chanting is something that doesn’t change. Chanting is constant. Location changes. If you go to another place that doesn’t mean you stop chanting. I do something new at each place, but chanting is the constant factor. For you also, wherever you are, if you are stationed in your comfort zone, your home or if you are travelling, and you have to go to another state, another country, another continent, still you chant. No matter what but you stick to chanting. I also had fortune to offer aarti to Panchatattva today.

As I say from time to time, that you have to do preparation for chanting. Attending mangal-aarti , Tulsi aarti is part of that preparation, so I kind of prepared myself for chanting by worshipping Pancatattva. I am here in the dham and the dhamvas also strongly recommended. One of the five sadhanas is Dham-vas. I will not say the other four.You can find it out. We have Dham-vas also. Power or influence of dham also certainly becomes very favourable for your chanting. Since our topic is chanting, I am drawing chanting connections from that. Our ISKCON temples are dham. We could always go to various ISKCON temples and get the benefit by visiting the dham and chant there. Otherwise there is also – tirthi kurvanti tirthani . ( SB. 1.13.10) You could make your home tirtha. If you have an altar or photograph or some Deities, or if you are making your home look like Vaikuntha. Tulasi maharani is there. You can have a cow. Make sure you don’t have a dog. Have a cow. If a dog is there, he could be in his own place. If he walks all over that is not desirable. You can have Prabhupada’s books at home. In your kitchen when you are cooking for the Deities, and you are always chanting your Hare Krishna also, so then your home could be termed as, or experienced as Tirth or Dham. Being in the dham certainly helps to concentrate on chanting.

Offer your obeisances to Vaisnavas before chanting. Beg for their mercy. You could do this. Biggest trouble for us is Vaisnava aparadha . We are expert at offending Vaisnava. Very naturally and spontaneously we commit Vaisnava aparadh. Part of the preparation is, we could also remind ourselves, about what the ten offenses against the holy name are. That is done in all the temples. Individually also your can do that and offer prayers –

vanca kalpatarubhyaca kripa sindhubhy evaca/
patitanam pavanebhyo vaishnavebhyo namo namaha//. ( Vaisnav pranam mantra)

These are also preparations, before you chant. While offering pranam mantras to the Vaisnava this morning , I was happy, the way I offered my obeisances to Vaishnavas . That was with some feelings. Premanjan Prabhu madean announcements. So while announcing he said, ‘ matha niche karun’. He was telling that for the visitors, that they have to bow down their head. As he said that , I bow down with some feelings. Sashtanga dandavat, which means , eight part of your body are involved in offering Dandavats for gentlemen. Ladies do Panchang pranam . Some things are common. Obeisance’s are offered with the body, words , mind and also soul is there. Mind, intelligence and ego , real ego, -the chetana, consciousness, most subtle being ,’also offers obeisance’s. !
I was happy and wondering whether all the previous times that I had offered my pranams to Vaisnavas if I really did I offer my obeisances? I just had this thought. The first time I was offering my obeisances that I had special feelings while offering Vaisnava pranams. That is begging for forgiveness. Begging for their mercy also, very humbly, emotionally, devotionally.

Keep chanting. You should also sit properly. Prabhupada also gave several instructions about chanting, but one that stands out which he gave in middle of , one of the Japa sessions ( it was recorded) was – “ sit properly.” So what is sitting properly? Your backbone and neck should be straight, sitting like a yogi. That is sitting properly. Two days ago I had a conversation with one yogi, who is now a Bhakti-Yogi in Delhi temple regarding sitting properly. He said that if we sit with the back bone relaxed and neck down, it’s not a yogic posture. You try sitting in this improper way and you will feel that your breathing is kind of blocked. You can’t speak clearly in that posture. He was explaining that when we sit properly our lungs open up. When we sit down bending like a rainbow there is a blockage. It’s like the position when you are in the womb of your mother. You can’t sit properly. You can’t speak properly. You are not taking in sufficient air and then when we chant, there is not a thrust or boost behind the names you utter. You are just whispering. It is not loud and clear. Not only for breathing, but there is a blockage in the internal communication which goes on through the nervous system. That whole thing is also put under stress. It doesn’t help you to think properly or remember. You are not sharp enough. So it is a very important aspect which we don’t pay much attention to. This is a pranayam which is aimed at concentration, remembrance and total absorption. We don’t give a full Japa seminar over here, only some tips or guidelines, some inspiration, some encouragement for all of you to go on chanting properly and attentively.

I am inviting you , if you can come by today or tomorrow morning to Mayapur, like lots of devotees are pouring in. Temple was flooded. Tomorrow is Maha Abhishek of Pancatattva. We are eagerly waiting for that. We will chant during Abhishek. You can watch on Mayapur T.V.

Hare Krishna!