In a recent krishna.com live broadcast, Mahatma prabhu was talking about the default setting for our Japa...what level we chant on - whether that is on a low setting (inattentive, doing other things, not pronouncing properly etc.) or a higher level (focusing on the sound, pronouncing properly etc).
The point was that whatever level we set during our Japa one day will determine the level for the next day. If we raise the default level of our chanting, then this will become the new default level that our mind accepts - if we try to raise the level of our Japa quality, then we can get to a default setting of 10.
Comments
Chanting Standard
Dear Rasa Prabhu,
I found setting a standard for our chanting very valuable, cause we can evaluate our improvement. I also remember Mahatma saying we need to dedicate 100 % of our senses while chanting and that we can grade our advancement, how is it everyday. By doing this we will always be having an effort to get better japa and the standard set will have the tendency to increase and never decrease.
It's a little bit hard for me to keep a high standard of getting up early, chanting most of my rounds in the morning, but I can at least know that my goal is to have this done and keep it, so I can develop the taste of following the process and get purified through the power of the Holy Names.
Give me more tips on keeping the same standard of chanting.
Haribol.
Aruna dd
Grade our Advancement
Good point Aruna dd....it's a good idea to be honest and aware of the level of our Japa and how we can improve on that everyday. We simply have to re-apply ourselves to the process and follow the guidelines given to us by Srila Prabhupada in his books....we can do this every time we pick up our beads, or even for each mantra....just re-apply the knowledge and guidlines that we have acquired.
Following the Guidance
Thank you for this motivation, its correct, sometimes we just forget what our spiritual master has left for us. He used to say chanting is very simple but it must be taken very seriously. I do think nowadays many people are taking into consideration this guidelines and following cause they know what Srila Prabhupada left its perfect, we dont need to add anything.
Haribol
Aruna dd
Chanting is very simple
"....Chanting is very simple, but one must practice it seriously."
Chaitanya Charitamrta - Adi 17.32 purport