During chanting, can we have aids to get the mind from the physical level to the spiritual level?
To willfully get the mind towards to rise from the physical to the spiritual level can we have some aid? yes there is a concept of the point of concentration and the circle of concentration the point of concentration means just focus on the sound of the holy name and the sound of the holy name will elevate us upwards but sometimes in our condition stage we find the sound of the holy name too monotonous then we focus on the circle of concentration that means around the point of the holy name something is connected with Krishna, the mind is there just focusing on the sound is extremely difficult and then it just gives up and wanders all over the universe instead of letting it wander all over the universe let it have something nearby have a picture of the deities, have a picture of our spiritual master, have a picture of say if you take an initiation our initiation ceremony or have some quotes about the holy name have some verses glorifying the holy name something something which or even have some picture of Krishna performing a pastime that we connect with very nicely and then what happens? the mind wanders, it goes over there Krishna is Draupadi called out to Krishna and Krishna came to protect her that same Krishna I am calling out right now so that way we can connect mind wanders in the circle but within the circle because it is connected with Krishna the mind comes back so we can have some aids like that which are also devotional even if they are not directly the holy name another thing which we could do is that the mind we wanted to go from we want the consciousness to go from the physical to the spiritual level but sometimes the mind just goes off at its own level, in the mental like something comes on the TV, just keep watching that so when it is difficult to go to the spiritual it is helpful to at least come back to the physical that means sometimes people are just too caught in their head this person did like this, this person did like that get out of your head do something now so sometimes if a mind is wandering too much just after a few rounds taking a break, taking a few deep breaths or just sitting and mind is wandering just start walking or just wash the face a little bit do something physical which gets our consciousness at least out of the mental level we want to go from the physical to the spiritual but the mental can go off on its own track anywhere and directly to go from mental to spiritual when it is difficult then at least we get it back to the physical ok, then I remember I am in the temple or I am in a temple hall in my room or I am meant to be chanting right then, oh, I should try to attend, so when it is difficult to directly go to the spiritual getting the mind to the physical, especially physical where there are stimuli which reminds us of the purpose what we are doing over there that can also help us the mind is like a child and mothers know that if a child is crying, there is no one formula you cannot use, every time the mother is crying, baby child is crying, mother gives a toy, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work and every child is also different one mother may say, I give my child a toy calm down, other mother tries and it doesn't work so all of us, we have our child like mind and we have to find out for ourselves, what works with the mind, so what will be in the circle of concentration what kind of break to the physical level will help us, so that is something which we have to resourcefully observe, Srila Prabhupada writes in the nectar of instruction introduction that once we come to the mode of goodness, how to advance further will be revealed from within so that's what happens for us if we are trying to practice bhakti seriously, then we will ourselves understand what I can do to make sure that my mind stays on the track to Krishna.