How can we counter the mind’s wandering while reading scripture?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
When you are chanting, reading, how do we stop the mind from wandering? Yes, the mind is very much in the mode of passion. So, we have to bring it back. And what we could do is, two, three, many things we could do.
One is that, basically, we have to channelize the principles of passion for transcendence. So, passion means, in Rajoguna, we have to have tangible, concrete things. So, if I am reading satarits, okay, I can read, I can read one page in three minutes or five minutes.
If I want to read for one hour, then I can read 15 pages. We set a target. And we start feeling a sense of motion.
Our goal is not simply to complete the target, but setting targets helps us to get a sense of direction and achievement. So, what happens in spiritual life, it’s a long journey. And we don’t even know whether we are moving forward or not.
Yesterday I was chanting Hare Krishna, today I am chanting Hare Krishna. What difference is it making? It is making a big difference, but it’s at a certain level. It’s like sometimes when you are going in a plane, if you just look outside on the plane, it seems like the same sky is there everywhere.
You don’t really feel, only if you look down, you may see, okay, there is a sea, now there is a mountain over here. So, when we are so high up, we can’t see that. So, we are going through the sky, we don’t see any movement seeming to be happening.
Or the plane may be moving at hundreds of kilometers, but the plane just appears to be just moving on a stroll. If you are sitting especially next to the V, next to the wings, you see the, it just seems to be moving so slow, almost like a, somebody going for a morning stroll. Isn’t it? So, like that, we don’t feel as if we are moving in our spirituality, but every day when we are practicing Bhakti, we are moving.
So, we have to create some external targets, external goals by which we get a sense of movement, sense of excitement, sense of achievement. Prabhupada would do this with respect to book distribution. He would distribute more books, double like Prabhupada is saying.
So, like that, we can create some targets for ourselves. Additionally, we have to find out what is the best way, say, that I can absorb myself. So, sometimes it may be that we read something and then we plan.
You know, we may have some other friend with whom we are reading. We plan, you know, maybe we can, every day we will discuss one or two points. So, when I am reading, what is a good point to read? What is it I would like to share? So, then, we will be able to hear more at reading because we are looking for something more special.
Instead of just passive reading, we do active reading. And it is also good to try to recap periodically. That is, if I am reading, it is just okay.
Last 10 minutes I have been reading. What exactly did I read? Just close your eyes and think. Try to recap.
30 seconds if you try to recap, pause and think. So, basically, try to make the process of reading as active as possible. Similarly, with respect to chanting, you know, we periodically just remind ourselves.
What am I doing? I am just uttering the sound, but not just being, doing the activity, be aware of what you are doing. Then if we can remind ourselves, maybe by reading a little bit about the importance of the holy name, keeping some verses about the glory of the holy name, that helps us to remind ourselves of the importance of chanting. Then we can stimulate ourselves.