The four P’s of effective chanting – Posture, Pronunciation, Purity and Prayerfulness

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Thank you.
For improving our chanting, we’ll discuss four principles related to the body, the tongue, the mind, and the heart of the soul. These four keys are posture, pronunciation, purity, and prayerfulness. First of all, what actually are we doing when we chant the holy names? At an external level, it appears that we are just repeatedly uttering some sound vibration.
But interestingly, even modern science has discovered that asmr shoots, or they call it as auto-suggestions, that means we phrase certain sentences and repeat them. So, if we do that, we can help a person to be positive. So, for example, a person says that, yes, calm down, calm down, calm down.
Just saying that, something like that, it helps. But the help that it offers is temporary. The mind is very greatly influenced by sound.
Why is the mind influenced by sound? Because sound has multiple dimensions to it. At one level, sound is just vibrations that are going through space. But sound has hidden potency within it, which we can’t very easily comprehend.
For example, A, B, C, D, E, F, G are just a set of letters. B, I, M, P is equal to L, E, C squared. This is also a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols.
But then there is so much meaning within it. And so much power can be tapped if one understands this properly. So, letters, when they’re combined together in a particular way, they have certain meaning, certain power.
Now, unpacking that meaning and power can empower a person. This is just one example of a formula which involves. Now, if we go from a strict semantic point of view, semantic means in terms of meanings.
Now, E is equal to M, C squared is not a grammatical construction which has in itself a meaning. So, grammatical construction may be that the amount of energy produced is a product of the mass and the square of the velocity. So, something like that.
That would be a grammatically correct synthesis of a semantic formula. So, in the Vedic scriptures, it is described that sound can be broadly of two types. The bhani is sound.
It can be shabda and it can be bhanda. So, shabda is the sound that carries semantic value. That means there is some meaning to it.
So, these are the sounds which have intrinsically some meaning to them. And then when we recite them, we contemplate on the meaning. Am I audible to you? And the contemplation on the meaning helps us to trigger our mudhicharya intelligence and thereby we can clarify things.
That is at one level. Beyond that, there are mantras. Mantras do not necessarily have to be opposed to shabda.
Shabda means there is something which has meaning. It is not that mantra does not have meaning, but rather the potency of mantra does not depend on the meanings. The potency of mantra depends just on the formula, the arrangement of the sounds in a particular way.
And if one repeats that sound, there is the effect that comes. It is like many times some programme or a computer may use e equals mc squared. Our programme may use it and calculate something.
It may not even understand what it is, but still it is able to calculate and get the results. So, mantras are in a sense formulas in sound. Of course, if the meaning is understood, there is greater benefit also, which we will discuss slightly later.
But essentially, what are mantras? Mantras are formulas in sound. What are the formulas? In the formula, e equals mc squared is the formula to access nuclear power. Similarly, mantra is a formula in sound to access the power of God through sound.
So, when we chant the mantras, there are many mantras. This particular mantra is the Mahamantra, the Hare Krishna Mahamantra we chant. So, there are various ways in which we can maximise the tapping of the power that is there in the holy name.
The holy name is powerful, but we need to tap it. So, let us look at the four P’s. First is the posture.
Now, the mantra is spiritual and the posture is physical. So, why would something physical affect the spiritual? Actually, the physical does not affect the spiritual, rather the physical affects our receptivity to the spiritual. The holy name is always quoted, but to receive the potency of the holy name, we have to be attentive.
Just like there may be a potent medicine, a powerful medicine for curing a disease. Now, when the child is to be given that medicine, so the child may not understand. The mother gives the medicine to the child.
So, if the child is naughty, mischievous, rebellious, the child is shaking his head and not opening the mouth, and the medicine may be poured, but the point is not just to pour the medicine. The point is for the child to drink the medicine. So, whether the child is shaking the head or closing the mouth, whatever, the medicine is quoted.
But whether the potency will benefit the child or not depends on the child’s mouth opening. The medicine goes inside the system. So, the holy name’s potency is independent of anything physically connected with us, but our capacity to access the potency depends on certain situations.
So, especially receptivity, to the extent we are conscious of the holy name, to that extent we will benefit from the holy name. So, that’s why what we need is posture. A favourable posture can increase our receptivity.
The whole idea of rituals is tapping the connection between the body, the mind, and the soul. All rituals are based on our understanding of psychophysical working of the human body. So, for example, if I sit relaxed, and I put my hand, and then I raise my legs, and then I say, Prabhu, I’m feeling very humble now.
Is it possible? It’s very difficult, isn’t it? So, certain postures evoke certain emotions naturally. In exceptional situations, it may be possible that even in certain postures, you may have wonderful emotions. But normally, certain bodily postures are associated with certain emotions.
That’s why when we are chanting, if we have a proper bodily posture, that helps us in being more receptive to the sound of the holy name. So, normally, we sit and chant. And unless somebody has some back problem, because somebody needs to lean, that person needs to lean on the wall, and sitting at one place is good in chanting.
Now, it’s good to keep the back erect, but the point is not to exercise the back. The point is just to be confident. Sometimes it’s lousy like that, and that itself creates a tendency.
And of course, if we are feeling lethargic, then standing up or walking is also okay. The important point is that the body should be arranged in such a way that it assists and not distracts from the process of meditation. So, in the process of yoga, ashtanga yoga, there is something called asana.
Now, yoga asanas are nowadays very popular as a means for bending and healing the body. If you want to twist the body and you want to make it healthier, maybe even more good looking, that is only one aspect. The idea of yoga asanas, so the asana is the third step in the ace of yoga.
And the purpose is, when the body is properly postured, then one can move forward towards the directing of the mind on higher spiritual truth, ultimately on Krishna in the heart. So, that’s with respect to meditation and posture. And then there is, there is a pronunciation.
So, there is the body and there is the speech. Although the body, speaking capacity is a part of the body, but with respect to spirituality, speech is such an important faculty that often it is classified as distinct. So, kaya, vaka and manasa, the body, the speech and the mind, these are often the three classifications of the dimensions of our existence that need to be spiritually engaged.
So, the speech, when we speak the Hare Krishna mantra, the point is to express our devotion or to express our desire for devotion, if at present we don’t have much devotion to Krishna. So, how do we express our devotion? There are various mantras, and these different mantras have different significances behind them. So, for example, Om Namo Narayanaya.
This is a mantra which invokes Lord Narayana. And it involves an invocative part, Om. Om is often, Pranava is Sarve Deshu, in 7.8 in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says that I am Pranava.
Pranava refers to Om. So, Om is also a manifestation of the divine. Om is used to invoke.
That means, sometimes if, if the president or prime minister or the king is to be called, then there are certain honorifics used to address that person, his grace, his excellency, his honour. That’s a word which is used to invoke. So, like that, Om, Om Namo, I offer my obeisances, Narayanaya.
This is a mantra which involves invocation followed by obeisances, followed by the name of the lord whom we are invoking. In contrast with that, the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra is simply the names only. There are three names which are repeated in combination, so that we have 16 words in the Maha Mantra.
So, Hare, Krishna, and Rama. So, Hare can refer to Lord Hare. Hare can also refer to Hara, which is the feminine aspect of the divine absolute truth, that is, Srimati Rajdhani.
Now, when we chant the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, it’s dialectically the name of the lord. So, the most important thing is the attitude with which we are calling, that we will discuss later. It’s like, Shri Prabhupada would explain, based on scriptures, that chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra is like a child calling out for his mother.
The child calls out. The child does not bother about any honorifics. Oh, mother, please help me.
Just mother is enough. The mother understands what is required. The child doesn’t have to verbalise it.
The same way, this is the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. We don’t have to verbalise separately. Just call out the mother.
So, in that sense, intrinsically, the pronunciation may not seem very important. That’s why we will see that in Sanskrit, every word has different forms. So, for example, there are eight forms.
So, Krishna, Krishna Sir, Krishnena, Krishnaya, Krishnam, Krishnam. So, like that, there are different forms. So, in English, normally, the possessive case involves putting apostrophe to it.
So, say, if I say Ravi, and Ravi is pen. So, that’s the only modification that offers. So, generally, in the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, especially in Kirtan, we can modify the word.
That’s what happens in Hare Krishna. In Kirtans, we have different tunes. Different words we get elongated or shortened.
That is perfectly acceptable. But when we are doing Japa, the primary focus is on calling out to the Lord. So, when we call out to a person, the attitude of the heart is also evoked, is also expressed by the way we call out.
That’s why we pronounce the word carefully, not so much because it’s a rule that Krishna will not allow his power to manifest if you don’t pronounce the word properly. It’s not like that. Power can manifest even if the word is not pronounced properly.
So, for example, there are devotees in different parts of the world, in certain languages of the world, the sound Ra is not their own. So, then those devotees who pronounce it, they pronounce Ra because they’ve not heard that sound since their childhood. So, Ra, they pronounce.
Now, Krishna will accept that also. But the important point is, not just what Krishna accepts, but also what we offer. Because what we offer indicates our attitude.
That’s why we try to pronounce as carefully as possible. In fact, Itthi murthy abhidhaane na manthra murthy mathur amurthikam So, itthi murthy abhidhaane na So, the wise people worship abhidhaane na, the Lord. However, manthra murthy amurthikam that Lord who has no material form, who is transiting eternal, we worship him.
manthra murthy So, every time we chant mantra, it’s like a murthy, a deity of the Lord is being formed. So, when we don’t pronounce mantra properly, it’s like man forming the deity. That’s why the devotional attitude is trying to pronounce each word carefully.
And through that careful pronunciation, we also express our devotion to the Lord. Generally, when we have affection for somebody, we give a gift. Now, when the gift is given, what the receiver of the gift sees is the attitude, the love, the affection that the giver is expressing.
But along with that, what the gift is given, that is also seen. So, there is the content of the gift and there is the intent of the gift. Both are important.
So, the intent is a devotional disposition. The content is the pronunciation. So, we pronounce the words carefully.
And generally, when we chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, the mind is hyperactive. And when the kirtans are being sung, because there is a musical accompaniment, there is a musical tune, even if the tune is slow, our mind gets absorbed. But otherwise, because the mind is hyperactive, if while doing japa we chant very slowly, then the mind doesn’t get attitude immediately and it gets distracted.
That’s why we chant Krishna Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Ram Ram Ram Ram So, the individual speed at which every devotee will chant will vary. It will depend on many factors. It will depend on our vocal cords, the strength of our lungs, the comfort with which we can concentrate.
Generally, most devotees take around seven, seven and a half minutes to complete one mantra. In ancient days, we may take more, try to become less. That varies.
The important point is that we pronounce the words briskly, but at the same time clearly. So, especially while pronouncing, now if you see, the whole pronunciation is a different branch of knowledge. I won’t go into phonetics right now over here.
But simply speaking, in the Mahamantra, in Hare, Krishna and Ram, so among these three words, the maximum movement of the tongue is required for the word Krishna. Krishna, then second is Hare and Ram is minimal. It’s relatively speaking the simplest to pronounce.
Now, because the word Ram is simplest to pronounce, at one level it requires the least effort, but at another level, it’s the easiest to miss out or miss a point. So, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare So, here, the second part, the word Ram comes three times. So, many times when the pronunciation is Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Hare Rama Rama Hare Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Hare Rama Rama Hare So, whether a person is pronouncing three times or two times or even one time, it is sometimes difficult to understand.
And similarly, the word Hare, So generally the word Krishna is not so easy to miss out or mess up with because it requires string denunciation. But Ram can be missed out, Hare can also be missed out, so we have to be careful. Sometimes some devotees may record their japa once in a while to see how they are pronouncing.
And chanting in association also helps us to try to pronounce properly. And in the initial days if we develop a habit of pronouncing properly, then it goes on effortlessly and we can naturally pronounce properly. So this is second posture, pronunciation.
And then at the level of chanting is purity. So purity and prayerfulness. Purity means what is the purpose for which we are chanting.
So like we say pure water, pure water means that water which is not contaminated by anything else. So we remember earlier we discussed about there are four levels at which a person may approach God. That is fear, desire, beauty and love.
So these four levels may motivate our approaching the holy name also. Now of course nobody is going to punish us and threaten us that we will go to hell if we don’t chant the holy name. So that may not be the fear for us.
The fear may be that okay I have committed to chanting and what will other devotees say. I don’t know how to chant and then I should chant. So there will be a negative motivation.
So Rupa Goswami is a great devotee scholar and he says at our level of chanting, at our level of practise and doing service, the driving principle can be Whatever way we feel the mind of Krishna, it doesn’t matter. So even if fear becomes an impetus, let’s chant, let’s chant, let’s chant, let’s chant. If you are feeling very sleepy, let’s chant, let’s chant, let’s chant.
Then you wake up and see. What will other devotees think if I go to sleep? I am not sleeping. Be a Krishna, be a Krishna, be a Krishna, be a Krishna.
That is not the best motivation. But at our level, any level, any way we can just keep the mind of Krishna, that is good. As we move forward, then the purity will come.
But at least knowing the principle, it’s good. So at the level of fear, it may be there. At the level of desire, what is the level of desire? Thinking, oh I have heard that chanting the mind, it helps you to concentrate better.
Chanting helps you to concentrate better. So if I concentrate better, then I can study better. So let me give you an example.
The axe is to be sharpened. So if the axe is sharpened, then the axe can come better. So like that when I chant, then I will be able to study better.
So of course it’s good. If a student has a duty as a devotee to study, and the student wants to study responsibly, competently, and chanting will help you to do that. That is not wrong.
Again, that is only a principle. So some people may start chanting, oh I want my control, I will try to perform better in my academic or material life. It’s fine.
That’s also at one level. So we may have some desire when we chant. And at that level also, somehow or the other, if you start chanting, then it’s good.
But beyond that, there is a duty. Especially, duty refers to, somebody may be committed, I have some duty guides, I am a spiritual master, and I am committed to chanting. So it’s a duty I will chant.
This is also good. Because then the expectations are not so much. Is chanting making me peaceful? Is chanting making me joyful? No, it’s a duty that we put.
But beyond that, there is love. So purity in chanting means that our chanting is motivated in principle by the desire for loving Krishna. So we may not have that love for Krishna right now, but we want that love for Krishna.
We want that love, and for that purpose, keeping that in mind, we chant the Holy Names. So the sun always gives light. But how much I can see the light, depends on how open my eyes are.
If my eyes are closed, even if the sun is giving light, I cannot benefit much from that light. So like that, Krishna always loves us. Krishna’s love for us is in one sense unconditional.
That means, it’s not that because we turn away from him, he stops loving us. No, he always keeps loving us. He’s always there in our heart, waiting for us, waiting for us to turn towards him.
Krishna is ever waiting, ever willing, and ever working. Krishna is ever waiting. He’s been there in our heart, waiting for us to turn towards him.
And then the heart of everyone, whatever there, is waiting. When will the soul turn back to me? When will the soul return to me? So he’s ever waiting, he’s ever willing. Sometimes what happens, two girlfriends have a quarrel, and then the second friend goes away.
And then the second friend maintains hostility for a long time. Even when the second friend says, why should we have hostility, unless we revive our friendship. The first friend may say, you quarrel with me, I don’t want to resume our friendship.
Second and first friend may not be willing. Then it becomes more difficult. But although we have turned away from Krishna, Krishna, not only waiting, he’s also willing.
Whenever you want to turn back to him, he’s ever willing. Now that he’s working, how is Krishna working? So, there is a beautiful prayer, which is, Oh my dear Lord, I am bound in this material existence. This body brings us to animal level of consciousness, filling us with desires for eating, sleeping, mating, defending.
Please liberate me from it. So the Lord may say, now why should I liberate you? He says, because Muktaya, and you know, you are liberated. A person, if somebody is tied to a chair, somebody is free, he says, why are you tied up, let me be free.
Muktaya. And the Lord may say, but you are bound by your own karma. You have done such activities, because of which you got conditioned, because of which you got bound.
So why should I interfere? You are supremely merciful. Yes my Lord, I don’t deserve to be liberated, but your mercy comes independent of whether I deserve or not. Because you are supremely merciful.
So you please liberate me. And the Lord may say, I have been striving to be liberated for so long. You know, you have never been listening to me.
Mother comes and gives the medicine to the child, the child just throws away the medicine. Mother gives the medicine, again the child throws away the medicine. And then, how many times should I do it? So my dear Lord, I offer obeisances to you because you are never lazy, you never become tired.
You tirelessly keep striving. So Krishna makes himself ever available to us. So when we meditate on Krishna’s love for us, it inspires us to reciprocate with him.
And when we feel inspired to reciprocate with him, then that can create the disposition of purity. Bhaktivinoda Thakur says, Purva Itihasa Bhulidhu Sakal Sevan Sukhpe Mane Aami Toh Tamar Tumi Toh Amar Kikaja Paradaane My dear Lord, Purva Itihasa All the past history that is there, I may have done this, I may have gone there. All the right and wrong that I have done.
Purva Itihasa Bhulidhu Sakal I just put that aside. All the past programmings of the mind that are there, put them aside. Sevan Sukhpe Mane What will I do? I just absorb myself in serving you and delighting in the happiness that comes with that.
And what will be the nature of the relationship? Aami Toh Tamar Tumi Toh Amar I offer myself to you, my dear Lord. I am yours. And Krishna is a person who sees us as persons, who reciprocates with us as persons.
In the Adi Purana, Krishna tells Arjuna that one who holds my name in his heart, I hold his name in my heart. He becomes very dear to me. So, Aami Toh Tamar Tumi Toh Amar I am yours and you are mine.
And that is the intimate relationship that we have. Ki Ka Cha Par Dharam What do I need for any other wealth? I do not seek anything else by chanting the holy names. I swipe only for your remembrance.
Now, Krishna is Krishna’s greatest blessing. Who is Krishna’s greatest blessing? Krishna himself. Krishna can give us worldly things.
Krishna can give us intelligence. He can give us fame. He can give us power.
But all these things are temporary. But if Krishna reveals himself in our heart, in our attraction, for you to accept, that is an eternal gift. That is the gift that will lead to the lasting and supreme fulfilment.
So that is purity. And then, so we try to cultivate as much of a pure disposition as possible by chanting. But the most important thing is not to battle with the disposition.
The important thing is to keep chanting. And purity is a principle that we aspire for. And at our level, at the spiritual level, we strive for prayerfulness.
What does prayerfulness mean? The whole idea of prayer is there is a difference in one sense between meditation and prayer. Prayer is when we talk with God. Meditation is when God talks with us.
And we hear from Him. So prayer is what? We talk with God. And meditation is when God talks with us.
But actually, the wonderful thing about chanting is that it is both a prayer and a meditation. How is it a meditation? Because God is manifesting as His Holy Names. And His Holy Names are not different from Him.
Because the Holy Names are not different from Him, when He manifests, when we hear the sound of the Holy Name, then we are actually hearing Krishna. So in that sense, it’s meditation. But it’s prayer in the sense that through our utterance of the Holy Name, we are conveying something to Krishna.
What is it that we are conveying to Him? Krishna, I want to serve you. I want to love you. I want to be with you.
So to the extent we can have that disposition, to that extent, our chanting will become more and more effective. The child may call out for the mother. The child may sometimes need something and call out for the mother.
And sometimes the child may just want to distract the mother. Why is my mother crying? Now when the child calls out, mother, mother, mother, sometimes the child is really crying and sometimes the child is pretending to cry. Now the discerning mother understands.
Why is this child crying? The child is pretending to cry and the mother, mother will not come immediately. When the child is actually crying and needing, the mother comes immediately. Prayerfulness indicates how much we feel the need for Krishna.
So how do we feel the need for Krishna? For that, there can be background intellectual contemplation. Ultimately it’s spiritual. Intellectual contemplation means if I understand that I am diseased, then I feel the need for medicine.
If we understand that the world is a miserable and dangerous place, then we feel the need for Krishna. So purity is the desire for loving Krishna. Prayerfulness is more like feeling the need for Krishna.
Without Krishna, the whole world is void. It is actually of no use. Prayerfulness, it cannot come immediately.
It will come as we become purer. But still we can try to cultivate that. Krishna, you need me.
And by that prayerfulness, we find that our chanting will become filled with urgency and with intensity. And then we find that as we chant, basically the process of chanting is not just to utter a sound vibration. Uttering a sound vibration is the beginning.
Chanting transports us to a higher reality. Just like if I am at this floor and I want to go to a higher floor, there is an elevator which can take me from this floor to the higher floor. So chanting is like an elevator which rapidly elevates us to a higher level of consciousness.
So as we repeat the sound vibrations attentively, we find that our consciousness gets elevated. And then we rise to higher and higher levels of reality. We start feeling them.
We can observe the world without being caught in the world. We can observe from a distance and function in a detached and determined way. So the magic of chanting is that it’s a simple sound vibration that elevates our consciousness and takes it closer and closer to Krishna.
Till eventually we realise that the holy name is Krishna. Initially we feel that the holy name is the means to Krishna. But as we get closer and closer to Krishna, we understand that the holy name is Krishna himself.
So to conclude with one example, if a small child is sleeping in a very cold room, then there is a fire set in the room for warmth. Now suppose the fire gets extinguished. When the fire gets extinguished, the child starts feeling uncomfortable because of the cold.
Then the mother comes into the room and then puts fuel in the fire and then the room again becomes warm. Now all this happens when the child is asleep. When the child is asleep, all that it feels is either the cold or the warmth.
Now what the child doesn’t know when he is feeling the warmth is that there is someone who is… This warmth does not just come automatically. There is someone who is tending to the fire and because of tending to the fire, the warmth is coming. So like that, as long as we are spiritually unconscious, we may not realise what it is that is causing this feeling of relative comfort, calmness, clarity that comes because of chanting.
So our eyes are closed spiritually but we can just feel the effect. We can feel things become calm, things become clear, I get back perspective. So there is some effect.
We may not understand at this level directly what is the cause of that. But we understand the effect is there. And then that itself gives us faith.
So eventually as we keep chanting, this child wakes up and says this fire is coming from the mother and the mother is actually here. Similarly, as we keep chanting, gradually we will awaken spiritually. And when we awaken spiritually, then we realise that this chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamandir it is giving me comfort, it is giving me calmness, it is giving me strength, it is giving me satisfaction.
All that was because Krishna himself was present. In that way, as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says at his statement, there is an ocean of happiness which we can relish at every moment. Just like yesterday, there was an ocean bath.
The ocean is very vast. So all this that we are talking about right now is to make sure that we at least enter the ocean. Once we enter the ocean, then this is the ocean of nectar.
And we can relish that ocean of happiness. So I will summarise. We discussed initially about the principle of chanting, that is it is mantra as contrasted with shabda.
So it has semantic meaning. But the potency comes not just from the meaning, but from the sound vibration itself. And then we discussed how we can tap this potency.
So what are the four principles? Posture, pronunciation, purity and prayer. So posture, it enhances or impedes our receptivity to the chanting of the holy name, to the power of the holy name. Just as a child, mouth is closed or open, it affects the receptivity to the medicine.
Then pronunciation. So the power of the holy name is independent of the pronunciation. Krishna can manifest even with imperfect pronunciation.
But we show our devotional disposition by taking care. Because pronouncing the mantra is like forming the deity in sound. Mantra, mukti, abhuti, kamma.
Therefore we cautiously pronounce the mantra. Then what? Purity. So any way we chant is good because of your desire, duty.
But if you understand this is the means of knowing Krishna, expressing our love for Krishna in relation to his love. Their pure motivation can help us to connect with Krishna at a much higher level. And prayerfulness means we feel the need for Krishna.
And with that need, we call out. And that can help us to dive deep into those Shri Rathamogis. So thank you very much.
Shri Harinam Pramohi Jai! Shri Rathamogi Jai! Jai! Jai! So now we can chant one or two namas. We have done six so far. We leave for Jamunath Darshan.
Thank you.