When japa is individual meditation, why should one chant in the association of Devotees

From: Vaibhav Kulkarni

“Why should one chant(japa) in the association of Devotees?”

When we chant collectively it is ‘Kirtan’ and when we chant individually it is ‘Japa’.

So, ‘Japa’ must be done individually… Thats why  I have a question that, is daily individual chanting is ok rather than in Temple?

Because, as per my experience when i chant in Temple there i can not concentrate on Mahamantra because of others are chanting, but in individual chanting i can concentrate to some extent…

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
thank you very much question by Vaibhav Kulkarni why should one chant japa in the association of devotees when we chant collectively it is kirtan and when we chant individually it is japa so japa must be done individually then why is individual chanting to be done in the temple rather than alone because as per my experience when I chant in the temple I cannot concentrate because others are chanting but in individual chanting I can concentrate to some extent answer firstly when we say japa is an individual activity and kirtan is a collective activity we are talking not about the presence only of one individuals or presence of a large number of individuals collectively we are talking about the method of chanting when we do kirtan everybody sings the holy names together and when we do japa everyone recites the holy names individually at their own pace in kirtan the collective activity is that everybody is chanting together using the same tune and chanting responsibly so in japa we don’t all chant together in the sense that everybody chants according to one’s own lung capacity, one’s own attention level one’s own habit so everybody chants at their own pace at their own volume and according to their own individual preference and ability so it’s not by definition that japa is something which is done in seclusion but japa is done at an individual pace of chanting now as far as chanting with devotees or chanting alone our japa the important principle is that we need to be attentive in our chanting and when we are in the association of devotees to some extent the chanting of others may distract us and if that happens we have to do the needful we may have to sit with some other devotees to chant a little more softly or we may request that devotee to chant a little softer or we may use ear plugs to block out the sound of others and to have only our sound being heard by us but the big advantage of chanting in the association of devotees or japa is that we can get mutual inspiration from each other’s struggle and determination japa is often a challenge because our mind likes to be hyperactive and japa seems to be insufficient activity for the mind and therefore the mind goes off here and there actually when we become absorbed in japa at that time the holy name will trigger a chain of devotional thoughts and remembrances of Krishna and his past times in our heart and then our mind will become fully absorbed but for that devotional memory to be triggered we need to be attentive to the sound of the holy name so therefore we have to go through the initial phase where the holy name seems to be under engaging our mind but somehow we keep ourselves engaged show Krishna that we don’t want mundane engagements for our mind and then Krishna gives us more than abundant devotional engagement in the process of chanting and the sound of the holy name and the memory that are triggered by that sound completely absorb us when we become advanced but when we are going through the transitional phase in our devotional advancement at that stage the chanting of the holy names may not be so absorbing and at that time it is vital for us to have the association of other devotees who can help us focus not just by their presence and inspiration but also by their guidance sometimes we are pronouncing words wrong and of course the greatest danger in trying to chant alone is that we may just go to sleep because chanting is so uninteresting and if we are serious and trying to do chanting in the morning then our mind always convinces us that we have had insufficient sleep at night and even if we have had sufficient sleep still the mind deludes us, what then to speak if we actually have had insufficient sleep and the mind puts us off to sleep so that’s why it’s always better to chant in the association of devotees as much as possible for us we will find that for a day or two our concentration might be better when we chant alone but on a regular basis if we are chanting alone then unless we are extremely determined unless we are extremely honest with ourselves in general our mind takes us on a ride and when the mind takes us on a ride either we start thinking of anything and everything and we don’t even struggle to concentrate or sometimes we just go to sleep during chanting but if there are devotees around us then they protect us from both these eventualities, one eventuality is extreme distraction caused by the mode of passion when we just keep uttering the words without even struggling to concentrate and the other is distraction caused by ignorance by the mode of ignorance when we just go to sleep so the association of devotees is where everybody is actually trying to sit and chant or even if standing and walking, we are in the vicinity of devotees so everybody is trying to at least be in the mode of goodness and trying to move towards the mode of transcendence so the association of devotees helps us by making sure that our level of chanting doesn’t slip below a basic minimum level but if we are alone, there is no one to check us from letting our chanting slip below the basic minimum level also and we may just be deluding ourselves in the name of having more concentration by chanting alone but we may end up having more distractions therefore as much as possible, we should prefer chanting the holy names in the association of devotees and do whatever it takes to be able to concentrate while chanting with devotees as I said those measures can vary according to the person we can sit a little distant from devotees but overall in the association of devotees so that they can observe us or we can use ear plugs or we can find a group of devotees who all like to chant softly or we can request the particular devotee who is chanting a little loudly to sit in a different group sit a little distance do whatever practical adjustments are required but chanting in the association of devotees is generally safer