Chanting and Contemplation

Chanting and Contemplation

By: Babhru Dasa (BVKS)

As we all know the Holy Names of Krsna are all-powerful and can easily award one all the benedictions and boons they are searching for in life. As devotees, the only benedictions we are supposed to seek after are the attainments of shuddha-nama and shuddha-bhakti. Its also known that in this degraded age of Kali, Krsna kicks out the necessity of rules, regulations, and qualifications in regards to chanting His divine names. As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu describes in His Siksastaka prayers:

“O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names like Krishna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by chanting Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.”

To further show the magnanimous nature of the holy names, we can refer to many bonafide literatures written by the gaudy vaishnava acharyas. All of them describe the chanting of Krsna’s names as the best and most effective method for attaining love of God. Just to give evidence for this fact, a few quotes will be provided.

“Of the many ways to glorify Lord Krishna, chanting His holy name is the first. Because it has the power to give the great wealth of pure love for Him, it is considered the best.” – BB 2.3.158

“It is said that chanting the holy name is a great treasure of love for Lord Krishna. It is the best and most powerful spiritual practice. It is like the best mantra.” – BB 2.3.163

“Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is to always chant the holy name of the Lord. If one does so, avoiding the ten kinds of offenses, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead.”-CC A.4.71

“O perfect and complete Holy Name of Lord Krishna, You are the embodiment of delightful and intense spiritual bliss, You destroy the many sufferings of those who take shelter of You, and You are a festival of happiness for Gokula. I bow before You again and again.” – Sri Namastaka, Srila Rupa Gosvami

We also hear many times that chanting the holy names can bring one very quickly to the stage of perfection(prema-bhakti). For example:

“As a result of chanting the Hare Krsna maha mantra, one makes such great advancement in spiritual life that simultaneously his material existence terminates and he receives love of Godhead. The holy name of Krsna is so powerful that by chanting even one name, one very easily achieves these transcendental riches.”   – Sri Caitanya caritamrta Adi lila 8.28

“Simply by chanting the holy name of Lord Krsna, one can be freed from all undesirable habits. This is the means of awakening all good fortune and initiating the flow of waves of love for Krsna.”    – Sri Caitanya caritamrta Antya lila 20.11

After hearing all these quotes in regard to the holy name(but not experiencing the fruits), some questions usually arise. Some may wonder, “if chanting is so easy, and the goal is reached so quickly, then why does it seem that very few people have actually attained the higher stages of devotional life? We hear of all these wonderful blissful pastimes where the devotees involved in kirtan are completely merged in the ecstasy of Krsna-prema, so why do I not see this in the modern vaishnava community?”

These are all good questions and in this article we will attempt to analyze some of the topics surrounding them.

First, It will be important to try and understand that there are three different “modes” of chanting the holy names. The neophyte devotees, atheists, mayavadis, and those inimical to bhakti utter the holy name known as nama-aparadha. This is the stage of “offensive chanting” and can only lead one to attain fruits in materialistic life. If the devotee does not aspire to be free of such materialistic endeavors, they will never rise from the platform of aparadha.

The second stage of chanting is called namabhasa, also known as, “the clearing stage.” When the devotee chants at this stage they gradually destroy their past sins while clearing their anarthas. Depending on the amount of offenses made at this stage, as well as how properly the practitioner has applied the chanting process and the other limbs of bhakti, the devotee will make advancement and come closer to the last stage of chanting the pure holy name (shuddha-nama.)

While chanting in namabhasa, the highest fruit one can attain is “liberation.” It should be understood that namabhasa can never lead one directly to prema. To better understand what keeps us shackled to the stage of namabhasa we can refer to the following quotes by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura:

“The anarthas are: thirst for worthless material things, weakness of heart, and offenses. Like clouds, these anarthas block the sun of the holy name. When these clouds block the light emanating from the sun of the holy name, namabhasa is present. However, the self-perfect holy name of Lord Krishna is always uncovered.” -HC

“As long as he does not understand his relationship with Lord Krishna, the individual soul will take shelter of namabhasa. However, if the individual soul takes shelter of a bonafide spiritual master and becomes expert in devotional service, the clouds of anarthas flee from him.” – HC

In the above quotes Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura describes that the devotee who does not proactively try to rid them-self of material attachments, desires, and offenses will be unable to chant the holy name with purity. Another factor is that, if the devotee has not cultured strong faith in the holy names and the devotional process, they will also not be able to progress. These points cannot be emphasized enough.

As we hear everyday:

“To not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names and to maintain material attachments, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter.” -NOD

This is why we should always seek after the association of the advanced devotees who are “actually” free (or at least more than we are) from such anarthas. As well as devotees who have genuine taste for chanting the holy names. Such a person is characterized by their complete disinclination towards attainment of ANY/ALL material fruits. By seeing and hearing from such a person, we will also absorb the proper mood and enthusiasm. Srila Prabhupada writes:

“As fire is kindled from wood by another fire, the divine consciousness of man can similarly be kindled by another divine grace.” – SB pp. 1.2.32

“Simply by associating with a pure devotee, one becomes wonderfully advanced in Krishna consciousness.” 

“The root cause of devotional service to Lord Krsna is association with advanced devotees. Even when one’s dormant love for Krsna awakens, association with devotees is still most essential.”-Madhya Lila 22.83

“However, if the second-class devotee does not advance himself by associating with a first-class devotee, he makes no progress.” – Madhya Lila 22.71

Another interesting point is that Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura states, “As long as he does not understand his relationship with Lord Krishna, the individual soul will take shelter of namabhasa.”  This seems to infer that the devotee must know the aim of their devotional endeavors in a very specific way in order to attain the pure holy name (shuddha-nama.) Our mood and spiritual aspirations are the basis and determining factor for that which the holy name will award and reveal to us upon attainment of shuddha-nama.

In this regard the holy name is compared to a cintamani jewel:

“A cintamani jewel can give anything. To persons who have material desires the cintamani jewel of Krishna’s name gives material piety, wealth, sense pleasures, and impersonal liberation. To persons who have no material desires the cintamani jewel of Krishna’s name gives pure love for Lord Krishna.” – HC

This makes perfect sense because, as we know, Krsna and His name are non-different. Just as Krsna reciprocates with the surrender, love, and mood of his devotees, similarly the holy name will also. In this regard we can remember the following quotes:

“As they surrender unto me, I reward them accordingly.” – BG 4.11

“The treasure I desire as a practitioner I will get when I attain my spiritual body (siddha- deha); it is just a question of being ripe or unripe. The ripe stage is the stage of pure devotion (prema-bhakti), and the unripe stage is the stage of practice (sadhana-bhakti). That is the essential truth about devotional principles.” – PBC, 56

Unfortunately within the worldwide vaishnava community their seems to be a major misunderstanding of the application of chanting the holy names. Many times we hear devotees say, “one should not think of anything while chanting. They should only contemplate the syllables of the names.” Srila Prabhupada may have said things similar to this. However, we have to understand that the spiritual master gives instruction according to the adhikara of the audience. Therefore we can deduct that yes, the beginning stage of chanting is just to focus on the syllables, but after some time if the devotee has undergone the chanting process properly, spiritual desires will sprout in his heart and he will want to perform deeper meditational practices while chanting the holy name.

As described in the following quotes from Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura, gradually one should start to contemplate the name, form, qualities, and lila of Krsna while chanting. In this way the holy name is like the water for feeding our creeper of devotion. It should be the aspiration of all devotees that our creeper should grow bigger, stronger, and more beautiful. Of course, we should understand this all comes naturally by the mercy of the holy name and contemplation should never be artificially ignited without the proper adhikara. In this regard one can study the chapter of Harinam Cintamani, titled “Bhajana-pranali.” Here are a few key excerpts:

“One should perform japan and kirtan constantly avoiding the ten offenses, taking care to clearly pronounce Krsna’s name. When the chanting of the name becomes clear, steady, and delightfully performed, one should then begin meditating on the form of Krsna. Or one may constantly take darshana of his murti along with the chanting, delving deeper and deeper into the name. When one attains steadiness at this stage, the form will always come into the mind at the time of chanting.

When one has succeeded in realizing the form of Krsna and the name as non-different, one should then meditate on Krsna’s qualities contained in that form of chanting. Very soon, whenever one chants the name, the beautiful form and qualities of Krsna will immediately be present.

When Krsna’s name, form, and qualities become one in chanting, the devotee should meditate on certain pastimes of Krsna which are fixed in one location. This is the preliminary type of worship (mantra-dhyana-mayi upasana.) When one chants the name, filled with delight, one will see Krsna surrounded by the gopas and gopis under a desire tree at the yoga-pitha.” – HC

So as we can see here, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura clearly describes the gradual progression of realization of the name, form, qualities, and lilas of Krsna through the chanting the holy name. It is interesting to note that Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura describes the condition of the devotee who should, “only focus on the syllables” as one who is still suffering from the ten offenses. However this does not mean that the ten offenses will have to be 100% removed before one attains the next stage of contemplation. If the offenses were completely removed, this would mean we are already situated in prema-bhakti or at least bhava-bhakti and are already chanting shuddha-nama. Thus there would be no reason for us to undergo these sadhanas. Everything would already be revealed to us.

Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura then describes the symptoms of a person who has attained the proper adhikara to move on to deeper contemplation as, “When the chanting of the name becomes clear, steady, and delightfully performed, one should then begin meditating on the form of Krsna.”  This is almost exactly how Srila Prabhupada describes this process in the following letter:

“Regarding your first question, is it offensive to think of Krishna’s Pastimes while chanting, I think you should know that it is not offensive, but rather it is required. One must try for the point when he simply hears Krishna and immediately all of Krishna, His Pastimes, His Form, His Quality, are in his thoughts. So to always be immersed in thoughts of Krishna this is our process. When we are full in Krishna then where there can be any chance for maya in us? remember Krishna’s Pastimes. One who cannot remember Krishna, let him always hear Hare Krishna and then when he has perfected this art, then always he will remember Krishna, His Activities, His Qualities, etc.”    –Letter to Sivananda — Los Angeles 4 December, 1968So this is our duty to

 

Keeping the above quotes in mind, we can now understand that the chanting of the holy name is supposed to evolve into a very deep and meditative practice. It is also interesting to note that Srila Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura both make it clear that the stage of chanting which consists of, “focusing on the syllables” will be the means for attaining the basic platform of attraction to our ishta-deva (form of Krishna we are eternally attached too) and progressive contemplation in regards to the particular names, forms, qualities, and pastimes of that ishta-deva.

This can be easily understood because as one attains the higher stages of chanting, the sadhaka will wish to contemplate those names, forms, qualities, and pastimes of Krsna which are most attractive to him. In this way the devotee will feel enlivened and absorbed in these meditations. How would it even be possible for one to progress in the stages of contemplation if they are focusing on that which they don’t have any “particular attraction” for? No. The whole point is that we should focus on that which we deeply desire to attain.

When the residents of vraja were “seperated” from Krsna, they would spontaneously chant and sing songs about Him. In this way they would absorb themselves in those particular names, forms, qualities, and pastimes of Krsna which they have an intense attachment to.

The applicable metaphor in regards to this philosophical point is that which states, “the holy name is a spiritual kalpa-vrksa tree.”  Just as a kalpa-vrksa tree will give the fruits which one desires, similarly if one doesn’t desire a specific fruit, what can the kalpa-vrksa tree give? This means that one must have an objective goal when approaching the holy name. We should always chant the holy name with as much loving feeling as possible, and call out to Krsna in the way that those devotees who are embodiments of that specific type of love(which we have attraction for) do.

Furthermore, in order for such focused chanting to award genuine fruits, the sadhaka has to be fully convinced of that which they desire to attain. In other words, the sadhaka wishing to get into a deeper contemplative practice should have attained at least a semblance of spiritual greed(lobha) for entering into a certain relationship with Krsna.

If the devotee executes his chanting from the basis of the mental/fruitive platform, they will be unsuccessful in bearing proper fruits and can even lead themselves to bewilderment and further entanglement in maya. This pitfall is characterized by the manifestation having an inclination towards one type of mood one day, and then the next day(or after some short period of time), having a different inclination. Therefore in order to execute this process properly, we should have a strong, fixed, and steady goal in the forefront of our mind. We have to be fully convinced of what we want. To support this we can see the following excerpts:

“The practitioner and the means of practice should be in accord with their goal.” – BB pp. 2.3.167 

“I made this my intention and chanted my mantra. And soon a celestial airplane picked me up, and I found myself in Maharloka.” – BB 2.2.46

Actually, all throughout BB we can find similar excerpts which show that Gopa Kumara attained his specific destinations due to chanting his mantra while keeping in mind specific desires and goals.

It should also be noted that we should be very careful to never think that we can cheat Krsna or His holy name. Actually, In most cases the individual will not proactively try to cheat Krsna, but just out of a habit this type of illusion may occur. Generally this propensity manifests externally as a lack of understanding the gravity of such deeper devotional practices.

Similarly, many devotees out of ignorance may chant while harboring material attachments but at the same time expect deeper realization to come.Unfortunately for such persons, advancement will come very slowly (if at all) and in many cases those material attachments will actually get fortified. The holy name knows the complete reality of our intentions and mood and will only bestow its power in relation to the amount of internal surrender of each individual.  If one jumps in to this process to quickly without deeply examining themselves, confusion and bewilderment are practically inevitable. A popular saying in this regard is, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”

This is why we have to fully understand the importance of always having guidance from Sri Guru(diksha/shiksha.) If we are not pure enough to determine wether we are taking the process cheaply or executing it properly, then we certainly need guidance from someone who is pure enough. And even if we do think we are “pure enough,” the reality is that we should always get our internal aspirations and sadhana programs reviewed and confirmed by superior vaishnavas. It is important to always remember that the living entity has harbored the “cheating propensity” for billions of lifetimes. Thus we should take up this process with a sober and grave attitude. In this regard we can hear the following teachings of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur: