How to handle beads during chanting?
Make sure your hands are carefully washed before beginning japa. Chant on the 108 beads by gently rolling them between the middle finger and the thumb. Never touch the beads with the index finger, which is generally used for a host of unpurified activities. Instead, keep that finger on the outside of the japa bag, placing it through the small enclosure in your bag which is made for that purpose. If you use your hands for anything...
How much time does it take?
With a little practice, you should be able to chant each round in approximately 8 minutes, allowing the full 16 rounds to be done in about two hours and fifteen minutes. If you're chanting at high speed, and a round takes only four minutes, you're probably pushing it. The standard that should regulate your japa speed is how clearly you are being able to articulate the Holy Name. One has to be careful not to fall into bad...
On which beads should one chant Japa?
Tulasi beads are considered the topmost for japa mala, but other beads may also be used. After Tulasi, Neem beads are generally considered the best. Most any kind of wooden beads will do. Rudraksa beads, however, are not generally used by Gaudiya Vaisnavas, as they are symbolic of a different spiritual practice. Ideally, one should cultivate and offer worship to Srimate Tulasi-devi. When Her plant form dies a natural death, you may...
Loud Chanting
There are three ways of chanting the Mahamantra – chanting within the mind, chanting softly and chanting loudly. But unless we are very steady and fixed in devotional service, it is very difficult for us to chant within the mind or even to chant softly. We are bombarded with so many external noises as well as internal noise from our own mind so much that some times, the lips keeps chanting Krishna's names, but mind keeps...
How to control mind during Japa?
Japa is a means by which one can try to control the mind. If the mind is wandering, one has to make a concerted effort to bring it back. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati was quoted as saying ‘when you get up from bed, you beat your mind a hundred times with your shoe, and when you go to bed, you beat your mind a hundred times with a broomstick. Then you will be able to control your mind.‘ The mind can be particularly...
How loudly should one chant?
How loudly you chant is a personal choice. Srila Prabhupada encouraged the devotees to loudly chant the Holy Name during kirtana, but when you’re chanting japa together with others in a temple room or elsewhere, you should not interfere with other people’s chanting by being too loud with your own rounds. “Chanting a mantra or hymn softly and slowly is called japa, and chanting the same mantra loudly is called...
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How to handle beads during chanting? Nov 20, 2023 -
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