Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 17.08.2017 morning, Ludasto)

(continues from the previous Friday)

What should be the quality, what should be your thinking while chanting? Usually what do you think of while you chant? Tell me something.

Shyama Tulasi: In the beginning, maybe two or three repetitions, I remember the name, but then I come back to my daily troubles and concerns and it’s a chaos.

Swami Tirtha: You mean two-three rounds or..?

Shyama Tulasi: I wish they were!

Swami Tirtha: But you have some conception about one-pointed attention, right? We need that.

Sanatana: While I am chanting, in parallel with the name I am thinking how can I serve the Supreme and the Guru.

Swami Tirtha: That’s nice.

Ashvini: My chanting has two different options. The first one is the same as Shyama Tulasi said in the beginning – I have to fight with so many thoughts, but after a short period I go very deeply and it is like a holy theatre play in front of me, and it is so beautiful every time, like it is described in the shastras. But it’s not like this every time. And every time it is not like this, I hope it will happen.

Paramananda: It’s a big fight. What devotees said till now is valid for me also. The fight is to be focused on the name itself and not on something else. When I manage to win the fight, some things start to happen. Great perspectives are revealed. Sometimes this happens even when I am not focused on the name. As if it is caring me and going through me. Still there is always a fight.

Swami Tirtha: But this is a glorious fight. Maybe somebody else? Yes, please.

Adidevi: This is right about the fight, but the perspective is sweet. What our teachers give us and all the devotees; and the moments when we remember the hands that gave us our mala. These little glimpses when we have touched the nectar. And this secret that our teachers gave us – that we are helping the meeting of Radha-Krishna to happen.

Swami Tirtha: Chanting is a celebration! The grand victory of divine love! Today maybe this is a fight, tomorrow this is a victory.

I’ve learned something from one devotee. I saw him every morning chanting very intensely and very seriously – walking up and down, very focused. Then I understood what his mentality is, what his mood is while chanting – he told me: “Chanting is just like you collecting flowers in the morning and offering them to the lotus feet of the Lord.“ I liked it so much! This is such a beautiful way to see it! That whatever you will do, whatever you will perform today – this is like collecting flowers and bringing everything to the lotus feet of the Lord. It’s a beautiful program for the day.

Of course there is a lot more. If you walk the path of your mala, you touch the beads, and you meditate over the lilas of Krishna and His devotees; this is also like a grand rasa-dance, a circle dance – moving, focusing around divine dedication.

(to be continued)