“If you want to speak like the Gods, your ears must be open as the sky.”
– Curtis Tyrone Jones
As a son, I may be angry with my parents for the choices they made for
me when I was a child. As a parent, I may be frustrated at my son now
for disobeying me. As a spouse, I may be livid at my partner’s
insubordination. And as an employee I crib at my boss’s authoritarian
methods. In every relationship and situation, we seem to not get the
right formula. Some lacunae always threatens us.
As we do the needful to address our daily challenges, we need to also
spend time focussing on the root cause – ‘avidya’ or ignorance, and
address it appropriately.
And how do we do that?
Srila Prabhupada urged us to hear and chant God’s Holy Names as a
spiritual practise.
At the surface this makes no sense. If my relationships are falling
apart, how can chanting and hearing Krishna’s pastimes help? It’s like
saying if my feet is swelling, how will the intravenous administration
of antibiotics through my arms, help my stomach. And anyways what has
the stomach got to do with my feet? As in my friend’s case, where we
know it’s all connected; similarly, our painful conditions in this
world could be addressed by chanting God’s Holy Names.
Still the question begs itself, how does it help?
When I spend time chanting and hearing Krishna’s Holy Names and
pastimes, my heart gets cleansed of the contamination to enjoy and
exploit. The transcendental sound vibration of God’s Holy Names
purifies my consciousness and fills my heart with a desire to serve.
This mood of service helps me connect with other human beings better.
And service is as natural to us as is sweetness to sugar or liquidity
to water. To the extent we are aligned to our natural service state,
our relationships also improve.
Sounds too simple! It’s like a layman understanding how gastro
intestinal complexities are solved by the antibiotics. The doctors
know the science; likewise spiritual doctors like Srila Prabhupada are
experienced and knowledgeable. They have given us the medicine. Why
not try and experience the benefits, rather than challenge the
efficacy before taking the medicine of Holy Names?
“Hearing and chanting is the key to fix the mind on Krishna. When we
are chanting we need to just hear the sound vibration.” – Bhakti Charu
Swami
