Author Archives: Rasa Rasika

“Please know that by chanting the holy name all anarthas will be removed. When our heart is cleansed from all this anartha dust, the form, qualities and pastimes of the Lord will automatically manifest themselves on the clear mirror of the purified he…

“By chanting the holy name of God, you associate with God. God is absolute. He’s not different from His name. So when you chant God’s name means you immediately become in touch with God. And by chanting more and more, your association becomes more and …

Recently I have had to remind myself of this basic truth….when chanting only listen to the mantra and not to the mind. The mind will always fill us with unnecessary thoughts – past, present and future. During Japa we don’t have to entertain the mind’s ramblings – we simply need to hear the Hare Krsna mantra and that’s all.

Here is a nice quote from Srila Prabhupada about this.

“One should note in this connection that chanting involves the activities of the upper and lower lips as well as the tongue. All three must be engaged in chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. The words “Hare Krsna” should be very distinctly pronounced and heard.”

Caitanya Caritmrta Adi 17.32

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world…simply send me an introduction message and I will be happy to make you a member:rasa108 ::_::{.at.}::_:: gmail dot comysRasa Rasika dasa

“Even there may be some problems, always try to remain in Krishna Consciousness. Do not give up chanting simply due to some external difficulties. Under all circumstance you should always chant Hare Krishna.”Letter to Sudhindra Kisora Raya10th June, 1975

“Practice to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Do not chant like the parrot who may learn to utter “Hare Krsna,” but when grabbed at the throat cries, “Caw caw!” Prabhupada said practice so that when death comes you will chant Hare Krsna.”

From Japa Meditations
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

“The chanting and hearing is essence. Even when dealing with a practical problem, Srila Prabhupada was seeing it and soon speaking of it in absolute terms. Chanting especially promotes this: leave everything aside and chant the holy name. Then we can t…

Today I could not sleep…..I don’t know why but I could only sleep 2 hours then I had to rise and I immediately took my beads and took advantage of the very early hours of the morning 2.45am.It showed me again how important it is to chant early in the…

“The best thing is that you just pray to the holy name and hear the sound. The stage of thinking of Radha and Krsna and Their forms will come automatically. It cannot be so much forced. When the mind wanders, bring it back in a mood of prayer and supplication, thinking, “O Holy name, I want to chant, I want to hear, I want to be engaged in Your service by chanting and hearing.” Then simply practice the mantra-yoga of vibrating with the tongue and hearing with the ear.”

From Japa Reform Notebook
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Doing other things while chanting is not good. Still, sometimes out of expediency you do it. But you should try to put off so-called expedient actions until after chanting. Chant at a designated time and chant loudly. Let other things wait.From the Jap…

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world…simply send me an introduction message and I will be happy to make you a member:rasa108 ::_::{.at.}::_:: gmail dot comysRasa Rasika dasa

“Practice to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Do not chant like the parrot who may learn to utter “Hare Krsna,” but when grabbed at the throat cries, “Caw caw!” Prabhupada said practice so that when death comes you will chant Hare Krsna.”

From Japa Meditations
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

“I do appre­ci­ate that I per­sist patiently and that I’m able to con­trol my mind even when there is no nectarean taste in chant­ing. I’m just sug­gest­ing that if I could be alert and bring the mind back to hear­ing, then why not try to go fur­ther. All the author­i­ties say that atten­tive chant­ing is very impor­tant and leads to think­ing about Krishna’s form, activ­i­ties, qual­i­ties and pas­times. They must be right.”

From Japa Transformations
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

“Sometimes we think of chanting as a process, which it is. But more than a process, it is a relationship — our relationship with Krishna. We are in the material world because we have turned away from Krishna. We have come here to try to enjoy in imitation of Him, or in competition with Him. And when we realize that we cannot be happy trying to imitate God or take His place — when we realize that we have turned away from Krishna, who is our best friend and well-wisher, and we actually regret having turned away from Him and want to rectify our relationship with Him, the first — and best — thing we can do is to make the effort to chant His holy names with attention. So, it is really our relationship with Krishna in the form of His holy name that we are trying to develop.”

From Reviving our relationship with Krsna
by Srila Giriraj Swami
Lecture 14 May 2013

“Chanting should be enough in the forefront that we don’t chant our rounds while driving. It should be enough in the forefront that it gets prime time in the morning. If that’s what he meant by forefront, then yes, chanting should be in the forefront.”

Japa Walks, Japa Talks
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world…simply send me an introduction message and I will be happy to make you a member:rasa108 ::_::{.at.}::_:: gmail dot comysRasa Rasika dasa

Today I realized the power of just relaxing and allowing the Lord to take control. In materially stressful situations, we tend to come under the lower modes – thinking we are the doer and forgetting that Krsna i the controller.By serious and proper cha…

“I am in due receipt of your letter dated July 20, 1975 and have noted your problems. My suggestion is that you please chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. This maha mantra cleanses the dus…

Here is my day’s realisation about chanting – whatever situation we find ourselves in, whether that is dangerous or difficult (also when things are going well and smoothly) – we need to always chant the Holy names of Krsna and surrender to Him and thin…

Today I was speaking with an old devotee friend….recently he is struggling with Japa but after talking with him for awhile, wants to change that situation.I was telling him that I get inspiration from hearing about Japa and told him about some Japa r…

“While the body is fit, there­fore, why should we not chant the holy name loudly and distinctly? If one does so it is quite pos­si­ble that even at the time of death, he will properly be able to chant the holy name of the Lord with love and faith.”

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.2.49 purport

I had a dream last night…it was very clear. I was with my godbrothers and we were sitting in a circle talking about the importance of Japa. In the dream I spoke up and recalled what I had heard in a Japa retreat with Bhurijana dasa – he had said that…

So if one quits his body at the end of life chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, he certainly reaches one of the spiritual planets, according to the mode of his practice. The devotees of Kṛṣṇa enter the Kṛṣṇa planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.13

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world…simply send me an introduction message and I will be happy to make you a member:rasa108 ::_::{.at.}::_:: gmail dot comysRasa Rasika dasa

While thinking of something to post on the Japa Group, I sometimes struggle to come up with a new or interesting quote or video/audio recording but then I remembered Srila Prabhupada’s instruction that all devotees should write daily realisations.Today…

“Japa is an important part of devotional life. If your japa is not up to standard, this is serious. You must reform. That is, out of your regret may come success. Prabhupada used to say, ‘Failure is the pillar of success.’ Assess yourself, and try to improve your chanting of Hare Krishna.”

From Japa Reform Notebook
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

“I wanted to chant with care in my moral and spiritual feelings toward Nama Prabhu. Seeing Radha-Govinda helped because They are tenderness personified. I wanted to chant like a lover. I chanted in a subdued way, because I had to because of my head. But it also lent itself towards feelings of warmth and sympathy, gentle and delicate. One should handle the holy name in that way. It was a nice feeling. I’d like to always chant in that way.”

From Japa Transformations
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

“Prahlāda Mahārāja loudly chanted the holy name of Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva. May Lord Nṛsiḿhadeva, roaring for His devotee Prahlāda Mahārāja, protect us from all fear of dangers created by stalwart leaders in all directions through poison, weapons, water, fire, air and so on. May the Lord cover their influence by His own transcendental influence. May Nṛsiḿhadeva protect us in all directions and in all corners, above, below, within and without.”

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 6.8.34

This morning is stood on the little bridge and looked down into the rushing creek. I heard the water over the rocks chanting and I thought, “Should I really try to answer more questions about japa?” I felt reluctant to go to the discursive level, and I was also afraid of presumption. I wanted to stay a simple villager, or even as simple as water running over rocks. I wanted to chant unconsciously, the way water flows down rocks or the way breath goes in and out without conscious effort.

Japa Walks, Japa Talks
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

This morning is stood on the little bridge and looked down into the rushing creek. I heard the water over the rocks chanting and I thought, “Should I really try to answer more questions about japa?” I felt reluctant to go to the discursive level, and I was also afraid of presumption. I wanted to stay a simple villager, or even as simple as water running over rocks. I wanted to chant unconsciously, the way water flows down rocks or the way breath goes in and out without conscious effort.

Japa Walks, Japa Talks
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Even the shadow of the name brings liberation, just as the first rays of the dawn chase away the ghosts and thieves of the night. “Yet still I live in the shadow of the name,” he thinks. “Should I even aspire to rise? Let me try first to stay awake, free of illicit desire, properly pronouncing Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Even I can be transformed.

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world…simply send me an introduction message and I will be happy to make you a member:rasa108 ::_::{.at.}::_:: gmail dot comysRasa Rasika dasa

“The holy name, char­ac­ter, pas­times and activ­i­ties of Krishna are all tran­scen­den­tally sweet like sugar candy. Although the tongue of one afflicted by the jaun­dice of avidya (igno­rance) can­not taste any­thing sweet, it is won­der­ful that sim­ply by care­fully chant­ing these sweet names every day, a nat­ural rel­ish awak­ens within his tongue, and his dis­ease is grad­u­ally destroyed at the root.”

Rupa Gos­vami
Nec­tar of Instruc­tion #7

Today I heard a lecture by Giriraj Swami from a very nice Japa retreat. He was talking about the principle of focusing on one point to control the mind. He spoke about how our eyes tend to wander as we chant and this causes the mind to wander also, fol…

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

Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya 4.71

Today I was speaking with an old devotee friend….recently he is struggling with Japa but after talking with him for awhile, wants to change that situation.I was telling him that I get inspiration from hearing about Japa and told him about some Japa r…

Practice to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Do not chant like the parrot who may learn to utter “Hare Krsna,” but when grabbed at the throat cries, “Caw caw!” Prabhupada said practice so that when death comes you will chant Hare Krsna.

From Japa Meditations
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Practice to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Do not chant like the parrot who may learn to utter “Hare Krsna,” but when grabbed at the throat cries, “Caw caw!” Prabhupada said practice so that when death comes you will chant Hare Krsna.

From Japa Meditations
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

As I sat in my Japa chair today….the morning sun streaming through the window onto my chest – much needed heat and energy to help with the recovery of a 5 day influenza virus.A thought came to mind…..just as the sun is giving relief and healing to …

As I sat in my Japa chair today….the morning sun streaming through the window onto my chest – much needed heat and energy to help with the recovery of a 5 day influenza virus.A thought came to mind…..just as the sun is giving relief and healing to …