Aligning Your Life With The Holy Names

 

The biggest challenge you now face in improving your japa is to steadily employ the principles and practices you have just learned. What can you do to insure that you take advantage of these lessons as well as continue to improve your japa throughout your life?

 

In order to properly answer this question, you need to look at your lifestyle. Everything you do has an effect on your consciousness. We all have experienced both wonderful and difficult times with chanting. These results were usually precipitated to one degree or another by what was going on in our lives.

 

Good japa doesn’t exist in a vacuum. A life of poor sadhana and little service is reflected in your japa. So how do you stay on track? A lot depends on how important japa is to you. The more important it is in your life, the more concerned you become about doing things that will nourish your chanting and avoiding activities that might have a negative effect on your japa.

 

A more Krsna conscious lifestyle lends itself to good japa. And good japa naturally leads to a more Krsna conscious lifestyle, thus continuing the cycle. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. A life which works against your Krsna consciousness makes it increasing difficult to chant well. As the quality or quantity of your japa diminishes, your Krsna consciousness suffers. And this unfortunate cycle builds upon itself.

 

What’s the solution? It’s necessary to remind yourself of the essential importance of japa in your spiritual life. The more firmly you are situated in this realization, the more priority, effort and attention you will naturally give to your japa.

 

Improving japa is an ongoing process. I apply everything you have learned in this course to my japa (as well as other practices taught in our japa retreats), and I can testify that these simple practices are amazingly effective. Utilizing these tools daily is meant to continue throughout your life. If you do this you will gradually realize dimensions to the holy name you never knew existed.

 

How do you know your japa is improving? You should be aware of what improvement looks like. Here are some things to look for.

 

1. An increased taste for chanting. You will hanker to chant more than your prescribed number of rounds and you will relish your chanting.

2. You will be increasingly absorbed in meditation on Krsna while you chant, and less focused on your body, the surrounding environment and thoughts that do not support your chanting.

3. You will gain deeper realizations in Krsna consciousness, both while chanting and in your daily life.

4. You will experience a greater sense of fulfillment, happiness, and detachment. 

5. Your faith in Krsna consciousness will increase.

6. Obstacles will diminish and be easier to deal with.

7. You will feel a deeper personal connection with Krsna through His names.

8. You will feel immense appreciation and gratitude for the Holy Names.
9. You will feel a greater determination in spiritual life.

10. You will feel that you can become Krsna conscious in this life.
11 You will develop a stronger desire to serve Krsna, and a stronger desire to realize your eternal relationship with Him.

12. An increased desire to share Krsna consciousness with others.

 

This is just a partial list of the many benefits that result from proper chanting. Use this list as a lighthouse on your japa path, and also use it to remind yourself of the many wonderful benefits you are missing when you neglect to take your japa as seriously as you should.

 

Bhagavat Life is dedicated to facilitating you in this process by providing three levels of retreats, along with japa weekends, one day japa programs and online courses. Srila Prabhupda said it took him twenty years to perfect his japa. It will likely take all of us a lot longer. I encourage you to take advantage of these programs offered by Bhagavat Life by visiting www.japaretreat.com.