In the 60’s there was a popular booked called Be Here Now. That saying is perfect for japa. Be with the holy name now and be thinking of other things later. It’s a simple concept, often painfully difficult to master, that just means, “be present.”

 

A devotee told me that when his wife speaks to him, she notices that he doesn’t always listen. When this happens, she tells him, “You are not present.” Doing one thing while thinking of something else is to not “be present.”  It’s a symptom of the mode of passion. 

 

To be present during japa requires that we be absent from the things in our life that don’t support our japa. It’s common while chanting to think about what happened yesterday, what will happen later today, or what is bothering us, and thus not “be present” to our japa. 

 

To “be present” means to hear the mantra we are presently chanting, to listen to one mantra at a time. We can’t hear the last mantra we chanted or the next mantra we will chant. We can only hear the mantra we are presently chanting. Simple, isn’t it? Yes, it’s so simple we often overlook it. 

 

To really “be present” requires that we leave our ordinary world aside while doing japa. We might think of chanting as entering Krsna’s world, and putting our world on hold (in case you haven’t noticed, His world is way more attractive). And don’t worry; our world will still be there when we finish our rounds. But it will look a lot brighter.

 

Your new assignment is this: Don’t focus on your prescribed number of rounds. Don’t try, for example, to chant sixteen rounds. Just try to chant one perfect mantra at a time. When you realize you are not hearing, simply bring your focus to the mantra you are currently chanting. Just be present with the one mantra you are chanting. Then your prescribed number of rounds will take care of themselves, one mantra at a time.