A Consideration Before “Good” Or “Bad” Chanting

by Vadiraja das — 

One devotee named Mahatma das has recently expressed in an article his realizations on “good” and “bad” chanting:

There is something I’ve noticed about my japa over the years: Bad habits don’t die easily. Prabhupada said chanting produces more chanting. But the question is what kind of “more chanting” does it produce? My experience is that bad chanting produces more bad chanting. And if the bad chanting goes on long enough, it pretty much becomes a habit. Then bad becomes the norm.

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In March, Sacinandana Swami was scheduled to give a Japa Retreat in New York, a five day japa get -a-way at a beautiful retreat center surrounded by mountains and streams in the Catskills. Unfortunately Maharaja’s health prevented him from traveling to America and I was asked to be one of the facilitators at the retreat. The problem was I was asked only weeks before the retreat and I was very busy and really didn’t want to do it. I tried to wiggle my way out of it in every way I could: I couldn’t afford the time, I couldn’t afford to be away from my work, I had already been spending too much time away from home…..and the list went on. I really didn’t want to go. But the organizers were having trouble finding facilitators so I reluctantly agreed—yet was still trying to figure out how not to go.

 

After the retreat I was asked to share my experience and this is what I wrote:

 

“Every devotee in ISKCON, from guru to pot washer, would immensely benefit by attending a Japa Retreat. It was one of the best things I have ever done for my Krishna consciousness and was among the happiest and most satisfying five days I have ever spent. The Holy Name is now resonating in me in new and profound ways.”

 

The worst offense against the “good chanting” is to consider the spiritual master an ordinary man. To consider the spiritual master an ordinary man has a two-fold application. One application is that the eternal associate initiating diksha guru is as good as God, Krishna, so his association through vibration or instruction should be sought and should not be considered an ordinary man coming from the stock of conditioned souls.

The other side of the offense is to elevate artificially a conditioned soul to the position of pure devotee initiating guru and acharya. ISKCON has tried to artificially elevate conditioned souls to the position of sakshat-hari. This has proven to be the worst offense against the holy name and has demonstrated to have horrific effects in the society. Forty-six or so false Gurus have left their positions, proving them wrong, and the ones left follow the same bad formula, although not yet found to have visually fallen but are spiritually bankrupt.

 

 

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