This is a newsletter by Mahatma Prabhu, Srila Prabhupada's disciple on our state of Japa. Plese read it, it will help you to improve your chanting.

 

" Nish , nish, ram, ram, nish, nish, ram, ram." Prabhupada once imitated how we sometimes
chant without focus, without concentration, without proper pronunciation – how we chant
when we don't feel like chanting. You know the mood behind this chanting; "I have to
chant but I'd rather be doing something else." And in our minds we are thinking, "I can't
wait to get these rounds out of the way." We all do this. And it can get pretty bad.
I know devotees who chant rounds while watching football games on TV.

Prabhupada explained that this type of chanting is more or less useless because it will not
produce the desired result, love of Krsna. To even call this chanting is a stretch. It is closer
to a ritual. But Prabhupada acknowledged the value in the ritual by saying that although
this kind of chanting is not very productive, at least those who are chanting this way are
keeping their vow to chant.

I call this kind of japa, "courtesy japa." "Courtesy japa" means that since you have taken a vow -
either to your spiritual master or yourself - to chant a certain number of rounds daily, you keep
that vow while chanting the kind of japa I described above.

Here are a few other examples (methods) of what I call "courtesy japa:"

• Chanting while talking to someone (you talk, and when they reply you chant).

• Chanting while reading (which could really work if you have two heads, one to
  read and one to chant).

• Chanting while listening to a CD or the radio (this is especially challenging while
  listening to the news or listening to rock and roll music).

• Chanting while shopping.

• Chanting while window shopping (this often happens on early morning japa walks).

• Chanting while you are dosing off (sometimes known as dive bomb japa).

• Chanting while site seeing or looking around at a million things (sometimes known
  as radar japa).

• Chanting while watching movies (Krsna Conscious movies are included in
  "courtesy japa").

• Chanting a little, talking a little, chanting a little, talking a little (sometimes known as
  jibber japa).

• Chanting while …………………… (fill in your favorites).

Note, these are all excellent ways to ruin your japa and thus put your Krsna conscious
transmission in park. You can make incredible advancement during japa. Good japa is like
flying down the highway in fourth gear. Good japa produces inspiration, realization, detachment,
increased desire to serve, attraction to study scripture, and an ability to see maya's workings more
clearly. And there are so many more gifts japa delivers. Yet we deprive ourselves of these gifts
when we chant "courtesy japa."

THE NEW MANTRA IS "DOWN WITH 'COURTESY JAPA'."

"Courtesy japa" is like shooting a gun with blank bullets. When the trigger is pulled it just sounds
like a bullet is being fired. Obviously you can't win a battle firing blanks. Similarly,
"courtesy japa" sounds like the Hare Krsna maha mantra but it is just an empty sound, a shadow
of the real thing. Certainly you can't win the battle with maya firing blank mantras.

The problem is - and this is something we have to accept philosophically as well as practically –
if you keep practicing the wrong way, you'll continue to get wrong results. What's more is that
bad chanting tends to produce more bad chanting. Let me say that in another way because this
is really important. The more you practice the wrong way of doing something, the more it
gets engrained/programmed within you and the harder it usually becomes to fix it.

THUS IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY FOLLOW THAT THE LONGER YOU CHANT THE
MORE ADVANCED YOU WILL BECOME.

Do you have a severe case of courtesy japaitis programmed into you? If so, ask yourself how you
are going to kick the habit. This is an important question to answer because good japa is one of
the pillars of spiritual life.

It's all about fighting apathy in our japa. As Lord Caitanya said, playing the part of a
conditioned soul, "I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for chanting Your Holy
Names." So we have two choices during japa. One is to go with the flow and just let
the mind wander. The other is to go against the flow and make a valiant effort to focus
on the holy name and chant in a prayerful, devotional mood. That's not so easy. It takes
effort. It goes against everything "courtesy japa" stands for. And this is not much fun
for lazy japa chanters like me. After all, concentrating is hard work.

Japa can be a creative time. Often when I chant I get all kinds of ideas. Also the many things
I have to do in the day - and even creative ways of doing them - keep popping up in my mind
(or should I say keep pooping in my mind). Don't dwell on these. If they come up, either neglect
them (those good ideas will most likely come up later) or stop chanting and write them down
so you don't have to think about them while you chant.

How will you break the habit of "courtesy japa?" Krsna is in your heart and He will help you as

much as you want to be helped. Krsna says from Me come knowledge, remembrance and

forgetfulness. So He will show you how to become a master of japa or a master of

"courtesy japa." It all depends on what you want. If you want to improve, He will

show you when to chant (hint – early in the morning), where to chant (hint – where you are

not distracted), how to chant (hint – in front of devotional pictures, tulasi, Deities, etc,

not in front of a television or a non Krsna conscious magazine).

 

So here's the exercise. Write on top of a piece of paper, How To Improve My Japa?

Below that write the subtitle, Putting an end to"courtesy japa." Then make your list.

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