WHAT IS BEST – SITTING, STANDING UP OR WALKING WHILE CHANTING?

Dear readers,

Recently I read this on the internet:

Mahadyuti Dasa : Appears to be a myth going around ISKCON that we MUST sit down when chanting our rounds. The following anecdote from Srutakirti Das (“Srila Prabhupada Uvaca”, 62) debunks that myth:

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It was easy to understand that Srila Prabhupada enjoyed chanting japa. He always stressed the importance of chanting our 16 rounds. He once told me that as a householder, he used a simple process for completing 16 rounds that we could apply. “When I was a householder,” he said, “I would chant four rounds before each meal and four rounds before retiring in the evening. In this way 16 rounds could be chanted without difficulty.” He laughed and said, “If you don’t take prasadam before chanting your four rounds then you will be sure to get them chanted.” In New Dwaraka he told me, “In the evening, if I get tired, I walk and chant. If you are tired, then walk and chant like I do. Sometimes, if I am tired, I pace back and forth in the room. Simply, in one room you can do everything. If you are tired, you can stand up and chant, like I do.”

I seems to me that quite a few devotees would like to use this as an excuse for walking while chanting. We often see devotees almost running around the temples rooms or outside while chanting. Walking has for many become the norm instead of something we only allow ourselves to do if we are too tired or passionate to sit down.

To get a clearer understanding of this issue, let us analyze what Prabhupada is ACTUALLY SAYING in the above quote:

(All emphasis added to improve your understanding)

“In the evening, IF I get TIRED, I walk and chant. IF you are TIRED, THEN walk and chant like I do. Sometimes, IF I am TIRED, I pace back and forth in the room. Simply, in one room you can do everything. IF you are TIRED, you can stand up and chant, like I do.”

What are we allowed to conclude from this quote? Logic only allows us to conclude that IF we are TIRED, THEN we can stand up or walk (Prabhupada repeats this “IF” four times) Contrary to what some devotees seem to think (or like) this particular quote is not evidence that we can just walk whenever we like and as we like. In and of itself this quote only allows us to conclude that IF we are tired, then we can stand up or walk.

What about the following quote?

Devotee: Prabhupada? We know that His divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati always sat very erect and it is stated here in the Bhagavad-gita that one should sit erect. Will this aid us in our concentrating on chanting our japa, if we try to concentrate, if we sit erect while chanting?

Prabhupada: No, no, it doesn’t require any sitting posture. But IF you can sit, IT HELPS YOU. IT HELPS YOU. IF YOU CAN SIT STRAIGHT LIKE THIS, IT WILL BE VERY NICE, IT CAN HELP, YES, YOU CAN CONCENTRATE IN CHANTING AND HEARING. Therefore these things ARE REQUIRED. But we are not very much particular about this. But he was brahmacari, he could sit like that. That is the sign of brahmacari. He was not a false brahmacari, but he was real brahmacari. (end) (Bhagavad-gita 6.47, Ahmedabad, December 12, 1972)

What can we infer from this quote? First of all we can conclude that…

1. IF you can sit IT HELPS YOU (Prabhupada repeats this three times)

2. IF you can sit it will be VERY NICE.

3. Sitting can help you concentrate in hearing and chanting.

Prabhupada goes on to say that these things are required, but then he immediately says that we are not very particular about it. Why not? Because we are not real brahmacaris like Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. This indicates that what Prabhupada is saying is that since we are false, low class devotees we can not be expected to follow this instruction even though it is the best and will help us in our hearing and chanting.

So standing up or walking while chanting is a lowering of the standard. It is a concession for people who are too restless and disturbed to sit down while chanting. They have to be instructed in a lower standard. We have to see things as they are, not as we would like them to be. Prabhupada does NOT say that walking while chanting is as good as sitting. On the contrary he says sitting is best, it helps in hearing and chanting. If you can’t sit – like if you are too tired or restless – then you can stand up or walk.

Some devotees might claim that is it easy to concentrate while walking. But that is false. Yogic postures for meditation are designed to aid concentration and boost our energy, so we will not feel tired. Walking forces us to focus on navigating in the external environment and therefore forces your attention outside instead of inside and thus hinders the pratyahara and dharana stages of yoga – what to speak of dhyana and samadhi. Only a devotee far beyond the stage of anartha-nivrtti can see Krishna in everything and thus chant in all circumstances without loosing his Krishna consciousness. Before we reach such an advanced stage we will unavoidably be more or less inattentive to the holy names (the 11th offense which is the root cause of all other offenses) while we are on our “japa walk”.

Prabhupada said that if you go for first class you will get second class. But if you go for second class you will get fifth class. So why not aim for first class – in this case sitting while chanting? Why not try to make that the first priority? Why twist Prabhupadas words to make excuses and justifying, preaching and practicing a lower standard?

As devotees we need to carefully consider the quality of our devotional service. Do we want to keep a lower standard all our lives risking not to go back to Godhead? Do we want to train new devotees to think that a lower standard is just as good as the highest standard? We also have to ask ourselves: “What do new devotees think, when they see senior devotees practicing and promoting a lower standard and claiming it to be just as good as the highest standard? New devotees can become discouraged when they realize senior devotees are not serious in their devotional practice and they might consider finding a better place to learn about devotional philosophy, culture and practice. If we think ISKCON should offer the best devotional training, we must take chanting most seriously. It is not a cheap thing.

Why aim for something lower than the best? Do you want excuses or do you want results?

Your servant,

Ajit Krishna Dasa

“I’m on the Hiiiiiiiighway to Krishna!”

Imagine that the practice of Krishna Consciousness is like driving on a highway where we gradually get closer and closer to our destination – pure love of Krishna. 

Can you see Krishna? He’s at the very end of this road. He’s waving at you!

On each side of the highway there is a ditch. We want to avoid driving into the ditches for an easy ride back to Krishna. But to avoid driving into these ditches we must be able to spot them, so how do they look?

The First Ditch

“…nor should one accept the rulings of devotional service which are more than what he can easily perform. ” [Nectar of Devotion, chapter 7]

Prabhupada explains that if we try to follow more rules than we can easily perform then we are sure to be negligent which is offensive and thus our progress towards pure devotional service is hindered. There is also another danger, namely that we will get frustrated because we are not able to live up to our ideals. Such frustration can make us give up Krishna Consciousness.

So don’t try to do more than you can!

The Second Ditch

“…to maintain material attachments, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter. ” [Nectar of Devotion, chapter 8]

As you have probably already recognized this is the last part of the tenth offense against the Holy Names. It basically says that we should not accept less rules and regulations than we can follow. If we are able to follow a specific standard of devotional service it is an offense to decide to follow a lower standard. 

So don’t follow less than you can!

Use Lights

If we are driving in the middle of the night and our lights breaks then we are more likely to drive into one of the ditches even though we know how they look. This breaking of lights might be compared to our distracted mind that, among other things, tries to convince our weak intelligence that we are so spiritually advanced that we can easily follow the highest standard of devotional service or that we are so fallen that we  need to follow a lower standard than we actually can. In this situation we need some lights that works. The best lights comes from the bona fide spiritual master:

om ajñāna timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

“I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.“

The lights of the spiritual master will keep us on the road so that we can gradually make progress towards our goal.

The idea of neither doing too much nor too little is universal. If we are training for a marathon and start our training by running too long and too fast we can’t train for the next couple of days due to pain. And if we do too little we will not reach the level of strength required to run the marathon. But we we do neither too much nor too little our strength will gradually increase to the desired level. In the same way, if we stay between neither too much nor too little in Krishna Consciousness our spiritual strength and love for Krishna will gradually increase.

I wish you a happy and safe ride back to Krishna!

Understanding the Concept of “Dovetailing”

Prabhupada:

“This world is not permanent. So even though it is not permanent, it can be utilized for the service of the Lord. Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yukta-vairāgyam ucyate. That is our philosophy. We don’t take the jagat as mithyā; we take it as fact, because it is emanation from the supreme fact. So just like gold earring is also gold—that is not iron—similarly, the, this material world is made of the external energy of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore we do not find anything here wrong. We try to dovetail everything in the service of Kṛṣṇa, because it is Kṛṣṇa’s. Just like one’s property must be enjoyed by the proprietor. Kṛṣṇa says that bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram [Bg.5.29]. He’s the proprietor of this world. Therefore everything dovetailed in His service for His satisfaction, that is devotional service.”

“The devotees think of Kṛṣṇa, act for Kṛṣṇa, eat for Kṛṣṇa, sleep for Kṛṣṇa and work for Kṛṣṇa. Thus everything is engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa. A total life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness saves one from material contamination. As stated by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja:

kṛṣṇa-bhajane yāhā haya anukūla
viṣaya baliyā tyāge tāhā haya bhūla

If one is so expert that he can engage everything or dovetail everything in the service of the Lord, to give up the material world would be a great blunder. One should learn how to dovetail everything in the service of the Lord, for everything is connected to Kṛṣṇa.”

“…material qualification, that is not bad, provided they are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise it has no value. Material qualification, if they are engaged… Nirbandhe kṛṣṇa-sambandhe yukta-vairāgyam ucyate. If one is able to dovetail his material qualities in the service of the Lord, then that becomes a great qualification.” 

“Dovetail” Defined

From the Marriam Webster Dictionary:

¹dove·tail 
Pronunciation:
\ˈdəv-ˌtāl\
Function:
noun
Date: 
1573
: something resembling a dove’s tail ; especially : a flaring tenon and a mortise into which it fits tightly making an interlocking joint between two pieces (as of wood)

²dovetail
Function:
verb
Date:
circa 1656
transitive verb
1 a: to join by means of dovetails b: to cut to a dovetail
2 a: to fit skillfully to form a whole b: to fit together with
intransitive verb
: to fit together into a whole

A few other ways of saying the same thing:

American Heritage Dictionary:

To connect or combine precisely or harmoniously. 

To combine or interlock into a unified whole.

Dovetail Illustrations

Dovetail: 1) Mortises, 2) tenons and 3) joint. 

Sometimes a “dovetail bar” is used to dovetail:

Here is a variety of “dovetail pictures”:

Summing up

Instead of  renouncing this world we ought to “dovetail” the material energy, our material qualifications and desires in Krishna’s service. This means that we must “skillfully” “connect” them with Krishna’s desire so that they “fit” “tightly“, “precisely” and “harmoniously” to form a “unified whole“. Hence they will also become spiritual.

Beautiful, right?

When the good becomes the enemy of the best!

When the good becomes the enemy of the best!

- Authored by Ajita Krishna Dasa

I have been asked to share some of the realizations I’m having while doing my Nectar of Instruction and Sri Isopanisad marathon (I have a goal of reading/listening to each of them 100 times. It’s mostly listening). 

Prabhupada is our savior and that everything we need, and even more, is in his books. Prabhupada’s books are our primary source of information and inspiration. They should be! 

But sometimes we get carried away and start to read all kinds of other devotional books by this devotee or that devotee or this swami or that swami. These books are usually very good and there’s no harm in reading them so long as–and this is very important–it’s not at the expense of reading Prabhupada’s books. 

Recently I read the following by a Christian philosopher and theologian:

“Having acquired a clear grasp of your priorities, it’s very important to cultivate the personal character trait of single-mindedness. By that I mean the ability to discern the difference between the good and the best and not to let the good become the enemy of the best. There are so many distractions in life, and many of them are genuinely good things. But if our desire is be as productive as we can, then we must learn to shun the good for the sake of the goal on which we’re focused.” [Dr. William Lane Craig]

So even though all these other devotional books are very good, they are not the best. Prabhupada’s books are the best, and we should be very careful of not letting what is good become the enemy of what is best. In other words, we should not read other devotional books at the expense of reading Prabhupada’s books. 

We have a problem if we loose contact with Prabhupada because we read other devotional things. So please, please please stay in close contact with Prabhupada by reading, listening and studying his books at least one hour everyday and please pray that a fallen devotee like me will also be able to continue this vow. 

And now stop reading this text and get back to Prabhupada’s books!!!

Your aspiring servant,

Ajita Krishna Dasa