It is more that just a song
I think in the chanting of the Holy Names, we all have to go on a journey. It usually starts by us liking the singing of the Holy names. Who wouldn’t like singing? Where I come from we would always sit together in the evening and sing. That is something the pop culture has stolen away from us and has given it to the stars. But we humans are singing beings, we like to come together in a group and sing. So it is maybe on this level where the appreciation of sankirtana starts.
But there’s much more to come. As you follow Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s teachings, you will learn more about the person whose name you chant.
He would say that chanting itself must be accompanied by hearing about Krsna from the Bhagavatam and from the other scriptures. At one point what you have heard and the Holy Name – the two begin to come closer. That means you chant Hare Krsna and all of a sudden, by means of association, all of Krsna’s form, characteristics, His pastimes, they all become revealed. This is why Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said the Holy Name should never come alone. Just like Krsna is always together with Radha, the Holy Name must be always accompanied with His svarupa sakti, His own potency, that is hearing about Krsna from the Bhagavatam.
Otherwise, it will only be a song.
Stages of Chanting
It is important that the chanter has the faith that Krsna is identical with the Holy Name. If you have faith, chanting the Holy Name will remove your anarthas, your miseries, and with a cleansed mind, soon you will be able to see the beautiful form of Syamasundara. Your closed heart will open by the vastu sakti, the inherent potency of the Holy Name. And in that open heart, all kinds of auspicious things will manifest – forgiveness, gratitude, all these beautiful qualities of a bhakta. Once we have faith. In Krsna’s words:
”Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world” (Bhagavad-gita, 9.3)
Now, there are two types of faith – forced and natural. By looking at what the differences are, we might discover we need to work on our faith.
Forced faith is imitated faith. It forms by copying others. You dress, have your hair cut like the others, etc. Instead of ‘hello’ you may say ‘Haribol’, and so on. You are copying it. Copying a good thing is also good. But you can’t just remain a copying machine. You were born original! Don’t die as a copy.
How does natural faith form? It forms when you are prepared to go on an inner journey.
How does one perform bhakti with the two types of faith? With forced faith, one sees it as a ritual. One gets up in the morning, and does all the things during the day, without ever feeling the ‘I’m the eternal servant of Krsna’. Bhakti of someone who is more natural is done with an awareness, and at all times of their practice they will try to be aware. It is not ritualistic, also not sectarian. There is no more, ”I want to be part of this group and everyone is in maya who’s not.” They are looking for bhakti. They will say, ”I don’t want to go on mechanically any longer. It doesn’t nourish me any longer. I cannot be like that anymore.”
How strong are these different forms of bhakti? Forced bhakti is weak: when something averse happens in the group they have joined, perhaps a great disappointment with a person, or with certain decisions or any other difficult development on the human level, then such persons will lose their faith. They will sometimes even leave the process of bhakti altogether.
Authentic or natural bhakti on the other hand is very strong. Those who have it have practiced their inner awareness, have gone on their inner journey, they are aware what are the treasures of Krsna Consciousness. They’re not just extrinsically following, they have intrinsically realized it and they feel love in their hearts – bhakti, something which the world cannot give them, but which the world also cannot take away from them. Because bhakti is the nature of the soul. It is transcendental.
How does a devotee, with forced faith reflect about his life? They are really following a dogma and when there is something or someone that is not exactly in line with the way they understand the dogma, they become very judgmental and sometimes dangerous in order to defend it – because it is their life. They have nothing more. They also want to establish a comfort zone for themselves.
The devotee with natural faith is more reflective. They want all these fresh insights, they want to grow every day. Instead of being judgmental, their hearts are compassionate.
And here is a difference that is very important: the experience of one who is forced in their bhakti is usually what someone else has experienced. On the other hand, the experience of someone who is a natural devotee is absolutely their own. “I have understood a little bit.” And that’s why their faith is so strong. Faith which is based on your own experience is stronger than faith based on what he or she or they experienced.
Of course we talk about the experiences of the saints – Haridasa Thakura, Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami and many others – because their example can help us so much. But ultimately if you don’t experience something in Krsna Consciousness yourself, then you will not be able to take deeper steps in your life. Instead, you will be stuck in something old, something which was okay for you maybe 20 years ago, as your spiritual journey started. Forced sraddha may be necessary in the beginning. But you must be careful that you don’t remain there.
Now, there is no faith-giver that is more potent than chanting the Holy Names. This process will give you strength in the journey of faith, because it gives you an experience. Your theoretical knowledge which is a like a closed flower, becomes open and you will have realized knowledge. Then you will you be able to go through your stormy lives with an undisturbed mind. Like everyone else, you also will have toothache sometimes, or feel disappointment – because you have a body and a mind. The difference is that you won’t be overwhelmed by it. You will have devotion in your heart, an experience of Krsna and some detachment from things that you have identified as harmful for your spiritual life. All this will happen by the gift of direct experience. This gift comes to you through the vastu sakti, the inherent potency of the Holy name. This chanting is not just a means to get somewhere, but it is also done in the spiritual world at the ultimate perfection. This is why we should all work on our sraddha or faith in the Holy Name.
Srila Prabhupada: the necessity and the way of offering Krsna food
Sri Krsna explains that only the remains of sacrifice are purified and fit for consumption by those who are seeking advancement in life and release from the clutches of the material entanglement. Those who do not make an offering of their food […], their every mouthful is simply deepening their involvement in the complexities of material nature. But preparing nice, simple vegetable dishes, offering them before the picture or Deity of Lord Krsna and bowing down and praying for Him to accept such a humble offering enable one to advance steadily in life, to purify the body, and to create fine brain tissues which will lead to clear thinking. Above all, the offering should be made with an attitude of love. Krsna has no need of food, since He already possesses everything that be, yet He will accept the offering of one who desires to please Him in that way. The important element, in preparation, in serving and in offering, is to act with love for Krsna.
From Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Bhagavad-gita, 9.26