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How-to Tip: Chanting 16 Rounds Made Easy
By Pratyatosa Dasa (ACBSP), May 31, 2006
(Pratyatosa.com, )
Updated: December 1, 2009
Some people say that we should simply chant our japa on a circular string of 108 sacred tulasi beads (See: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=702), like Srila Prabhupada did, but Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, “There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names.” [Sri Sri Siksastaka, Verse 2 - http://causelessmercy.com/TMG.htm?t=3818] Therefore, to say that it is wrong to count one’s rounds using a “clicker” is to say that Lord Caitanya is wrong, which is an offense.
By following these eight simple rules, we will be able to easily chant our 16 rounds every day without fail, even when we are away from the association of devotees
1. Devout Muslims bow down and pray in the direction of Mecca five times a day. The least that we can do is, with shoes removed, bow down to a picture or murti of Srila Prabhupada and recite the Srila Prabhupada Pranati mantras three times a day:
nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine
(I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krsna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.)
namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracarine
nirvisesa-sunyavadi-pascatya-desa-tarine
(Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.)
This is important because it helps to put us in the humble mood necessary for the proper chanting of the Holy Names of God.
2. Never use a bead bag. Always use a clicker. Then you’ll be able to chant discreetly in public places such as while using public transportation, while walking down the sidewalk, while using the laundromat, etc. A clicker will allow you to easily switch hands if you get tired of clicking with your right hand or if you get tired of carrying a heavy bag in your left hand. A clicker will also allow you to easily count your rounds while chanting in bed, even on a cold winter’s night while bundled up under the covers or snuggled inside a warm sleeping bag!
3. Make it a habit to always chant while driving or riding in a car or other conveyance.
4. Whenever you get a chance, walk instead of driving. Not only will it give you more time to chant, but it’s good exercise and it will save on gasoline.
5. Srila Prabhupada’s music MP3s are the best, but relaxing sound effects such as a babbling brook, waves lapping against a shore, or the sounds of a forest also make a good background for chanting. Such sound effects can be obtained for free on the Internet in the form of MP3 or WAV files. Soothing instrumental music, even if it is “mundane,” also makes a good background for chanting. Such backgrounds will not only relax you, but will also allow you to chant more loudly without feeling embarrassed or self-conscious.
6. Before taking your first meal of the day, have, at the very least, 5 rounds (540 on your clicker) done.
7. Before taking your second meal of the day, have, at the very least, 10 rounds (1080 on your clicker) done.
8. Have all 16 of your rounds (1728 on your clicker) done by midnight, or before sunrise the next day at the very latest. (According to the Vaisnava calendar, the new day begins at sunrise, not at midnight.)
“Even in sleeping you can chant Hare Krsna. Even in sleeping. And there is no bar. In sleeping, in eating, in going to the toilet room, there is no restriction. You can go on, “Hare Krsna.” You see.” (From an initiation lecture by Srila Prabhupada in Boston, December 26, 1969 - http://pratyatosa.com/?P=4p&TP=3004)
[Krsna consciousness] is simple for the simple, but it is very hard for the crooked. (From that same initiation lecture - http://pratyatosa.com/?P=4p&TP=4531)
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