eric's little black star » But isn’t chanting enough?

sitproperly on Oct 23rd 2007 at 3:32 pm Gaudia Vaisnava

But isn’t chanting enough?

Tough one, huh? On one hand, we’re taught that we should chant Hare Krishna and be happy, that our life will be sublime. But if the proof of the pudding is in the tasting and we’re chanting and still our lives aren’t exactly sublime, well then, what’s the deal?

What we’re taught is true. But the maha-mantra isn’t some magic potion that suddenly makes everything right as rain. It’s a process and it’s something we do have to work at.

Nobody said that chanting was all we had to do to be Krishna conscious. If that were so, we wouldn’t do anything but chant at our temples.

I think this is why many devotees (including myself for a long while – still?) think that personal prayer is unnecessary. I was talking to a devotee friend about this. She asked, “don’t you think chanting is prayer?”

“It is, but it’s different.”

I went on: “Reciting uttamaslokas is definitely one means of prayer, but it is not personal prayer. There are times when we need to pray for things and in situations that aren’t “service.” Meaning, the mahamantra covers the prayer to serve Krishna. But what about our other problems? Should we just let them go?”

She then said, “Some people would say that just surrendering to Krishna would take care of all problems.”

I disagreed with that conclusion, “it’s not like when we surrender to Krishna suddenly *poof!* all our material problems and our inability to deal with them vanish.”

There is a Prabhupada quote about this.

In addition to giving and receiving in the execution of devotional service one has to submit to Krishna whatever distress or confidential problems he has. He should say, “Krishna, I am suffering in this way. I have fallen in this tossing ocean of material illusion. Please pick me up.” – Srila Prabhupada in Rajya Vidya

When he wrote “I am suffering in this way,” it was a cue to “fill in the blank” with personal prayer. revealing our minds and problems to Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada has said that we can and should talk with God. That Krishna wants us to talk to Him, that He likes to talk with us!

In that light, there should be no hesitation on our part. But, for me at least, there is. This has always been something I’ve wanted to do, and yet just “can’t.”

I guess that’s a big fault of mine. I know the “power of prayer” and yet, I really don’t do it. Do I secretly believe that it isn’t necessary? Do I quietly think that surrendering to Krishna (whatever that means) can’t include personal prayer?

It seems paradoxical to know that the answer to my questions about prayer would probably be answered through prayer.

11 responses so far

11 Responses to “But isn’t chanting enough?”

ryan says:

October 23, 2007 at 7:25 pm

This is an interesting topic to read from your perspective (eg. I know little about the Krishna perspective on this). Prayer is something i have always felt was really important but i struggled with and rarely actually performed. I did still think it was vital… i just couldn’t follow through.

Recently i decided to just buckle down and go for it. I still have my successes and my failures but it has been a very positive experience. I’m coming from a more Carmelite perspective on the whole thing.

eric Reply:
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Prayer is very prominent in the Christian tradition. From Christ himself (in the Garden, for example) to St. Augustine to the modern day. It’s also really prominent in the Vedic tradition, but it almost seems more formalized. We have TONS of prayers. We’ve got prayers and mantras for pretty much anything you can think of, which, in my opinion, is why personal prayer isn’t focused upon so much.

I’m in the same boat as you, prayer-wise. I think that Catholics may no focus on personal prayer much more than devotees do. Protestants, however, seem to. They’ve got prayer chains and prayer groups, etc. It’s a socio-cultural thing, I think.

ryan Reply:
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Yep, us Catholics must share the having a formal prayer for everything bit with you guys. I have a couple prayer books that have particular things for any and everything you could think of. It is kind of crazy really.

The closest i really come to personal prayer is various concerns or specific things i will keep as an intention when doing a Rosary. Kind of weak i know, but i’ve never been much for the whole poring out of my thoughts and feelings to really anyone. This of course means i have a head full of memorized prayers but struggle to “freestyle” anything.

A constant learning experience i guess.

eric Reply:
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:57 pm
i guess it’s just a matter of getting comfortable with it. or yourself (myself, in my case). it’s such an odd thing.

i’ve mentioned this to a few devotees before and one read this today… the general consensus has been “what the crap, eric, you don’t pray??”

so maybe it’s not all devotees. but i can’t be the only one. haha

Praveen Reply:
October 24th, 2007 at 1:14 am
Hey hey, I was just wondering what exactly your “hang up” was. From your few posts about it, I wasnt sure if you did or didnt understand it, if you were for it, against it or just running in circles. Goodness gracious, cant a lady wonder?
ryan says:

October 23, 2007 at 7:35 pm

A second comment to just subscribe to this post.
Michael says:

October 23, 2007 at 10:30 pm

Hehe, maybe your subconscious thinks Krishna is just a big blue myth and is having a hard time carrying a personal conversation with the non-existent.

eric Reply:
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Anything is possible, i suppose. But I’m leaning more towards “no” on that one. :)

ryan Reply:
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Personally i’m extremely amused by the saying someone might have a hard time carrying a conversation with the non-existent when we are making posts on a blog in a semi-anonymous fashion. Perhaps Michael doesn’t really exist. Or maybe he is a ghost like in the Sixth Sense.

Or just a brain in a jar dreaming this all up. ;)

Michael Reply:
October 24th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Haha, “a brain in a jar dreaming this all up”. It sounds like you watched The Matrix one too many times Ryan. But, maybe you’re right. I knew Eric in a place and time so distant that it seems like the faint memory of a past dream. The funny thing is that most of my life feels that way to me.

I guess I’m as real as the next person, although just a poor, simple white boy from the south who spends far too much time pondering what I’m doing here on this crazy planet.

This reminds me of some experiences my girlfriend and I had at the Rainbow Gathering this summer. Of the hundreds of people we met for the first time, having never seen them before, there were a few that we already knew. Making it more bizarre was that we both felt we knew the same people. I may not believe in the Krishna of the scriptures, but I do believe that souls find each other from one life to the next. Makes me wonder how “prayer” connects in that whole surreal experience. (Note: Yes it was the rainbow gathering, NO we were not using drugs :-)
ramakanta says:

October 24, 2007 at 6:38 pm

I don’t see ‘surrender’ and ‘prayer’ as opposites. Don’t you surrender to Krishna through prayer?