A.
Glad to hear you are leading kirtan. Thank you for asking such a nice question and for taking it so seriously. (Serious doesn’t mean it’s not blissful!)

We could speak about kirtan for a long time. There’s way more to it than it may seem. Briefly, the kirtan leader’s role is to help people connect with Krishna and you can’t do that if you’re not connected. So really the focus is internal. Try to be present in the moment, hearing attentively, sincerely calling out, asking for service and purification, singing for Krishna’s pleasure, thinking of the Lord, and begging for mercy. Chanting is all about re-establishing our relationship with the Lord.

As the kirtan leader it is best to be in the mood of serving the devotees. When Krishna is pleased, as Supersoul within their hearts, He pleases them, and that’s how we serve them. It’s not a show, or a performance.

Srila Prabhupada wrote, “The principle of chanting is to glorify the Lord and not to attract a crowd. If Krishna hears nicely then He will ask some sincere devotee to gather in such a place.” Letter to Subala, November 12, 1967.

Another important thing to remember is that a good kirtan happens by the mercy of the Holy Name alone. We can’t “make it happen.” We can sincerely call out (like a child crying for it’s mother) but it’s up to Him if He will appear or remain hidden. We have to try our best to serve, but we’re completely dependent on His mercy. So kirtan is a dynamic process of experiencing Krishna’s reciprocation in different ways. It’s never the same twice. It’s a discovery process.

Still, the more we actually love Krishna, the more He will want to come to us during kirtan.

One practical point: Try to sing melodies that are fairly easy for people to repeat. At the same time, try to make it musically pleasing and appropriate for the crowd and the circumstance.

Hope this helps. Thank you again. All the best. Hare Krsna!

Your servant,
Bada Haridas

A.
Krishna is present in His Name. He is there when we are chanting. Sometimes when we chant, by His mercy, we really feel His presence. We know He is there and the kirtan becomes very wonderful. I experience this in different ways, never quite the same. The Lord in His deity form, Srila Prabhupada, or other spiritual personalities, appear in the mind. Sometimes spiritual feelings arise.

Although Krishna is always there, sometimes we don’t feel His presence. He keeps Himself hidden, and I feel like a stone and the chanting seems empty. Krishna does this so that we will examine our heart and, with greater humility and sincerity, call out to Him. It’s not automatic or mechanical bliss, there is a reciprocation going on. Somehow, we need to chant and hear. But that is our time to be with Krishna and we need to be aware of what is happening in our relationship with the Lord.

If this seems like too much work sometimes, you can always go back to the basic instruction of chanting and hearing, and bringing the mind back to being present with each mantra. This is the basic instruction Srila Prabhupada gives and we don’t have to over think this. Chant with the tongue and hear with the ears. But it is natural that, as the mind settles down and you become absorbed in chanting, devotional feelings come.

Your servant,
Bada Haridas

A.
Thank you. I’m glad it was helpful.
One other thing I wanted to share from my experience:
Sometimes my consciousness is in my head and my chanting: moving the tongue, vocal cords, etc., all gets linked involuntarily together in an unconscious way. Hearing doesn’t really happen then and it can also strain the vocal cords.

I’ve had to become aware of this at japa retreats. Chanting 64 rounds and then leading kirtan. I have had to find ways to preserve my weak vocal chords. With a little awareness, the consciousness can be brought back into the heart. Chanting from there, as spirit soul, is completely different from mental chanting. In that place, I can chant, call out and hear, whether I’m making sound with my mouth or not. Also, with a little practice it’s possible to articulate the words of the mantra without using the vocal chords, or using them in a very relaxed way. This takes some practice and awareness. The main thing, of course, is bringing the consciousness into the heart. I hope this makes sense. I thought it would be helpful in your present circumstance.

I found the seminar by Sacinandana Maharaja to be very uplifting and also to the point for what you were asking. Maharaja has been a great inspiration for me in my chanting. I’ve gone through, and continue to go through ups and downs in my chanting and his kind words, encouragement, and realized knowledge always help me get back to the essence of things.

Thank you again for your sincere desire to chant purely. I’m always happy to hear how things are going.
Wishing you all the best on your auspicious journey,

Your servant,
Bada Haridas

A.
Thank you for such sincere and honest questions. I really appreciate your desire to have a genuine relationship with Krishna. That’s not an ordinary thing. You are certainly going through a hard time now, but you should be encouraged that you had a nice taste for chanting, feeling a real connection, and you don’t want to go back to something less. That’s a good thing.

A few things come to mind. Of course, as you mentioned there is always the possibility of offenses to devotees and we should be very conscious about our attitude. But, assuming that’s not the issue, we always have to remember that the feeling of connection in chanting is Krishna’s reciprocation. We try our best to be attentive, prayerful and so on, but ultimately it is up to Krishna if and how He reciprocates with us.

Srila Rupa Goswami explains that the Lord is always there, but He may keep himself hidden. The devotee, not feeling His presence then “laments bitterly.” This is for our purification. As Sacinandana Swami says, “We have to be prepared to go through the desert of dry chanting. This forces us to examine our heart.”
Sometimes, we think we are doing something to make it happen, but it’s up to Krishna and we have to go on without expectation. He will reciprocate in His own time. After all it’s His job to purify our heart. We can’t actually do that on our own. We can only take shelter.

I think your situation of not being able to speak must be a special arrangement to teach you something very special about the Holy Name. Actually the Name is chanted not by the tongue, but by the soul within the heart. Only secondarily by the tongue. You can bring your consciousness into your heart and chant as pure spirit soul from there.

Srimad Bhagavatam: 3.8.27

Translation:
He also acknowledged the service of the devotees and vanquished their distress by His beautiful smile. The reflection of His face, decorated with earrings, was so pleasing because it dazzled with the rays from His lips and the beauty of His nose and eyebrows.

Purport:
Devotional service to the Lord is very much obliging to Him. There are many transcendentalists in different fields of spiritual activities, but devotional service to the Lord is unique. Devotees do not ask anything from the Lord in exchange for their service. Even the most desirable liberation is refused by devotees, although offered by the Lord. Thus the Lord becomes a kind of debtor to the devotees, and He can only try to repay the devotees’ service with His ever-enchanting smile. The devotees are ever satisfied by the smiling face of the Lord, and they become enlivened. And by seeing the devotees so enlivened, the Lord Himself is further satisfied. So there is continuous transcendental competition between the Lord and His devotees by such reciprocation of service and acknowledgement.

A.
Thank you. I’m glad it was helpful. I pray that you are able to continue and improve in this way. It’s worth the effort, to say the least. Material nature offers no end of distractions, but if you can develop good japa habits, (ie. consistently bringing the mind back) you can stay on track and over time your desire to chant will grow.

I have one other suggestion. Hearing from Srila Prabhupada, even a little bit every day, can be very powerful if you soak it in. Reading even a paragraph or listening to a class while you have breakfast or drive. Somehow fit in something here and there, it will make your mind stronger – in a good way!

By Krishna’s grace, my health has been good and I get a lot of inspiration, realization and purification from this service, the devotees I meet, and from Indradyumna Swami’s wonderful association.

Answer

Hare Krishna. Thank you for your sincere question and your concern to chant better. Definitely our modern lifestyle, work etc., make sadhana difficult. Of course, a real taste for chanting comes at the stage of ruci, after the heart is thoroughly cleansed. But we can develop some taste for chanting when we feel that chanting is our chance to escape the mundane mind and have the association of Radha and Krishna on the spiritual platform. Chanting has to become our time to be with Krishna.

Krishna is present when we chant, now we have to be present. Usually the mind is busy remembering the past and projecting the future. No possibility of hearing our chanting. We have to bring our mind into the present to hear. One time Giriraj Swami asked Srila Prabhupada, “How should we hear?” and he answered, “As I am speaking. ” When someone is speaking to us, whether in the car or walking or wherever, we usually don’t have a hard time focusing and just hearing them. We come into the present and hear. Why such a hard time to hear our chanting? I think there are several reasons, but one is that it is not a meaningful conversation for us.

So what to do? I suggest first, at least theoretically, approach your japa time as your time to be with Krishna. Calm the mind by offering prayers and just trying to be present and appreciate the opportunity you have. Be aware of your feelings, whatever they are, and bring them to Krishna. It could be, “Krishna, I’m completely distracted and have no love for You, please help me.” That’s a feeling. It’s not that we become overwhelmed by our feelings, but as we become aware that Krishna is observing us and hearing us chant, we also become aware of ourselves. There is a connection with Krishna and it is meaningful for us.

My experience is that chanting with sincere feeling helps me be more attentive and feel, at least sometimes, Krishna’s presence. It becomes meaningful for me and is not mechanical. The more we chant attentively, the more the heart is cleansed and we feel uplifted by it. Naturally we want more and more of that.

As for how to engage our minds when we chant, our acaryas have said that we need to hear. Srila Bhaktisidhanta has said, “As soon as the anartas are removed by chanting the holy names, the form, qualities, and pastimes of the Supreme Lord will automatically manifest. There is no need to artificially try to remember the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes.”

Krishna is present and He will reveal His form, qualities, and pastimes in time. If we are in the present, chanting and hearing with feeling, (Srila Prabhupada said, “like a child crying for his mother”) it is natural that your favorite deities or picture of Krishna will sometimes come in the mind. That is nice even at our present stage and more will come as we are ready. If we are present, it’s not hard to hear (assuming your chanting is a normal speed, like 6-10 minutes a round).

One other suggestion. I’m assuming your “lifestyle” means you are chanting late in the day when you are already tired and distracted or that you are chanting here and there, without focus. Those are the general difficulties. If you can find a day off or some time once in a week or so when you can just sit and chant all or most of your rounds in a peaceful, pleasant place, without external distraction, that will give you a nice taste. Krishna will reciprocate your effort. Then you will naturally look for ways to improve your daily situation.

It’s also very nice that you are organizing the kirtan programs. This service to the Holy Name will attract the mercy of the Lord.

One closing thought: Srila Bhaktisidhanta said, “The holy name and the Supreme Lord are non-different. When our anartas are destroyed, we will understand this fact. When you start chanting without offense, you will be convinced that all perfection comes from chanting the holy name.” (This should be a T-shirt)

I hope this helps. Let me know if it’s not clear or if you have any more questions. Thank you again.

Your servant,
Bada Haridas