How to chant on the beads?

One might ask if the Hare Krsna maha-mantra is so powerful and if there are no rules and regulations in chanting it, why do you chant on the beads? What is the use of them and why is it important to chant on beads? Why not just chant aloud whenever and in whatever way? Undoubtedly, chanting whenever and in whatever way is certainly not bad and one is deriving the benefit. However, if we want to make the chanting more fixed, then the japa mala(chanting beads) is essential. Besides that, Srila Prabhupada himself is instructing all his disciples to chant the mahamantra on the beads specifically, so it is an authorized method coming down to us by the disciplic succesion(parampara) He states:

"Nowadays people are very much inclined to the meditational process, which is not practical in this age, but if anyone practices meditating on Krsna twenty-four hours by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra round his beads, he is surely the greatest yogi. as substantiated by the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita."

(Bg.9.27 purport)

As compared to the other yoga systems, the uniqueness of the bhakti yoga process is that while the other yogas simply control the mind, in bhakti yoga (Krsna consciousness) the goal is to control all of the senses.Because even if only one sense is not controlled, it is capable of deviating one from the path of self-realization

indriyanam hi caratam

yan mano 'nuvidhiyate

tad asya harati prajnam

vayur navam ivambhasi

TRANSLATION

As a boat on the water is swept away by a strong wind, even one of the senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man's intelligence.

PURPORT

Unless all of the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord, even one of them engaged in sense gratification can deviate the devotee from the path of transcendental advancement. As mentioned in the life of Maharaja Ambarisa, all of the senses must be engaged in Krsna consciousness, for that is the correct technique for controlling the mind. (BG.2.67)

So, for this reason if we chant on the beads, besides our tongue and ear we're engaging the sense of touch by touching the tulsi, or neem bead thread. If the sense of touch is engaged in touching the body of tulsi, it will not touch things which will lead person to maya such as cigarettes, alcohol, or other nonsense rubbish. This is a natural and very comfortable way of how to control the senses and in fact it is the only way. The senses must be engaged somehow, so the propensity to touch cannot be given up, but instead of drowning in maya's sense objects, we can touch the beads and simultaneously chant Hare Krsna mantra. Another reason for using the beads is that it helps us to develop what is called a " numerical strength", which means that we learn how to chant regularly. We may start with one round of japa, or two, but having a fixed number of rounds inspires one to chant regularly. Srila Prabhupada has instructed all his disciples to chant 16 rounds of japa daily minimum, but it is not a crime to start slowly. The most important is a fixed number of rounds. You can make a vow to yourself to chant for example 2 rounds a day and if you can maintain the same number without a break no matter what, that is very good. It is actually preferable to chant a fixed number of rounds on a regular basis without break than to chant 64 rounds one day and zero rounds the second. The regularity in combination with association of pure devotees(pure in the sense of purely following) will then naturally bring you to a platform when you can increase. So one is recommended to focus on regularity in the beginning.

How to chant? Before you chant, make sure your mala has 108 beads. The beginners should purchase a neem mala as that is a suitable thread for practicing. In the beginning, we commit many offenses knowingly or unknowingly and it is therefore not recommended to use the tulsi mala right away. Tulsi plant is a pure devotee of Krsna and we should be very much careful about how we treat her. You can switch to tulsi when you are a little bit more fixed up(for example after you come to the platform of 16 rounds). We should be conscious of the fact that the mala represents the root of our spiritual life. If we neglect the root, then all our activities in Krsna consciousness will dwindle. There are a few basic regulations in terms of treating the mala:

1/never take the mala to the stool room(toilet) and keep it in a clean place

2/never let animals such as cats and dogs touch the mala

3/never borrow your mala to a friend

4/never put your mala on the ground

5/always make sure you know where your mala is

STEP BY STEP MANUAL TO THE HARE KRSNA MAHAMANTRA MEDITATION

Before each chanting session it is essential that we recite a prayer to Srila Prabhupada, the spiritual master who is the carrier of the mahamantra's potency:

nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale

shrimate bhaktivedanta- svamin iti namine

namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine

nirvishesha-shunyavadi- pashcatya-desha-tarine

Translation:

I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Chaitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.

Then before each round it is important to chant the Sri Panca Tattva mahamantra:

shri-krishna-caitanya

prabhu nityananda

shri-advaita gadadhara

shrivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrinda

Translation:

I offer my obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, along with His associates, Lord Nityananda, Shri Advaita Acharya, Gadadhara, Shrivasa and all the devotees of the Lord.

1. Hold the mala with your thumb and middle finger on the first bead after the head bead(the one with threads) and chant one mantra:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

2. Move on to the second bead in a forward direction and chant another mantra

3. In this way go through the rest of the 108 beads until you end up on the one, which is before the head bead. This constitutes one round of japa. Do not cross the head bead, simply turn the mala and go back from where you have started chanting the Sri Panca Tattva mahamantra once and then Hare Krsna mantra on beads one by one again. When you come back you will have chanted 2 rounds already.

The most important point is that while chanting, you should practice fixing the mind on the mantra. In other words, you chant with the tongue and you hear with the ear. There should be no other thought. Slowly you will realize that mind is very tricky and that it is dragging you here and there. In the beginning you are hearing the mantra nicely, but at some

point the mind starts a chain of contemplating. It goes like this: You might be chanting in your room Hare Krishna Hare Krishna...then you notice a particle of dust on your carpet and you start thinking: hmm I should clean my room today-today is saturday my friend tommy will call me, I better get ready- tommy is a funny guy- jimmy is funny too he ate all prasadam yesterday and left nothing for me. In this way the mind is going from one topic to another without stoppage. The goal is to stop her as soon as possible and bring her to the mantra again Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. It is a little difficult, but if we simply keep on endeavoring, that endeavor by itself is a great accomplishment and you will be able to perceive the effects of such chanting in your daily life.