To Take Shelter Of The Holy Name!

Transcribed by Annie

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, February 2011)

In japa, you are confronted with yourself – completely! In japa, you
have to face with who you are! You know, when you are sitting in a group that
you can be ecstatic, because the whole group is ecstatic – so ecstatic,
but when we are alone with Krsna and His Holy Name, then we are
confronted with who we really are – where we are, and that’s not so
good!

We’re far from Krsna, that’s the situation, and that’s why japa is
more difficult, but exactly in that japa we must go, because there we
are alone with Krsna, and now we go before Krsna, and now we beg:

“Krsna, I have no taste. Krsna, my offering is poor, but Krsna, I want
something. I really want Krsna prema – please give it to me. I am
offering only broken names, I know I don’t even want to pay the
price, but Krsna, please give it to me…..

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna
Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

I have no love, please give me this. I want the taste of this Krsna
prema!”

So, we are beggars when we are chanting. We are beggars and we
have no capacity to chant, so we take shelter alone, all alone in
chanting the Holy Name, knowing that now I am associating with Krsna, and in this chanting the amazing thing happens, that we make an offering to Krsna and at the same time we get a darshan of Krsna! It’s quite amazing how these two can go together! We are offering the name to Krsna, and at the same time Krsna reveals Himself to us!

The more we get into making the offering, the more the darshan starts happening, and we try to chant nicely and hear at the same time – then the whole element of offering and darshan begins to happen. Then we might get some mercy in the chanting, and we will actually become gradually a little bit self-sufficient.