About Kirtan

Om Ajnana Timirandasyam, Jyanamjana Shalakaya, Chakshurum Milita Ambhyena, Tasmay Shri Gurave Namaham. He Krishna Karuna Sindho, Dheena Vandho Jagatpate, Gopesa Gopika Kanta, Radha Kanta Namostute, Taptakanchanagurangi Radhe Vrindavaneshwari Vrishabhamsuta Devi Pranamani Hari Priyem Shri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhupada Nanda Shri Advaita Gadathara Shri Vasadhi Gaur Bhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Hare Krishna. So it's indeed a very great honor for me to address you this evening after this beautiful kirtan. And it doesn't really require too much talk. By talking about kirtan we just spoil this. Kirtan is not about talking. Kirtan is about chanting. But to say a few words about the philosophy behind this process is always appropriate. The Sanskrit word mantra means mananat trayate yasmat eti mantra parikirtita. What is mantra? Mantra is something which trayate protects us from mananat, too much thinking. Believe it or not, the main problem of a human being is that they think too much. We always hear this dialogue or whatever, this chat within our head and it never stops. It continues even during the night. For a short while during the deep sleep it may subside but then it starts again and then when we wake up it's already full speed. So this chat within the head is the problem which deprives us happiness because according to the yogic scriptures the happiness only comes, the experience of happiness only comes when our mind is completely concentrated. The yoga scriptures explain that when the concentration of mind takes place, mind expands. It may sound a little counter intuitive, but it's a fact. The expansion of consciousness only takes place when the consciousness is completely one-pointed. And subjectively, we experience happiness when the consciousness expands. You know, as much as when our consciousness is narrow. Like, for example, if you take a glass of water, it's very easy to disturb the glass of water, the water in the glass of water, because it's so small. In the same way, when our consciousness is congested, when it's really narrow, it's very easily disturbed. But then you try to disturb Mother Ganga. You may throw there big boulders, but Mother Ganga is the same. Nothing happens. So in the same way when the consciousness is expanded, the external situations do not disturb this expanded consciousness. And again, subjectively, when the consciousness is expanded, we feel happiness. The experience of happiness is nothing but this experience of elation. And this elation in Sanskrit is called ullasa. Ullasa. Ullasa means ut, the prefix ut means up and lasa means, the prefix las means like alasya laziness. Ullasa means when you are enthusiastic. So mantra is specifically targeted for this purpose. Mantra is needed to concentrate your consciousness in order to expand the consciousness. And in expanded consciousness you naturally feel happiness. You know, I can explain to you that you feel happiness, but you know, you experienced it yourself. You don't need me to tell you that you are happy. It's the process of mantra and it's a very natural process. It's a very spontaneous and very natural process which is going on on its own when we concentrate on the sound of mantra. And the sound of mantra has the purifying effect on all levels. You know, all the practices which we do, whether it is pranayama or asana or whatever it is, they purify certain parts of our being. You know, if you are in dog downward, you know, dog posture or whatever it's called, Adamukhasvanasana, it purifies certain parts of your being. It doesn't purify your whole being. But mantra purifies your whole being. Mantra purifies your mind, first and foremost. and when the mind is pure, everything else is also pure. But mantra also purifies your breathing because you're breathing according to the sound and vibration of the mantra. Mantra purifies your body because the vibration of the mantra also has this purifying effect. And mantra, the most important, mantra purifies your speech. the very contaminating factor in our life is this contamination which is coming from the bad foul speech but when we chant mantra by the natural process, by the natural purifying influence of the mantra our whole being is being purified and this purification is felt also as the integration In our normal life, we are disjointed. Our heart wants something, our mind wants something else, our tongue wants something totally different and you know what to speak about other parts of our body. It's a complete discord. You know, there are different desires in our mind, different desires in our heart, different desires and now intelligence. The mind says I want pizza, the intelligence says no, the fifth one is already too much, you know, you already had enough or something like this. But what mantra does when you're completely devoted to this sound, mantra integrates you back into the whole being. Your mind, your heart, your intelligence becomes harmoniously united with the sound of the mantra. And there's no other desire, there's no other needs. You know I was amazed, I was told that I will be talking after one hour of Kirtan and when the Kirtan ended I looked in my watch and I indeed realized that one hour passed. But I didn't notice how this one hour passed. Why? Because of this, because of this this amazing, miraculous effect of mantra, which joins us together. It is actually explained in the scriptures that this phenomena of being divided inside, and we all experience this. Sometimes, you know, we have this battle inside. The whole Bhagavad Gita is explained during the battlefield, But the battle is nothing but the metaphorical description of the battle which is going on within our heart. This dividedness, this disjointedness, if there is such English word, I don't know, I'm not a good speaker in English. But this sort of dividedness within, this division within which we all experience is a result of our past sins. The sinful activities which we created, the bad deeds which we created, bring about this phenomenon of not being united, not being in harmony with ourselves. But this is the miraculous prize which we get. This is the miraculous result of Kirtan. We become wholesome being again, just by chanting Hare Krishna mantra. And it happens automatically, you don't need to do anything, you don't need to preach to yourself, do it, otherwise you will go to hell. No, no, you just do it naturally, as spontaneously as you breathe. And mantra is so natural that people all over the world chant this mantra. You know, when I first heard this mantra, I didn't know who is Hare, who is Krishna, who is Rama. I just heard this sound and I like the sound. And I didn't know why I like this sound. And I still don't know why I like this sound. 40 plus years later. But it is explained in the Vedic scriptures that the mantras of the Vedas, the mantras of the ancient Vedic literature, they are Svatakpramanya. Svatakpramanya means self-evident. They don't need anything else to prove its truthfulness, its real nature. As much as the sun doesn't need any source of light to prove that the sun exists. You don't need a, you know, your mobile phone on the, you know, with the special mood to find out whether the sun is there or not. Sun is self-evident. Sun is svatak pramani. In the same way, the sound of mantra is svatak pramanya. You don't need to be preached about this. And therefore, it's better if I stop now and we will continue doing this very wonderful process of chanting. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. And in this way we have a hope to silence the inner voice which always brings about problems in our life. Thank you very much Hare Krishna.