On Chanting, Presence and Releasing

By Satyadeva Das

This book is especially aimed at practitioners of Bhakti yoga who perform “Japa” mantra meditation on the holy names of God, but for one reason or another have not experienced the inner transformation they were expecting. The admission that I am not happy when chanting, or even worse, chanting is drudgery I have to do, can be a painfully shocking thing to admit to oneself and others. It takes honesty and courage to acknowledge that you have not yet realized the truth about yourself and continue to feel dissatisfied and unhappy with your life of chanting. If you find yourself described here in these words, then this book is for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Release date: Jan 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9789354588792

Satyadeva Das

Satyadeva Das, born in 1950, grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. When he was 13 years old, he started to think about the true meaning of life. At the age of 19, he came to Tokyo which he terms as a fortunate accident. This is when he met his spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the ""International Krishna Consciousness Association"". This was beginning of his journey for transcendental knowledge. He got initiated the very same year by Srila Prabhupada and for 51 years since then, he continues to be on a journey of self-realization.Satyadeva das has been conducting workshops on awakening and yoga philosophy at yoga centres in California, Hawaii, China and Japan. He inspires people to live happily in the present and understand the meaning of life. He distributes timeless wisdom found in ancient Indian spiritual philosophy.Professionally being a paramedic, he worked in an intense stressful 911 emergency rescue team for 25 years. He delivered nearly a hundred babies, rescued the injured from various disaster scenes, and witnessed and dealt with the injured and the dead daily. What pained him most was to file the information of the victims in minute details on daily basis. This led him to depression to the point of being suicidal. This psychological “crisis” motivated him to go deeper into India’s five thousand years old wisdom. Satyadeva das began to understand his own mind and consciousness. He practices using the present consciousness to overcome the repeated mental and behavior patterns. This helps to release our anxiety, confusion and come back to the true self achieving a peaceful and happy life.

Book preview

Chengdu association lectures on the morning and afternoon, May 6th, 2019.

An audio version of these lectures is also accessible on the following weblink: http://bhaktishastra.com/on-chanting-presence-and-releasing/

Each of Prabhupada’s disciples has their own personal experience with Prabhupada that directly informs their understanding of Krishna Consciousness and how they share their experience with others. The personal experience we have had with our spiritual master is reflected in the way that we - as individuals - communicate the teachings of Krishna Consciousness to others.

Some of my God brothers and sisters are focused on specific aspects of ISKCON’s broad variety of services, which have a unified aim to spread the teachings of Lord Caitanya. For example, there is the ministry of education, temple construction, cow protection, book distribution, devotee care, writing, hospice care and such other forms of outreach.

Since Srila Prabhupada asked me to teach Krishna Consciousness in Japan, my service is focused in Asia. I personally witnessed Prabhupada’s deep compassion for devotees who struggle to awaken in themselves Krishna Consciousness; I also struggled for many years to chant and be happy. As a result of my experience in this regard, I am passionate about assisting devotees who, for one reason or another, are not feeling happy in Krishna Consciousness. I feel compassion for devotees who can honestly admit that they are unhappy even after many years of sincere practice of Krishna Consciousness. This teaching on Presence and Releasing is especially for such devotees who want to truly chant and be happy.

I know that not everyone can resonate with the way I present Krishna Consciousness. Some devotees cannot relate at all. That is okay, because, we are eternal individuals and everyone is at different stages on the evolutionary spiral of consciousness. I know my style is a little unorthodox. Some persons are only receptive to specific language terms and references when hearing about the absolute truth. When the language and concepts used are unfamiliar or outside the realm of one’s tribe or tradition, it is understandable that they become confused or even get turned off by what they hear.

Really, terms and phrases such as Presence, I am spirit, I am not the body, Mindfulness, self-realization, Brahmabhuta, Atmavan, being situated in the self, etc. are different words describing the same state of consciousness. Therefore, misunderstandings can arise because of the different terminology used by different teachers and traditions to describe the awakened state of being.

For one reason or another, some devotees are not open to the teachings of Presence and Releasing as I present it, even though choosing to live in the present; or, even though the practice of mindful awareness is a basic principle on the path of spiritual awakening and Bhakti. To bring conscious attention to the present is taught in all bona fide spiritual traditions. Yet, this elementary step in spiritual awakening is often missed or over looked by overzealous spiritual seekers. Everyone in the Hare Krishna movement is taught from the beginning, just chant and hear. In other words, chant the mantra with attention. Be present when you chant.

The teaching of Presence and Releasing is not different from or opposed to Bhakti. Presence and Releasing support the cultivation of Bhakti. Understanding one is not the body, and chanting God’s name with attention, are foundational practices of Bhakti yoga that can only be accomplished when attending to the present.

One begins Bhakti when faith in God appears in one’s consciousness. The light of faith in God is compared to the tiny seed of a plant. When the seed is planted in soil and given water, it sprouts and begins to grow and mature.

The devotee places the seed of Bhakti in the soil of humility within the heart. With due attention, the devotee waters the Bhakti seed every day, with the sound vibration of the Holy Name. The devotee gardener is careful to identify and remove weeds of material desire whenever they pop up next to the Bhakti plant. If that is not done, the weeds of material desire may grow and eventually choke the Bhakti plant.

Attentive chanting directs the water of the Holy Name on to the Bhakti plant for nourishment. Attention is synonymous with Presence. Presence allows the devotee to be able to observe and extract weeds of material desire that spring up in the garden of the heart. When a devotee chooses to be present for the Holy Name, the Bhakti plant directly receives the water of the Holy Name. If material desires for name and fame arise, it is from the vantage point of present moment consciousness that the devotee can detect the weed and remove it. Releasing is the process of introspecting within the garden of the heart, bringing to consciousness illusory material desires and letting go of identification with the false self. As they say in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), Let go and let God.

In my experience, many devotees are not sufficiently taught the spiritual basics of chanting with attention, or as I like to say, being present for the Holy Name. Neophyte devotees are properly instructed to hear the name with attention, which is correct. However, for me, just hear was not sufficient instruction. I certainly needed more training when it came to developing the skill of chanting attentively and the giving up of the material concept of life. In my opinion, most neophyte devotees could benefit from specific guidance and training in the art of focused chanting and introspection.

Furthermore, it is my contention that if from the very beginning of entrance into Bhakti-yoga, the likelihood of a devotee’s ability to peacefully chant and be happy would greatly improve if devotees were systematically taught the art of Presence and releasing. Unless one learns how to be situated in the self (atmavan) and observe the monkey mind, it is difficult for most devotees to hear and chant the Holy Name consistently, with rapt attention. If a devotee lacks present moment awareness and cannot be present for the Holy Name, it is possible that a devotee may not experience the desired result of inner happiness that he/she expects from the practice of mantra meditation. This is often the case for those who begin chanting but then give up after some time.

We all want to be truly happy and in love with Krishna.

Sadly, I often meet devotees who tell me that they are not happy and that Japa is a struggle for them. They say that they don’t truly enjoy chanting Japa even after years of sincere practice and service. They also tell me that they do not feel like they are progressing in Krishna Consciousness and they do not understand the reason for their lack of progress. I can relate to their doubts and frustration because I also faced similar difficulties in my spiritual life.

Most neophyte devotees are simply instructed, Just chant and hear the mantra. In order to Just chant and hear, you really have to be here consciously and nowhere else. You have to be present for the mantra, for Krishna, who is personally present in the sound of His Holy Name. When I emphasize being present, just being here for the Name is really all that I am suggesting. Yet some devotees still misunderstand my words and assume that I am speaking some doctrine that is outside our Caitanya Vaishnava tradition.

Of course, if my words create misunderstanding among some devotees that may also be due to my defect as a teacher. I am always attempting to improve and find effective ways to communicate spiritual concepts. The concept of presence cannot be understood by the mind because Presence is transcendent of the mind. It is only by the direct experience of presence that one can know definitively what I am talking about. At most, what words can do is to guide you to perform the work that will give you the experience that they (the words) are pointing to.

Therefore, we have created the two-day seminar and the five-day retreat to facilitate the experience of awakening in the present. For those devotees who are listening to this talk on Presence and chanting, I highly encourage you to participate at least once in the two-day seminar and the five-day retreat.

For some devotees, this teaching on Presence and Releasing may not be necessary. In this movement, there are devotees who come to Krishna Consciousness when they are already self-realized. Such awakened devotees intuitively understand that thoughts are not real. They know that the truth of life only exists now. These awakened devotees automatically live in the present and pay no attention to thoughts of past and future. Actually, one has to live in the present. Whatever is past is gone beyond recall, and, the future has not yet arrived. The self-realized devotee knows that remembering the past or imagining the future are only important to the extent that they help one deal with the present. Such awakened devotees are rare. The self-realized devotee is already spontaneously attracted to the Holy Name of Krishna.

This teaching of awakening, which we call Presence and Releasing, is actually basic level knowledge in all bonafide spiritual traditions – both, pluralistic and monistic.

Although rare, there are devotees who just come into this life already very advanced in Krishna Consciousness. Practically speaking, from the very beginning of joining this Hare Krishna movement, they fully realize they are not the body or mind. From the moment these advanced souls begin chanting, they are totally absorbed in the sound vibration of the Holy Name. So, at a deeper level they already understand the world of the mind is illusory. They therefore disregard thoughts. They know that to awaken out of the illusory world of the mind, one has to live fully in the present.

Since these devotees are spiritually awake, they directly perceive the truth that there is no life or reality outside of the present. Being spiritually awake, they already know this foundational truth of reality. After all, the tenth offense in chanting is inattention. Unless you are present for Krishna when you chant, chanting is offensive. If you are not ‘here’ when you chant, then where are you?

From my personal experience in the movement, I know that such advanced devotees do exist. I can personally testify that some of my God-brothers were already advanced in Krishna Consciousness from the first day they entered this movement. I have lived with them, talked with them, served with them day and night for years. I could observe in their words and behaviour that they were transcendentally situated in Krishna Consciousness.

So, for such devotees who already have spontaneous attraction for the Holy Name, this teaching on Presence and Releasing is irrelevant and not needed. But for devotees who do struggle to chant with attention and who honestly can say, "I am not happy. I am still identified with this mind and body" - for these devotees, this teaching on Presence and Releasing will be very beneficial if they choose to apply it in their life.

Actually, steady happiness is a sign of advancement in chanting and Bhakti. Here is an interesting quotation from a letter Srila Prabhupada wrote in 1973:

Three stages of Chanting

The three stages of chanting are, first to clean the mirror of the mind. Then the next stage, when the mind is cleansed, one becomes free from the symptoms of material existence. The third stage is: He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto me.

Letter to Susan Beckman -- Herts, England August 29, 1973: The chanting is a process of purification. Just like we use soap to cleanse the body, this is material, but the chanting is spiritual cleansing. The three stages of cleansing are first to clean the mirror of the mind. In the Bhagavad Gita it is said, The mind is the best friend and the worst enemy. For one who has learned to control the mind it is the best of friends but for one who has failed to do so it is the worst enemy. Due to long