Morning Rounds: Opening Up the World of Bhakti Through Japa Meditation

6 - Duration: How Long Should a Round of Chanting Take?

• Hari Prasada Das (Upbuild)

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0:00 | 6:38

Hari focuses on the relationship between speed and time when chanting japa. He shares practical benchmarks for beginners and the potential pitfalls of rushing. Ultimately, what’s most important is that we see chanting as a dynamic practice that can evolve over time, but one that is guided by the intent to honor the sacredness of the mantra.

Quotes

  • "The priority is the pronunciation."
  • "...108 mantras for most people at the beginning...can take up to 15 minutes."
  • "We want to lovingly pronounce Krishna's names; they are so dear, so sacred, so beautiful."
  • "If we're taking more than 10 minutes and we're used to chanting, there's a good possibility that we're daydreaming."


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Our heartfelt thanks to Jahnavi Harrison for graciously allowing us to feature her recording, "Divine Maha Mantra," in our intro and outro. Learn more about her divine music: https://www.jahnavimusic.com/. 

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In short, Morning Rounds is: How to make the most of our most important practice.


SPEAKER_00

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare.

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to Morning Rounds. These are short 5 to 15 minute episodes from our weekly Japa meditation program with the Upbuild community, offering guidance and inspiration for your chanting practice. Rooted in years of monastic training, the study and teaching of the Phagavad Gita, coaching, and our own spiritual practices. These teachings are meant to support you in the most important journey there is the journey from the ego to the true self. You can also join us for the live version of this program by visiting upbuild.com forward slash morning-rounds.

SPEAKER_01

Picking up where we left off last week, we were talking about speed. What is the appropriate speed for chanting the Mahamantra? So today we want to talk about time, which is obviously related to speed. So we mentioned that the speed is dependent on how clearly you can chant each syllable of the mantra, how you can enunciate each syllable very nicely with care, and at the same time pick up the pace to match the speed of the mind. So, but the priority is the pronunciation. And then as you become more adept at pronouncing the Mahamantra and you're steady in that, you can pick up the pace to the point only where you are preserving the um the correct pronunciation as best as we can. When it comes to time, time is not super important, just as speed is not super important, but it does have a place. There is an importance. So if we're chanting, let's say, you know, 108 mantras, for most people beginning to chant, it can take up to 15 minutes because we're still getting used to it. The upper limit when we become steady chanters is about 10 minutes. This is not strict, but it takes about 10 minutes for someone who's chanting very slowly and methodically while still having some pace. Um, the average is about seven minutes for a round. So 108 mantras in seven minutes is about the average. There are some people that chant six minutes around, some people that chant even like five minutes, 30 seconds, but you have to be careful when you start going to the super fast pace, um, and the time is taking less and less, because oftentimes we are either rushing through the mantra and it's and it's not really chanting, it's it's trying to get it done, which is not our mission. And we're also not chanting with care, then we want to chant lovingly. Krishna's names are so dear, so sacred, so beautiful. We want that to come through. Um, the other possibility is that we're missing mantras, which is also probably because we're rushing, we're we're missing, we're skipping beads. So we want to be cognizant to chant carefully with care. And we don't want to time ourselves all the time, but occasionally it's it's good to see where we're at. If we're taking more than 10 minutes and we're used to chanting, there's a good possibility that we're daydreaming, we're going off. So we want to also not be much beyond the upper limit of the time. Again, these are just benchmarks, these are not strict, but these are helpful things to keep in mind. So today we want to again chant with that same care to pronounce properly and at the pace that is comfortable, that allows us to have a little energy, a little bit of liveliness to engage the mind. So that is our meditation. And I would also just add one more thing that I have chanted at different paces at different times in my life, and I've worked on this a lot. Um, and in the beginning, you know, it would take me maybe 10 or 10 minutes or more. Uh, then I started chanting very quickly, and I was able to chant like six minutes around or six minutes, 30 seconds around. And then I realized I wasn't pronouncing so well. So I slowed it down. And for a while, seven minutes, seven minutes, 30 seconds was about how I was doing. Today it's more like eight minutes around for me, just so that I can pronounce properly, I can be prayerful, and I can be careful. Um, that's you know, it can change from time to time, but I check on it periodically. Thank you very much, and I'm so happy to chant with you.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you so much for listening to Morning Rounds. Upbuild is a leadership and spiritual development organization that offers courses, workshops, coaching, and other services to help you on the path toward being your best self, free from the shackles of the ego. Please join us for the live version of this program by visiting Upbuild.com forward slash morning dash rounds.