Among many benefits, mantra meditation brings deep joy to our hearts, and one of the most blissful experiences I’ve had since I began to practice it is kirtan. Playing different instruments, a group of people sing together the maha-mantra, putting all their focus and intention just as if they would be meditating by themselves; but … Read more
I considered myself to be quite the rebel in my teens and early twenties, and I was proud of that label. I thought I was so cool – smoking cigarettes behind the art building at the strict, all-girls school I attended in the dull, conservative city of Pretoria. [Never heard of Pretoria? Don’t worry about … Read more
On March 18, 2019, a musical album was released by Bhakti Bhringa Govinda Swami and Akincana Krishna das, two seasoned practitioners of bhakti-yoga. Bhakti Bhringa Govinda Swami, in particular, has been meditating on the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and sharing this practice with others since 1971. Known for his deep and melodious singing, he is particularly … Read more
Seven years ago, in Montreal, I was introduced to mantra meditation in a most unexpected way. A friend took me to a festival called Ratha Yatra, where I noticed a boy chanting the Hare Krishna mantra on the stage. As soon as that sound vibration reached me, I experienced a deep sense of peace and … Read more
–by Jessica Davey Jessica is a student on the ChantNow Mantra Meditation course, sharing her personal experiences as an example of how Bhakti-yoga unfolds naturally by the grace of the divine. Before I start anything new, I usually do some research to figure out how “impossible” the thing is. My ego likes to know the … Read more
There’s a Sanskrit word for the daily practices we undertake in order to advance in spiritual life – the word is sadhana. Sadhana is what we do, on a daily basis, to facilitate the purification of our consciousness. It is the regulated part of spiritual life which calls for consistency and discipline. Yes, discipline. I … Read more
During kirtan, experienced chanters often call us to chant from the heart, not just the mind. We are called to go from mindfulness to heartfulness. But, how do we find the place of the heart? Of course, there’s the physical heart, with its ventricles and atria and valves and all. And research does show that … Read more
Chanting Is A Journey To Higher Consciousness Chanting is a journey towards realizing your spiritual nature and achieving higher consciousness. Part of this journey is to start looking at the way we live and how it affects us. This is part of the science of yoga which leads to cleansing the heart and experiencing the … Read more