Krishna Das – Ep. 58 – Why We Chant

Krishna Das – Ep. 58 – Why We Chant

This week, Krishna Das reflects on the practice of mantra and reminds us of why we chant.

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Show Notes

Ever Present (Opening) – When we chant we enter a different space, or a sort of presence, which is vast but quickly filled up with the chatter of our thought. Krishna Das reflects on the nature of this space and the thoughts that arise in it.

“The names that we are singing are this space we are creating. You could call it a presence, or Presence, and that presence is always here –  we are not. That is because we are thinking all the time totally distracted by the outside world.”

Why We Chant (4:00) – The first step in spiritual practice is beginning to have some vote over how you live in the moment. KD looks at what is happening when we chant that keep bringing us back to the moment.

“Usually we are just beaten up by our thoughts and emotions – and then we are dead. That is what you call life. We never have a vote over how we feel and we are at the mercy of all these thoughts and emotions – and we believe everything we think. Have you noticed that? That is what they call insanity.”

A New Way To Live (10:35) – Krishna Das reminds us to be patient on the slow long road forward that we are on in the journey of awakening.

“It’s a gradual process, anybody who says enlightenment is an immediate situation is not taking into account the billions of births it took to get there. So, I don’t even like to talk about enlightenment, I don’t know what it is. I talk about trying to live in a good way – to become a good human being.”

Seeds of Practice (14:25) – Krishna Das discusses the long-term benefits to those who hold a practice. We are always planting seeds with our actions – which seeds do we choose?

Krishna Das examines how the seeds we plant with practice tear down the walls of our ordinary mind on Ep. 50 of the Pilgrim Heart Podcast

Uncovering Ourselves (21:35) – It is important to remember that with the practice of chanting we are not trying to make something of ourselves that we are not –  this isn’t alchemy – we are only uncovering our true selves.  KD reminds us to relax and just keep practicing, as little by little we reveal what lies at the core of us.

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Photo via Krishna Das