Following the Vyasa Puja Festival, a Japa Kirtan Retreat with HH Sacinandana Swami took place at Radhadesh. Day 4 of the retreat was dedicated to a nama-yajna, where devotees were engaged in 4 hours of continuous bhajan/kirtan. The first 3 hours were calm and melodious until HH Kadamba Kanana Swami made his first appearance at the retreat. After a short introduction on japa meditation (transcript below), he had the crowd dancing within minutes and crying out “we want more” after an hour.
As you are having your retreat, I was also having my own retreat because lately life has been so busy. So I had a retreat by myself which was also nice.
Yesterday morning, I was meditating while chanting that we are never by ourselves. Krsna is always present and very much so. Sometimes we experience the gap between us and Krsna and how through chanting we are somehow or other trying to bridge that gap.
But yesterday, I got into the meditation that Krsna is here. He is very much here. And now let me just really chant my rounds in that way, offering them very directly to Krsna. Krsna is very directly present right here before me and knows everything about me and I am simply making my humble offering.
Today, I was thinking that’s all good and well, but that’s the same thing Uddhava told the gopis, “Krsna is here. He is always present!”
They were not overly impressed by that. They were saying, “Yeah that’s fine but where is Krsna?”
So today, I chanted in that mood: where is He, where is Krsna?
And of course, I think before one can really get into that mood of separation in chanting, one has to come to the point of experiencing the presence of Krsna. And very much focus on how much Krsna is actually present. Because somehow or other, we are not seeing, we are forgetting. We think that Krsna is far away and we feel left alone… we feel alone with our struggle, but actually Krsna presence is there.
However, the Holy Name can attract Krsna to reveal Himself more to us and that is the wonderful experience of chanting. Pure devotional service is described as sri krsna akasani – that which can attract Krsna. So through our chanting we hope to attract the grace of Krsna and with that I want to begin chanting. Audio recording will be uploaded soon
Kadamba Kanana Swami
6 May 2010
