Bhakti: Devotion. Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.
One of the methods of Bhakti yoga, divine worship, is simply performed by chanting the names of god. I recall, listening to Duncan Trussell on his Family Hour podcast and hearing him extol the virtues of the Hare Krishna mantra also called the mahamantra or ultimate mantra. I was intrigued by his words and curious about it, I figured I would give it a try.
I started by doing a YouTube search and finding the beautiful voice of Krishna Das. I listened to 25 minutes of the mantra and I was hooked.
“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.“
Over time, I compiled more than six hours of the mantra on my music application and put it on loop. I continued chanting. All the time. Wake up. Remember. Chant. Driving. Music on and start to chant. Walking around. Remember and chant. No more spare time, any free time I had I would spend listening and chanting along to the mantra.
It became somewhat of an obsession. I stopped listening to podcasts and watching shows in favor of chanting the mantra. But I was changing. It was working its magic on my heart, body, and mind.
Eventually, it took over my mind. It became my thoughts. Simply by replacing negative thoughts with a neutral baseline. No more worry. No more fear. No more anxiety. No more depression. Just the beautiful thought or sound of the mantra. Filling every waking moment. Seeping into my dreams. I would wake up and it would be running on a loop in my mind. Sometimes it would stop but then I remember and restart the mantra.
During this period I began to do ashtanga yoga and slowly my body started becoming more healthy as my mind and heart become filled with love. See, I was also experimenting with psilocybin and other entheogens which were a significant contributor to the changes occurring in me. They filled me with a sense of non duality and love. A lot of love.
What happened to my heart was even more remarkable. The pit of fear and anxiety that I had long suffered with was replaced with love and emptiness. The sinking sensation that I often felt, that deep underlying sense of anxiety, went away. It was replaced with a sense of love and peace. My heart physically felt better. It felt open, like a channel of love, a beacon of love pouring from my heart to those around me. First healing myself, my broken childhood traumas, filling my own cup of self love.
Following that, I was able to love everyone around me. Unbridled, unconditional love poured out of my heart. I felt a strong urge and desire to love everything and everyone that I contacted. It was beautiful. I was becoming an example of Bakti yoga. Loving and serving myself, God. Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.
Could it be? Can a chant do this? Does a mere sixteen word Sanskrit mantra have this power? Don’t take my word for it. Try it.
