Last week I was having a discussion with friends and I would like to invite you to share your realizations and sastric knowledge with us.
We were discussing the benefits of doing kirtan/harinams on the streets. On the one hand, people may be irrated by the singing on the streets and instead of being attracted they become somewhat repulsed. (this also depends on the culture in which it takes place.) so instead of benefitting the movement it may not.
On the other hand we were wondering about the spiritual benefits of chanting, surely there are benefits to the persons singing, but do the people who affectionaly or angrily hear the holy names receive some benefit too? How much does it depend upon the chanters?
in other words, we can see that Caitanya Mahaprabhu brought kirtan to the streets and placed much emphasis on it. But in what light should we see this? Is this more like a dynamic way of preaching or do we by saying that do unjustice to its spiritual benefits?
I‘ve got involved in Krsna Conciseness after hearing street kirtan. So I think it’s very important. Some people will be repulsed by it, but some will be attracted. Even people who are repulsed will get some benefit anyway, because Name will have purification effect on them and maybe it will be enough to jumpstart their spiritual life. All people who are passing street kirtan are there per Krsna’s arrangement anyway because they have to be qualified to hear the Name in the first place. Through kirtaneers Krisna’s will and mercy are dispensed, so it’s beneficial for kirtaneers as well because they are serving Krsna this way. Preaching and spiritual benefits are going hand to hand – you are singing about Krsna and how beautiful He is, that’s what Radha wants and by pleasing Radha you are pleasing Krsna Himself.
BB 1.7.130Those dear as life one can never forget, but when reminded of them in a special way one feels happy, like one who has lived a life of good fortune.
So we’re comparing the benefits of:
- the positive impression people get after witnessing a harinam procession;
- the purifying effect of hearing the holy names and witnessing Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan lila.
Of course it would be best to achieve both objectives at the same time. That’s why in many temples there’s a harinam organizer, who makes sure the participating devotees dance/march in an organized fashion, to avoid giving people an unnecessary negative impression. Usually attention is paid to the way the devotees are dressed. When these things are cared for, and the devotees know how to play their instruments, a harinam procession need not be a freak show. If the devotees chant the holy names calmly, many people will recognize the procession as a group belonging to some Asian religion, which is not seen as something negative. When devotees thus give a neutral or positive impression on the people, both objectives will be achieved simultaneously.
It is far more important to achieve the first objective! Why? Because inatttentive hearing is far less effective than conscious hearing and chanting. The only way any one of them will get to attentive hearing and chanting, is by reading or hearing the philosophy from the practitioners, which requires a positive impression of them in the first place. Our friend Nanda-tanuja prabhu is an example of this.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu made a very important statement by chanting on the street: spiritual progress is open to everyone, mantras need not be secret items, kept within the higher castes only. You don’t make that statement by doing sankirtan on the streets in the West. So in that sense it may not be the most important type of preaching anymore. Caitanya Mahaprabhu encouraged many other ways of preaching too.
Guru Maharaja has commented that in the present times Internet preaching may be more useful than harinama processions. I think so too. In any case the harinama procession should be managed in such a way that people immediately understand what it’s about: a group of Eastern monks chanting prayers. This means the heavy metal type of ecstatic kirtan should be avoided, the group should neither be too small (looks and sounds weird) or too large (because then at the end of the procession the rhythm is constantly messed up), and in some climates the devotees should wear something other than dhoti’s (which are easily blown up by the wind), etc. If possible the devotees can also roll out a carpet on some square and bring a harmonium. That is often appreciated much more, and interested people can just sit around. And just the maha-mantra, mainly “Prabhupada raga” if you want people to sing along (not all the exotic melodies devotees bring home from India).
Daghi tete daghi dhena
Ivar