CHANT OF GOD NAME

When I say “look for me in the Name,” it means that I do not dwell in the body — my true presence is in the Name itself. Because truly, wherever our mind resides, that is where we actually exist. For example, if you travel to a pilgrimage site but your mind remains preoccupied with thoughts of home, then though your body may be at the holy place, in reality, you are still at home, aren’t you? In the same way, if someone asks where you usually are, you would have to say you are constantly lost in worldly affairs — because people always reside in what they love the most. Isn’t that true? So if someone were to ask, “Where is your Guru?” you would say, “He is in the Name.” That’s why — wherever the chanting of the Name is taking place, I am right there; I stand with the one who remembers and repeats the Name.

Scholars and learned pundits often claim that the path of knowledge is meant for them. But what they don’t realize is how difficult that path really is. In fact, rather than dissolving pride, it often increases it. They can intellectually accept the idea that “Brahman is truth, and the world is illusion.” But this remains a mere concept in their minds — it never truly becomes their personal experience. They claim the world is false, yet they treat their own bodies as real. Merely by thought alone, it is extremely difficult to truly realize the illusory nature of the body.

There are also rigid traditionalists who say, “We shall follow only the path of rituals. We do not believe in the power of the Name. We shall live strictly by the rules laid down in the Vedas.” They follow these rules and restrictions so blindly that they begin to treat those restrictions as the ultimate goal. They carefully nurture the fence meant to protect a garden, but forget to care for the garden itself. They don’t realize that attaining God is the true aim, and that these rules and restrictions are merely the means. One should maintain the fence only for the sake of protecting the garden.

I agree that Vedic rituals help purify the mind, but if those rituals aren’t rooted in the devotion and presence of the Lord for whom that mental purity is sought, then this ritualistic path eventually turns into rigid formalism. They claim they have no faith in the Name, but even at the beginning of their Sandhya prayers and Vedic rituals, they say, “Om” — isn’t that the Name? The Vedas themselves are praises of the Supreme. While reciting them, our attention shouldn’t remain stuck on the words, but should turn toward their meaning — and if the meaning isn’t understood, at least the mind should rest on God. It is the life force behind all rituals and spiritual practices.