Tulasi and Neem

[talasiga 0]

cardiac mala

 

one may chant

to the beats of the heart

if the rattle of beads

have fallen out of time

 

 

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talasiga@hotmail.com

[Jahnava Nitai Das 2]

Maybe Krsna is more concerned with the quality of the devotee's heart rather than the quality of his/her beads.Any comments?

The purity of heart will manifest externally in perfect conduct and behaviour.

[leyh 0]

Dear Forum Members:

I have heard from some devotees that those who are vegetarians can chant the holy names of God on japa malas made of tulasi beads while those who are not should chant only on beads made of neem.Why is there this rule about the material of the beads?Didn't Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu say that there were no hard and fast rules to chanting?

Maybe Krsna is more concerned with the quality of the devotee's heart rather than the quality of his/her beads.Any comments?

[Dayal_Govinda 0]

The general principle is that prior to initiation one should chant on neem beads or count on ones fingers. At the time of initiation the guru gives a tulasi mala that he has chanted on and instructs the disciple in the specifics of chanting , how many rounds etc.

So from this point of view, after (and hopefully prior to) initiation one will have given up eating meat. Although I have never heard it said like this before.

As jndas said, substance is more important than form, but, if we have feeling then we will want to perfrom everything correctly as well.

[amanpeter 0]

 

 

Posted by Leyh:

 

Maybe Krsna is more concerned with the quality of the devotee's heart rather than the quality of

his/her beads.Any comments?

 

Originally posted by jndas:

The purity of heart will manifest externally in perfect conduct and behaviour.

There's a difference between quality (first quote) and purity (second quote). Purity may be considered the highest quality which is obtainable only by Divine Grace, not by our own efforts or worthiness.

 

In any offering, some attention to quality must be present. In bhakti, quality of heart is MOST important as that is the `sweetness` God is attracted to. By the Lord's acceptance of the offering, it becomes purified through Divine Grace alone.

 

Only due to His Divine Grace will that purity become available which is PERFECTLY acceptable to God. It does not always manifest externally in ways that are visible to others who are not yet pure in heart.

 

I believe it is most important not to confuse the EXTERNAL, which may be a show, with the INTERNAL, which must be sincere. There's a world of difference between emulating perfection and becoming perfect oneself. Beware the trappings of religion!

 

Gaudiya vaisnavas understand that Krsna wants ONLY Radhika. Through our association with Her, we become acceptable to Him.

 

Lord Caitanya was born under a neem tree, thus neem beads are associated with Him and because He overlooks offenses, chanting on such beads may be considered more acceptable to God, by some. I know a sanyassi guru in ISKCON that still only uses his first set of beads, made of neem wood, that Srila Prabhupada chanted on.

 

Tulasi devi, on the other hand, is responsible in Goloka Vrndavan for making so many nice arrangements when Radha and Krsna meet. Therefore chanting on beads made of tulasi wood, the devotee can imagine participating in those arrangements, or pray to her requesting service to the Divine Couple. Of course, this is really a very advanced stage, but still one can always hope against hope...

 

Follow your heart, Leyh prabhu, trust in your own sincere feelings and let your longing take you home. HARIBOL!!! valaya

 

 

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amanpeter@hotmail.com

[leyh 0]

Originally posted by amanpeter:

 

Posted by Leyh:

 

There's a difference between quality (first quote) and purity (second quote). Purity may be considered the highest quality which is obtainable only by Divine Grace, not by our own efforts or worthiness.

 

In any offering, some attention to quality must be present. In bhakti, quality of heart is MOST important as that is the `sweetness` God is attracted to. By the Lord's acceptance of the offering, it becomes purified through Divine Grace alone.

 

Only due to His Divine Grace will that purity become available which is PERFECTLY acceptable to God. It does not always manifest externally in ways that are visible to others who are not yet pure in heart.

 

I believe it is most important not to confuse the EXTERNAL, which may be a show, with the INTERNAL, which must be sincere. There's a world of difference between emulating perfection and becoming perfect oneself. Beware the trappings of religion!

 

Gaudiya vaisnavas understand that Krsna wants ONLY Radhika. Through our association with Her, we become acceptable to Him.

 

Lord Caitanya was born under a neem tree, thus neem beads are associated with Him and because He overlooks offenses, chanting on such beads may be considered more acceptable to God, by some. I know a sanyassi guru in ISKCON that still only uses his first set of beads, made of neem wood, that Srila Prabhupada chanted on.

 

Tulasi devi, on the other hand, is responsible in Goloka Vrndavan for making so many nice arrangements when Radha and Krsna meet. Therefore chanting on beads made of tulasi wood, the devotee can imagine participating in those arrangements, or pray to her requesting service to the Divine Couple. Of course, this is really a very advanced stage, but still one can always hope against hope...

 

Follow your heart, Leyh prabhu, trust in your own sincere feelings and let your longing take you home. HARIBOL!!! valaya

 

 

 

Dear Valaya:

I've heard that the neem beads are associated with Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,the most magnanimous incarnation.So the neem beads can serve as very nice reminders of Lord Chaitanya.

Thank you very much for your encouraging words.A person stumbling around in this material world needs a lot of encouragment...

 

 

[talasiga 0]

[Jahnava Nitai Das 2]

It is odd that we will question the need for rules and regulations when chanting on a japa mala since the japa mala is itself a regulation.

[leyh 0]

Dear Forum Members:

I generally find it very peaceful and transcendental when I walk and chant: Hare Krsna,Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare without beads,but sometimes when I use the japa mala to chant,the mind suddenly becomes very easily distracted and sometimes I even find the chanting tedious and I'm glad when I reach the end of the "round".I would be grateful if anyone can offer me suggestions as to how I can improve the quality of my chanting...

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 08-25-2001).]

[talasiga 0]

Originally posted by leyh:

I would be grateful if anyone can offer me suggestions as to how I can improve the quality of my chanting...

 

Dear Leyh

 

please see the following threads:-

 

1) Are we spiritually advanced yet?

2) Japa walking

 

 

[amanpeter 0]

Originally posted by leyh:

Dear Forum Members:

I generally find it very peaceful and transcendental when I walk and chant: Hare Krsna,Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare without beads,but sometimes when I use the japa mala to chant,the mind suddenly becomes very easily distracted and sometimes I even find the chanting tedious and I'm glad when I reach the end of the "round".I would be grateful if anyone can offer me suggestions as to how I can improve the quality of my chanting...

 

[This message has been edited by leyh (edited 08-25-2001).]

We pray for what is needed, knowing that everything depends on His Divine Grace. To escape our entanglement in the inferior external energy we must seek shelter in the superior internal potency, which is personified as Sri Radha and Her associates. Sincere tears are always helpful along with feelings of helplessness. This is the personal aspect in short. There is also a more technical side which I prefer to leave for others to explain. Peter/valaya

 

[This message has been edited by amanpeter (edited 08-26-2001).]

[vandana 0]

dear member,

it is believed that non-veg food gives rise to tamasic qualities in a person.whereas tulasi beads r of satvic nature.i.e. satavic qualities r more predominate in it.

so a person having more tamasic qualities ,while using tulasi beads for japa will not be benefitted by it.

so it is suggested maybe that he use neem beads which r rajasic in nature.

 

 

Originally posted by leyh:

Dear Forum Members:

I have heard from some devotees that those who are vegetarians can chant the holy names of God on japa malas made of tulasi beads while those who are not should chant only on beads made of neem.Why is there this rule about the material of the beads?Didn't Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu say that there were no hard and fast rules to chanting?

Maybe Krsna is more concerned with the quality of the devotee's heart rather than the quality of his/her beads.Any comments?

 

[leyh 0]

Originally posted by vandana:

dear member,

it is believed that non-veg food gives rise to tamasic qualities in a person.whereas tulasi beads r of satvic nature.i.e. satavic qualities r more predominate in it.

so a person having more tamasic qualities ,while using tulasi beads for japa will not be benefitted by it.

so it is suggested maybe that he use neem beads which r rajasic in nature.

 

Thanks for the info,vandana