Dear Bhagavatas: On the efficacy of Group chanting, please read the following excerpts from my book "Hinduism Rediscovered". This is to supplement Sri M.K.Sudarshan's observations on the subject (given below). Dasoham Anbil Ramaswamy =========================================================================== "While extolling the efficacy of Bhajan - a congregational singing of the names of the Lord, Thayumanavar observes that the involvement transports each individual in the group into a rhapsody that ripens towards salvation. "IN A BUNCH, ONE RIPE BANANA WARMS AND RIPENS ALL OTHERS". ========================================================================== --- In SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Ram Anbil" <Ramanbil@xxxx> wrote: I stumbled upon this article in today's issue of "The Plain Dealer" newspaper of Cleveland. KIRTAN CALL They're terrified of coming across as Hare Krishnas," he wrote recently in a research paper on kirtan, completed as part of his yoga instructor training. "But we can show the world it's not silly cultish behavior." ------------------------------- Dear Sri Anbil svAmi, Very interesting article. It is true that people are very shy to sing out aloud because they would appear to be "silly". But in a 'satsangh' everyone gradually overcomes self-conscious feelings. Here in Kuwait, we have a small group of 15 to 20 'vedadhyAyin-s' who meet once a month in each other's home by turns. The group chants Vedic passages from the Upanishads, the "sUktams", "namakkam", "chamakam". They also recite the "divya-prabhandhams" and "stOtras" of AchAryas like Swami Venkatanathan, Manavala mamuni and AdiSankara bhagavathpAdA. IN the beginning the learners here too were diffident and unsure of themselves. It also seemed "silly" to be chanting Vedic passages without knowing the meaning. But now they are very proficient in Vedic chanting and enjoy full throated "pArAyaNam" even though the meaning may not be clear. The power of "veda sabda" to uplift and energize is never in doubt now. This has been a regular practice for over 3 years now. Everyone is quite involved in it and the level of enthusiasm is quite high. It is all due to "bhagavath sankalpam" that the 'satsangh' here has gone from strength to strength. Thanks and regards, dAsan, Sudarshan Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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