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Rohit Kaliyar

Chanting as spiritual practice and movie of me

Philosophy of YogaBhakti YogaWestern Yoga Traditions

Grace surrounds us all the time, but we only feel it at rare moments. It is the true state of the Universe. As Suzuki Roshi said, “Come walk with me in the rain. But don’t hurry. It’s raining everywhere.” What keeps us away from the gentle rain of grace? It’s our endless obsession, all day long, with I, me, mine. We wake up in the morning and start writing “the movie of Me”: What am I going to do? Where am I going to go? How am I going to get there? Is this enough? Is it too much? What’s going to happen? What am I going to wear? How do I look? Does he like me? Why not? All day long. The movie of Me. We write it, direct it, produce it, and star in it. We write reviews that we read and get depressed! Then we go to sleep and do it again the next day. I’ve seen it so many times. And still, every time I turn on the TV, there it is: me, myself, and my stuff. Gradually (key word) and inevitably (the other key word), spiritual practices like chanting remove this subjective version of life by slowly dissolving the attachments that keep us feeling separate from the people around us, and separate and cut off from the beauty that lives in our own hearts. Everything we do in life is connected to everyone and everything else, but because we’re locked up in our own little world, when we reach out to touch another person, all we touch is our version of the other person, and all they touch is their version of us. We’re rarely really touching each other.

-Chants of a Lifetime: Searching for a Heart of Gold, Book by Krishna Das

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