Using Ear-plugs while Chanting?

Shabdahari das

I've seen many devotees use ear plugs, to cut off the external sounds.

Are'nt we supposed to hear the Maha-mantra from our lips, going into our ear, making our mind focus on that sound, which will eventually reach our hearts? Plugs rather internalizes things.

Comments..

janmastami das

it's a kirtanananda based thing, hopefully you won't understand.

ekendra

is it alright if some of us want to hear the kirtana when we get old? our temple has glass walls and marble floors and the sound is deafening. After even a regular Sunday Feast kirtana devotees are yelling at eachother during prasadam because of the effect on their ears.

further ... i think its just a tad 'tarded to associate earplugs with kirtanananda. I've never met the guy and have never been a devotee in the country he operated in so it strikes me as a wee bit impersonal to be accused of following kirtanananda because I wear musician's earplugs during a kirtana.

Read here - they're great:

http://www.gopala.org/node/71

rasa108

If Shabdahari das is referring to Japa...then I would say forget earplugs...better to hear your own words so you can monitor pronounciation and also hear the mantra clearly....Kirtans in temple rooms is another thing.

Please see this post on the Japa Group:

http://japagroup.blogspot.com/2007/09/4-ways-to-avoid-inattention.html

mishra

Can you imagine Haridas Thakura with earplugs?

ekendra

i wouldn't wear earplugs during japa - but a kirtana as loud as a rock concert - yes. I wear ER-20's which are designed to keep the sound quality and just lower the volume 20db.

froginwell

I wear ear plugs when there is so much noise that I can't hear myself chanting, for example in the temple room during japa or in the train or car.

In kirtan I put on ear plugs to protect my ears. Imagine 4 mrdanga's, 2 sets of 'wompers', and 8 pairs of karatalas in a closed room. Extatic...

janmastami das

maybe the "gers" should lay off "the tards" unless they can come up with a consistent philosophy. studying the history of the use of earplugs in ISKCON will ultimately lead back to NV (one of the things mentioned about k swa's mayavadi
influence that led to his, and australlian yatra leaders expulsion from ISKCON in the mid 1980's) for anything other than individual instances. not unlike loft preaching and new age philo-merge, opinions differ as to the strength of each course, but their large scale influence came from many of the changes augmented by and during
k swa's changes period. many in ISKCON have adopted some of his theories.

ekendra

janmastami das:
maybe the "gers" should lay off "the tards" unless they can come up with a consistent philosophy. studying the history of the use of earplugs in ISKCON will ultimately lead back to NV (one of the things mentioned about k swa's mayavadi
influence that led to his, and australlian yatra leaders expulsion from ISKCON in the mid 1980's) for anything other than individual instances. not unlike loft preaching and new age philo-merge, opinions differ as to the strength of each course, but their large scale influence came from many of the changes augmented by and during
k swa's changes period. many in ISKCON have adopted some of his theories.

interesting. I don't think that there is an 'earplug conspiracy' going on. My ears were sustaining damage so I looked up the best earplugs that would allow me to hear the kirtana and at the same time protect my already damaged hearing. there were no secret earplug meetings or revolutionary earplug societies that recruited me. I just ordered them myself off the net from this company in Oklahoma. They do a great job - i can hear the kirtanas now and not have ringing ears afterwards. pretty simple really.

Aren't there more important things to worry about?

mishra

if the earplugs brand is the same as in NV, it might be a conspiracy :)

Hari Bhakta dasa

So many conspiracys - so little time. Has anyone figured out who shot Kennedy yet?

Gadai

Try very large stainless steel bowl upside down on headwhile chanting japa. Awesome

mballav

You certainly have a sense of humor, Gadai Prabhu!

ekendra

Gadai:
Try very large stainless steel bowl upside down on headwhile chanting japa. Awesome

careful - you may start a fad. :) - what will the guests think?

premasru

it isn't a should or shouldn't thing, i didn't think. it's a personal choice. however, i used to use earplugs when chanting and found that it not only helped me to concentrate the mind better but I could hear the sound better, without distractions. the idea is to chant with feeling and humility and if your lucky, think or visualize Krishna is some form. it was a phase i was going through when my mind was disturbed a lot. it does make it pretty intense. anyway, whatever helps me to chant is welcome. I know devotees that wear blu-tak (yellow-tak) or whatever its called that sticks things to walls, all the time.

rasa108

premasru: Yes it's a personal thing for sure....whatever facilitates good quality attentive Japa, where the mind does not wander and stays on the sound vibration of the Holy names.

"The first regulative principle is that one must chant the Hare Krsna maha−mantra loudly enough so that he can hear himself, and one must vow to chant a fixed number of rounds."
Sri Caitanya caritamrta Antya−lila 11.24

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