Japa Retreat: Make Japa Great Again | HG Vaisesika Dasa | UK | 25 June 2026

There may be times when we feel distracted through the whole 16 rounds, but afterwards—while we are doing some laundry or washing the dishes—all of a sudden we feel some sublime repeat of what we just finished, which was chanting 16 rounds. In that case, we can understand that even when we’re not able to be fully attentive, the power of the holy name is effective. An example of this that I extracted from a life experience was in a San Francisco Rath Yatra, when I had been helping in the middle of Golden Gate Park to set up tables for the book distribution. Because it was an extremely cloudy day, I didn’t wear a hat, and the next day I was sunburned. I shouldn’t have been so shocked, but I was. I looked it up online and it said, "You dummy, there’s ultraviolet rays coming through the clouds." Then I was remembering a song from my youth—"I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day." It reminded me of how Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura talks about nāmābhāsa. That is, if you’re trying to chant, even if you don’t have full vision of the name, the form of the Lord, the qualities, and so forth, the rays are coming through. The way he talks about it in the Harināma cintāmaṇi is that it is so beneficial to be able to take those rays that it’s better than any austerity you could possibly perform in any realm. Any other thing that you could possibly do is to getting even that indirect light of the holy name. What’s more, regarding that kind of chanting, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says there are two levels of nāmābhāsa. One is when it’s accidental, as in sāṅketyaṁ pārihāsyaṁ vā stobhaṁ helanam eva vā vaikuṇṭha-nāma-grahaṇam aśeṣāgha-haraṁ viduḥ This is a verse from the Sixth Canto of the Bhāgavatam (6.2.14), which says that people who accidentally chant the holy name—they say it derisively, they say it as musical entertainment, etc.—get so much benefit that it erases unlimited sinful reactions. But then, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says there’s another kind of nāmābhāsa where the person didn’t do it accidentally; they are doing it very deliberately, but still, they don’t have full realization of the holy name. He said people in that category will definitely come to the level of pure chanting. (0:58:01) ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://vaisesikadasayatra.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://thefourquestionsbook.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025