Have you ever observed yourself in chanting:
either unable to hear the mantras, or
a single desire occupies all mantras, or
the mind is hooked in multiple thoughts the whole time?

When we speak anything, we can hear our speech clearly. Just remember the conversations you had today or the previous day. We may be unable to remember what the other person spoke, but we might remember most of what we spoke. Why then does it appear so difficult during chanting? Why are we unable to hear the Holy Name that we ourselves are uttering from our tongue?

High Mental Volume

It is naturally difficult to hear something in the midst of other, more prevalent sounds. A similar thing happens while chanting. The mind speaks a lot at high volume, and the chanting sound is far lesser. So how can the Holy Name seep in?

Maya’s greatest daily victory is when she convinces us not to chant sincerely that day by providing us unlimited things that are “more important” than chanting.

The WOW Effect

Maya’s attractions always appear very tempting and wonderful. No wonder we call it illusory energy. Ramanujacarya says that maya creates a kind of mystical charm to bewitch the conditioned souls. The objects are illusory, but real impressions are created in the minds.

Now, we have AI-generated images and movies, which fall totally in the realm of illusion. Yet, they too possess the power to form real impressions in our minds.

It’s URGENT

Sometimes maya puts diversions by absorbing our minds in something temporary, which appears extremely urgent and important:
You want to set right a broken relationship.
You need to solve an urgent problem.
You have to pay the kids’ fees.
You need to purchase a car.
You have to make a feast for family members.
You have an exam coming up.
You need to make this person a pure devotee today itself!
You need to somehow talk with your boss clearly today.
You need to showcase compassion to the poor souls of this world!
You want to go to the doctor and solve one major problem…..the list is endless.

And maya says, “Just set right this particular thing. And then, definitely you have all the time in the world to chant attentively.”

But during chanting, neither can you solve the problem, nor can you benefit much from inattentive chanting. In this way, one day is lost in distracted chanting.

Sold for Lifetimes!

After one episode is over, maya starts with another episode. After all, her job profile is to keep us busy in things other than Krishna. And she is expert in her duties. She has already designed tailormade episodes for our entire lifetime, and beyond as well. Furthermore, she is up to date with the latest technologies and the latest inputs that we are feeding our minds.

In every episode, she convinces us that if we don’t watch it, we will miss something really important, or we will suffer terribly. She is pro in bewitching and bewildering us.

In this manner, maya has made us wait and postpone Krishna for lifetimes.

Conclusion

We need to reduce mental clutter by engaging firmly in Krishna consciousness the rest 22 hours. And when maya puts attractive proposals in front of us, we must understand them as maya’s deception.

We are not the first ones who have been seduced by maya. She has the whole world in her captivity. Each day, when we sit for chanting, we must think –

Am I going to give in yet another day watching maya’s episodes?
Or, can I try my best to focus my attention on the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, which I have denied not only for many years, but for lifetimes?

We have a lifelong commitment of playing a test series with maya. Our daily chanting will determine who wins the series at the end of life.

If we have defeated maya and become the man/woman of the series, then Krishna will become inspired to deliver us.
But if we ourselves have made maya the woman of the series, it is an outright proclamation to Krishna that we don’t need Him.