A Skeptic Dropped Out of Our E-Course

Recently a subscriber who had been enrolled in our course for almost two years dropped out. When asked the reason for cancelling his subscription he said, "I am a skeptic." Not wanting to let him miss the opportunity of achieving life's goal of realizing the highest truth, I wrote him as follows in response to his cancellation:

"We thank you very much for checking out our e-course and have noted that you are dropping out because you are a skeptic. Kindly note that if one takes skepticism to its logical conclusion, one has to be ultimately be skeptical about everything including even skepticism itself. In other words after one has expanded his skepticism to its final conclusion, he ultimately has to reject skepticism in order to be true to the principle of skepticism. And then it is at that point that he is ready to be shown the inner meaning of reality. So kindly take your skepticism to its ultimate conclusion. Do not remain a half-baked skeptic. When you have reached the logical conclusion of your skepticism, kindly come back and we will teach you how to personally experience the secrets of the universe and even the amazing reality that lies beyond the universe."

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: Is Chanting Four Rounds Purely Enough?

What is the importance of following Srila Prabhupada's order to chant at least 16 rounds daily of the Hare Krishna mahamantra on japa mala beads? If a person is so busy that he can only chant four rounds daily but does it with purity, is this right or not?

Shailendra

Answer: Pure Chanting Naturally Increases

If the doctor prescribes that you need a certain amount of medicine in order to recover your health and you decide independently that you know better than the doctor and you will cut the dosage to one half or to one quarter, what will happen? You will remain sick.

Similarly, when the spiritual master prescribes that you need to chant at least 16 rounds daily in order to recover from the disease known as the cycle of birth and death, what will be the result? You will remain in the cycle of birth and death.

Purity means to obey the spiritual master. If we disobey the spiritual master that is impurity. There is no question of purity when we disobey the spiritual master.

Are you too busy to eat? No. You will somehow or other find time to eat, even if you are super busy. Eating is feeding the body, which is a mere covering of the self. Chanting 16 rounds is the basic diet for feeding the soul, the actual self within. Therefore, if there is purity, your taste for japa will automatically increase and you will naturally find the time to increase the number of your rounds to at least 16, just as you always find time to eat. Pure chanting is not stagnant. It is dynamic, ecstatic, and ever-increasing.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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