Reminiscences

The Importance Of Discourse.

ShriMaharaj usually gave a daily discourse, of which the subject-matter invariably was some aspect of namasmarana . Many of those who attended spent an hour or more in coming and returning. One day one in the audi­ence raised the question whether, having once been con­vinced of the importance of namasmarana, it would not be more profitable to spend the entire two hours in namasmarana at home. ShriMaharaj immediately aquiesced, with the proviso that the ardour of the convic­tion continues unabated despite the cessation of the daily repetition, and does not get diverted to some other pur­pose. "The more important question,¹ he said,' is how the remaining chunk of the day's time (twenty-two hours ) is spent. If that much time is spent without chanting nama, it would be sheer waste. On the other hand, if, while lis­tening to the discourse, rather than listen as a matter of routine or entertainment, one listens with care, and with the object that love for God springs and endures in the mind, one may chant nama with genuine pleasure and reap the benefit. The very purpose of the discourse is that the mind should incline more and more to chanting of nama. Remember that it is not easy to create such a lik­ing for nama.