(HARE
KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA
HARE HARE)
“To the uninitiated,
these expressions of enthusiasm for the practice of contemplative recitation of
the name of God may appear odd. For how can repeated recitation of mere
sounds-linguistic formulations-transform consciousness and invoke ecstasy?
Modern secular students of religion, especially those of a reductionist
temperament, seek often to divest such spiritual experiences of their unique
metaphysical properties, attributing them to quantifiable psychological (or
other) causes. Some even view them as pathological. But mere psychological
reductionism can do little to shed light upon the profound religious
experiences of those who “taste,” in devotional ecstasy, “the nectar of the
name.” Nor can it explain the profound influence this practice has had on the
religious adepts of many different spiritual traditions, most prominently the
Vaishnava religious tradition of India, within which the theology and practice
of the holy name have reached their highest development.
