We used to call them “snowmobile suits.”
One-piece winter wear. Jacket and pants combined. Parka coveralls. You wear them so snow doesn’t go down your pants or up your back.
While I was chanting this morning, I imagined that with each incoming breath I was dragging my mind back to focus on the sound of the mantra, the same way you would drag a three-year old kid in a snowmobile suit towards you on a slippery floor.
(I could actually hear the sound of nylon outerwear on a varnished wood surface. That’s what my breathing sounded like.)
You’ve played this game before, either as the three-year old or the grown-up:
The three-year old laughs and laughs and paddles away, but you’re right there, grabbing the back of his snowmobile suit and dragging him back in front of you.
“Cooooome on back here!”
“Haaaa ha ha ha hahaha!”
“Cooome on BACK here!”
“HAAA ha ha ha haha!”
This goes on until you get tired, because the kid’s not going to.
With japa, it’s a matter of CONstantly bringing the mind back to hearing the sound of the mantra. Because the mind is like a three-year old. It wants to play. It wants to scamper away and get into devilment. But you love the kid, you want him to have a good life, so:
“Cooome back here and listen to me!”
Hare Krishna!
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