Q :
I am unable to concentrate on my chanting of vishnu sahasranamam, my mind keeps wandering here and there. Every time I start chanting I decide my self to concentrate, eventually I have failed all the time. Not even once i could succeed.I humbly request you to guide me.
A :
My dear son, do this way. Chant Vishnusahasranama. If you cannot recite the whole of it, recite half or quarter. But do it slowly, and as the words come out of your mouth, hear them receptively in a relaxed manner. Chant to your own hearing. This is very important. And while you chant, also make sure, that the letters and words come out in a proper manner. This needs examination, evaluation, by your inner faculty, mind or intelligence.
Sanskrit is a language, in which every letter tells you how to pronounce it, provided you have learned the language. Malayalam is a language which is quite proximate to Sanskrit and which has three additional letters in the alphabet also. So when you say, vishwam, vishnuh, vashatkaaro ...
vishwam vishnuh vashatkaaro...
bring the sounds from your mouth, at the same time hear them well. Also, with your intelligence make sure that your pronunciation is proper. If it is improper, you must be able to discover it. Thus there a triple or threefold application: Chanting is one, hearing another, and following the chanting with the intelligence the third. This will make the process highly concentrated and subtle, and if you do it well, it will create a kind of exhilaration, if not ecstasy, in you. Do not be in hurry. Chant only a few shlokas. Maybe ten or fifteen, not necessarily all the hundred and twenty. Try and let me know.
