Because we are in a conditioned state of existence we have no real desire to surrender to Krishna. In the same way, we have no real desire to surrender to the Holy Name while we are chanting Japa.
We fight and struggle with chanting in our efforts to surrender to Krishna, to surrender to His Holy Name.
We fight with our mind, trying to control it. This can often lead to a dialog with the mind, rather than absorption in the sound vibration of the mantra. We notice our thoughts wandering, so we say to ourselves "stop wandering mind, think about Krishna" ..... that's a dialog with the mind.
We can get really lost in all this mental dialog, what to speak of being lost in our own thoughts without even realizing it, or making the effort to control it.
Instead of struggling so hard in these ways, it's very helpful to just surrender to Krishna. Surrender to the sound vibration of His Holy Name. Let Krishna be in control. Just absorb yourself in the sound that is Krishna.
Our disease here in the material world is that we want to be the controllers. We want to control everything and anything. We even want to control our chanting. Chanting japa is not a material activity. It's Krishna, a relationship with Krishna.
So if we approach chanting from the perspective of trying to "control it", "manage it" etc... we can sometimes get lost in our efforts, and just continue struggling to "control" different aspects of chanting.
We can instead try to stay aware that this is Krishna we are addressing, and stay aware of the power of the Holy Name, and stay aware of the sound vibration of the maha mantra.
When we chant with full concentration on the sound vibration, both on making it with our voice and mouth, and on hearing the sound we are chanting, then issues about the mind become reduced dramatically.
It's similar to the state of "mindfulness" that Buddhists talk about, where you are conscious at every second of being in that moment and that moment alone. Only, instead of being conscious of ourselves and our actions, we are conscious of Krishna, and in the immediate awareness of the sound of His names as we are chanting them.
Krishna is there in His name. Chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is a very deep meditation. Just allow Krishna to take over, surrender to Him, and focus on Him in the form of His name.
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
