Radhanath Swami describes the process of joy which gives birth to eternal joy

“If we simply accept a humble life in praise of God, then the light of the love of the soul within us will shine to give light to all creatures on earth.” – Radhanath Swami

In the great religions of the world there are many processes or disciplines to help allow the light of love to shine from our hearts, to help purify our hearts from all of the unwanted qualities which are like the cloud covering the sun-like soul. According to the Srimad Bhagavatam the most highly recommended means of developing our love for God is vibrating the pure sound of God’s Name. In each and every name of God, God has invested all of His power, all of His potencies. Simply by chanting God’s Name, our hearts become purified. What you associate with, you become like. Therefore, try associating with spiritually-minded people, with saintly people. And by associating with God, we become saintly and we become godly.

Now, how do we associate with God? God is everywhere. God is within everything, but we are not conscious of His presence. Therefore, the Name of God is the manifestation of God in full, which can keep our consciousness constantly and always in connection with Him. It is such a simple and wonderful process. Whether one is a young man or a young woman, or an old man or an old woman, regardless of any of our qualifications or disqualifications, anyone can vibrate the Name of God. By that vibration we associate with the Supreme Truth, the Supreme Pure. Through that association we become purified.

Now, how do we chant the Name of the Supreme Lord? There are many ways. There are no hard and fast rules. But the essence is that our concentration should be attentively fixed on the pure sound of God’s Name. So when we chant the maha-mantra Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, we are not practicing a particular type of religious dogma. Every Name of God is universal. It is complete, but you have to chant some Name of God. It is not that any Name of God is limited to the boundaries of any type of sectarian dogma. We create labels which make it appear that way. The Name of God is perfect and complete. The Name of God contains the whole universe because God is appearing in His Name. Therefore, the most natural life is the life where we are always in contact and unity with God.

Everyone likes to dance. Everyone likes to sing. So sing and dance in the glorification of the Lord’s Name. On every level we find joy, and that joy gives birth to eternal joy.

“The joys of this world have a beginning and an end, but the joys of glorifying the Supreme Truth awaken the eternal fulfillment of all of our desires.” – Radhanath Swami

When we chant and when we dance, whether we are chanting the name of Allah or Jehovah or Yahweh or Wakan–tanka, we are not concerned about which Name, provided it is a pure authorized sound. It’s not that if you chant “apple, apple, apple”, you will attain the same goal as if you chant the Name of God. The Name of God is revealed through His pure servants and through the scriptures of the world. If we simply accept a humble life in praise of God, then the light of the love of the soul within us will shine to give light to all creatures on earth. If we simply chant the Name of God, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, we will find that great treasure of happiness, and we will have the ability to share that happiness with all.

– Radhanath Swami