Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu practiced kirtan, or chanting. One should always
chant the name of the Lord, because the name of the Lord and the Lord are not
different. Lord Caitanya’s instructions to always chant the name of Krsna and
Krsna’s injunction to remember Him always are not different. The Lord and His
name are not different from each other. In the absolute status, there is no difference
between one thing and another. Since the Lord is absolute, there is no difference
between His name and Himself: He is omnipresent. We should know Him always,
twenty-four hours a day. How is this possible?

A very crude example is given by the great teachers: it is like a married woman
who is in love with another man. Such an attachment is necessarily very strong.
Now, the woman always wants to show her husband that she is busy in family affairs
so that he won’t suspect her having a lover. However, she is always thinking of her
lover, although she carries on her household duties well—in fact, with greater care
than she might if she had no lover. In the same way, we must establish our love for
the Lord and carry out our duties well.

Krsna did not advise Arjuna to go off to the Himalayas to practice yoga. When the
Lord described the system of yoga to him, Arjuna declined, saying that it was too
difficult for him. But then the Lord said that one who thinks always of Him is the
greatest yogin, the supermost seer, and the best devotee. The Lord said, “As a
warrior, you cannot give up your fighting; but devote all your actions to Me.” He also
says that if one is completely surrendered to Him there is no doubting.

One has to learn this process of Krsna consciousness. To do so, one should
approach a person who is fixed firmly in this consciousness. The mind is always
flying from this thing to that, serving no real benefit. One must learn to fix the mind
always on the Supreme Lord. The mind is very restless and difficult to manage, but
one can concentrate the ear on the sound of Krsna. The Supreme Personality of
Godhead can be approached by one who is constantly thinking of Him in this way.

These processes are given in Bhagavad-gita. No one is barred from them. Hearing
of Lord Krsna is possible for everyone, even a human being in the lowest status of
life. Laborer, tradesman, or woman—these are counted in the category of less fully
developed intelligence; but the Lord says that even one lower than this—anyone, in
fact, who accepts this principle of devotional service and accepts the Supreme Lord
as the highest goal of life, can approach the perfection of human existence. This is
the one permanent solution of life.
