The Power of the Divine Name
Narada and the whole bhakti tradition exalt the chanting of God's names as the most powerful and accessible practice of the age.
The constant remembrance and chanting of the divine name (nama-japa, kirtan) is held to be the supreme means of devotion, especially in the present age. The name is regarded as non-different from the named: to utter it with love is to invoke the living presence of the beloved. This practice requires no qualification, no special place or time, and can be carried into every moment of life. The traditions abound with testimony to its transforming power — the name purifying the heart, calming the mind, and kindling love. The glory of devotion shines here in its sheer simplicity: the infinite made available through a word lovingly repeated. Modern practitioners across traditions rediscover in such repetition a powerful means of steadying and elevating the mind.
There is no purifier in this age like the holy name of the Lord, lovingly repeated.
The devotional use of the repeated divine name parallels the Eastern Orthodox Jesus Prayer and the Sufi practice of dhikr, all of which use the loving repetition of a sacred name to draw the practitioner into continual remembrance of God.
Narada Bhakti Sutras
Written about in
- What the Narada Bhakti Sutras say about starting again after a fall
The name is treated as non-different from the one named, so repeating it with love counts as contact rather than preparation for contact. It requires no qualification, place or hour, which makes it the practice available on the first bad day back.