If I feel like doing the japa while walking, can I do so?… Swami Shivananda

“Devotee: ‘If I feel like doing the japa while walking, can I do so?’

Mahapurushji: ‘Surely you may. Japa – taking the name of the Lord – is something you can do whenever you wish. Under all conditions and circumstances one can repeat the name of the Lord. Japa is not restricted as to time and place. Of course, one should repeat the name with devotion. Then alone will one have joy and peace in one’s heart. Whenever there is a genuine desire from within, one can do japa, whether for ten minutes, half an hour, an hour or more. Do not force yourself. Forced practice will not do much good. It is all a relationship of love. The relationship the devotee has with God is one of love.”

“For Seekers of God – Spiritual Talks of Mahapurush Swami Shivananda”
“How can the mind find joy in external beauty once it becomes absorbed in the feet of the Lord the Beloved, the source of infinite beauty ? Having once tasted of the joy of the Infinite, earthly pleasures seem trifling. ‘That which is infinite is alone bliss; there is no joy in things finite.’ The infinite is bliss itself.”

                        Swami Shivananda