"The Powers of Japa (Chanting)" by Swami Muktananda

Chanting is the means of attaining everything. Through chanting, you are purified on the inside. Through chanting, love arises. If love arises, it means that you have attained God, because God's true nature is love. You sing His name so that love will arise.

No good deed can equal chanting,. Tulsidas said that by chanting the Name of God everything becomes pure and auspicious. Your neighbours become pure, the atmosphere becomes pure, and even the sky and the earth become pure. To chant the auspicious name of God is to make the tongue, the ears, and the heart auspicious and pure.

The name is the true form of God. Shaivism says that God exists in letters. From letters come words. From words, a sentence is composed, and from a sentence you get meaning. The meaning of the Name of God. When we chant, the tongue is touched by the form of God, the ears are touched by the form of God, and the heart is touched by that too.

So, don't consider chanting the name to be a mere sadhana. The Name itself is God. A poet said that the name of God is the mine of God's nectar. So, chant the Name with great reverence. No deed can equal the Name.

(pgs. 143-144, From the Finite to the Infinite)