Jayapataka Swami argues that chanting the Hare Krishna mantra reduces modern stress better than other meditation forms, according to a scientific study. He sees it as an accessible entry point: once people experience happiness from chanting, they'll be more open to devotional practice.
Chapters
Somehow we have to popularize Hare Ka. This is the yoga of the modern age. I read recently a scientific study that said that for dealing with stress in the modern world, they found that the best cure, the best whatever cure or remedy is meditation. And they said that the most effective meditation that they found after all their studies was mantra meditation. Even in materialistic psychologists, they're also endorsing mantra meditations. We should be riding on the waves of this type of endorsement and say, everybody can't when they get home. But if I can't, I have to follow all these rules. You just can't. Those are optional or something. But somehow let that come later. Once they start chanting, they feel so happy that then the rules become easy until they taste the happiness. Then the rules seem like, how will I be happy if I can't do all these things? Source of my happiness though. But once they taste happiness from chanting, then it's easy for them to follow the rules of regulation. So by Hukra, by crook, we gotta get them to chant first. Once they chant, they get taste for Krishna consciousness. Then their rules are easy. These are feasible for them. Interesting. In the end, chant has a useful order that for all time, all of his descendants they should not obstruct the chanting of a sungirt of movement.