Humility is a powerful doorway to connecting with Kṛṣṇa. We can keep connected to Him by chanting His names and practicing bhakti – loving devotion – through various practices:

śravaṇa, kīrtana, smaraṇa, vandana, pāda-sevana, dāsya re, pūjana, sakhī-jana, ātma-nivedana

These are all ways of pleasing Kṛṣṇa. Yet my guru Srila Prabhupada often warned: The problem with religion is we become very attached to the rituals, but we don’t understand the purpose of the ritual. If our intention is not to please Kṛṣṇa, then even our hearing kirtan (chanting) is more or less ritualistic.

Sri Chaitanya describes how we chant the holy names of the lord.

 tṛṇād api su-nīcena
taror iva sahiṣṇunā
amāninā māna-dena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ”

[CC Antya 6.239]

“One who thinks himself lower than grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor but is always prepared to give respect to others can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord.”

When we chant with this attitude – willing to be humble like grass, patient like a big tree, and eager to honor others – then Krishna is happy and reciprocates, we feel his love, we become instruments of his love through the holy names.

We shouldn’t think we’re great just because we’re chanting; we should be grateful we have these holy names and express our gratitude by living in such a way that Krishna will be pleased by our chanting. This principle is at the heart of all dharmas, all spiritual paths.