Good advice from Vraja Kishor Dasa (Vic Dicara):
"Chant with feeling: The abhideya is built on sambandha. We have to feel some kind of relationship to Krsna before we can expect to give a damn about concentrating on him or his name. So take stock. Who is Krsna, to you? What are your feelings towards him? Why do you care? If we remind ourselves about these before starting japa, and keep our japa going in the mood of those answers, the chanting becomes meaningful. We are not just listening to sounds, we are hearing names. Names of a person, who means something to us.
[Studying the Bhāgavatam helps clarify and deepen our realization of a specific personal relationship with Krsna, and deep, regular meditation on the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Gayatrī mantra set does the same. So I consider these two practices to be extensions of nāma-japa.]"
