Chanting: Improving Chanting

Q. What is the proper method to chant the Hare Krishna mantra? If someone is chanting 16 rounds, then should one chant the Panca-tattva mantra after every round or should we chant the Panca-tattva mantra at the beginning of chanting & then continuously chant the Hare Krishna mantra without break?

Did Srila Prabhupada introduce the chanting of Panca-tattva mantra after every round? Please enlighten me on this.

Q. I am trying to be more conscious about my daily activities and thoughts so that they are centered on Krishna, but it is not easy. I find myself thinking or daydreaming about how I can enjoy separate from Krishna. When I bring my thoughts back to Krishna my mind feels so much clearer. How can I keep my thoughts on the right track?

I really want to clean out my mind. I feel like there is so much garbage cluttered there from the past few years. Sometimes it is really overwhelming. I want to focus on Krishna and not on sense gratification but that desire sense gratification keeps creeping back! Please describe a practical way that I can control my mind and be a better devotee.

Q. It is said that if one chants with offenses he may go on chanting for millions of years but he will never get the taste for the holy name. Also it is said that chanting only gives taste for chanting. How are both things possible? Please resolve the contradiction?

Q. Where does it say that the Hare Krishna maha-mantra should be chanted on beads? I chant every day, but without using the beads, since using the beads breaks my concentration. Please clarify if I can only become a devotee by chanting on beads?

Q. I read in digest 189 that "who does not follow the regulative principles is not fit for chanting (kirtana)". I am struggling with my attachments and find it difficult and sometimes or most times not motivated to chant. I feel very bad and sometimes dejected due to my own way of life of not watering the seed of devotion I received due to the mercy of devotees and especially one devotee.

Q. How can I surrender to the Holy Name?

The Holy Name is non-different from the Person, Krishna; realization of this fact is very important in order to improve our chanting. Thus, surrendering to Krishna is surrendering to the Holy Name, and visa versa. We can progressively surrender to the Holy Name by placing complete faith in the Holy Name as our only shelter and cultivating the habit of chanting diligently, attentively and in a mood of dependence upon the Lord. Mahaprabhu teaches that one should cultivate humility like that of a blade of grass, become more tolerant than a tree, always offer all respects to others, without expecting any honor in return. (Cf. Sikshashtaka 3)