Hare krishna! please accept my humble obeisance. all glories to Srila Prabhupada!
It says that you need to chant the holy name and it doesnt metter how, but you also have the 10 insults of the holy name.
Can enyone explane me that please? im comfused
Your Servant.
Replies
The Ten Offenses to the Holy Name
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
It is true that we can chant the mahamantra in any condition or state of mind. It is also true that there are 10 offenses to the holy name mentioned. The concept is that we start chanting the holy name with offences initially (true for everyone), which is called the naam aparadh stage, then slowly we start realising that there should be more to chanting than what I am experiencing, then we try to find out what the offences to the holy name are, and try to rectify them. THis is the naam abhaas stage (where some realisation has happened, but complete purity has not yet come). THen we try to get past the 10 offences and chant offencelessly - that is the shudh naam stage (chanting the mahamantra in complete purity and without offences).
The analogy I can think of is suppose a teacher entesr a new class, there can be different kinds of students - one kind who will make fun of the teacher and obstruct her work, the second who realise that they are going too far and try to be nice to the teacher, though its too much of an effort for them and the third kind who will be attentive and respectful from the beginning. The teacher will still teach the class, but the most likely to understand are the 3rd category of people, they will also build a lasting rapport with the teacher. The second class will still get away because the teacher sees the scope for improvement in them. The first category of students will benefit the least from the teacher's teachings because they are so busy planning mischief.
That way when we chant the mahamantra, we start with offence, gradually realise that there are offences whihc we shoudl avoid and finally are able to avoid the offences and chant attentively spontaneously.
I know my example is not very good, but I hope you are able to understand a little what I cam trying to say.
Please ask if you have further doubts.
Haribol,
Your servant,
Rashmi
Hare Krishna Harinam Sankirtan,
I will jump-in right away. Many devotees will be able to offer their responses, too.
We are told to Chant the Holy Name freely, in any condition.
This is the most important rule, surpassing even the rules of the 10 offenses.
With that said... as we grow and mature in Krishna Consciousness, we begin to see better ways of concentrating and chanting. We learn to control the mind and heart in our meditations.
It is at this point that we should start looking at the 10 offenses to see how we may improve our meditations.
Too many devotees have defeated their own japa-meditations by trying to stay away from these offenses before they are qualified to follow those standards. They become very worrisome and sometimes depressed. You can only conquer one or two offenses at a time in the early stages, etc.
So, when your standards grow, start looking toward the 10 offenses as an uplifting guideline to improvement.