Hearing & Reading Transcendental Activities

[Guest guest]

My obesiences to Srila Prabhupada, Hari Bol!

 

Sri Narada Muni personally experienced that the most feasible and practical way to open the path of salvation or get relief from all miseries of life is to hear submissively the transcendental activities of the Lord from the right and bona fide sources

 

MY QUESTION - While I do understand the importance of submissively hearing the transcendental activities of the Lord from the right and bona fide sources HOW EFFECTIVE WOULD READING be for spiritual progress?

 

It is much more convenient for a person like me to READ on the net from all the ISKCON sites etc., than to be able to attend spiritual discourses regularly - hence this question.

 

I will be grateful to all for the answers.

 

 

[Guest guest]

What u say is perfectly alright...

 

Reading a book written by one of those transcendental sources e.g. Prabhupada or Bhaktivinode Thakura is as transcendental as hearing them live...that is, if your sraddha or faith is so great that you can feel their presence...

 

I certainly feel Prabhupada's books are transcendental - I just get an unexplainable feeling when reading them...

 

There are 5 important limbs of devotion:

 

1) chant - which obviously you do

2) read srimad bhagavatam - which you do, and you actually like doing, which is great (some people are lazy when it comes to reading the scriptures)

3) visit holy places (temple)

4) deity worship (at the temple)

5) ASSOCIATION

 

that is the question - are u getting association? if not, then there is difficulty...

 

Listening to swamis talk live is great, but not absolutely necessary...more important is to associate with devotees...

 

Reading, in contrast, is paramount importance...

 

What i would say though is when you get to the stage when u are actively seeking a spiritual master, u should attend talks by swamis, otherwise it is hard to see whether u have that special connection with the guru...

 

hope that helps

[Guest guest]

Thank you God Brother

 

Yes I am convinced with your answers. I do visit the ISKCON temple on Sundays and dance with the devotees there. And I do listen to the discourses of learned men on TV (Asaramji Bapu and ISKCON Devotees)and enjoy.

 

But listening to the Srimad Bhagvatam in particular from a Devotee has been a rare opportunity to me.

 

Thank a ton once again.