Category:Engaging in Hearing About God
Theme Analysis
The category "Engaging in Hearing About God" focuses on the primary process of spiritual awakening in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Hearing, or śravaṇam, about the name, form, and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the foundational method for cleansing the heart and transcending material existence. According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, because Lord Kṛṣṇa and His transcendental activities are absolute, engaging the ear in hearing about Him connects the soul directly to the unlimited spiritual realm. This simple yet profound engagement delivers the conditioned soul from the illusions of material happiness, pangs of hunger, fear, and lamentation.
To perfect the senses, one must specifically engage the ear in receiving the transcendental sound vibration of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and authorized scriptures like the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Caitanya-caritāmṛta. By keeping the ears constantly filled with kṛṣṇa-kathā, there is no scope for destructive philosophies like Māyāvāda to enter and ruin one's spiritual progress. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu specifically recommended this process for the fallen souls of the current age; simply by remaining in their present positions and submissively hearing the glories of God, anyone can conquer the unconquerable Lord.
Continuous engagement is the key to success. Great personalities like Svāyambhuva Manu spent their incredibly long lifespans entirely engaged in hearing and chanting without a single moment wasted. When a sincere practitioner becomes addicted to hearing about the Lord twenty-four hours a day, their indifference to mundane attractions naturally increases, and they are guaranteed to cross over the vast ocean of material nescience and return back home, back to Godhead.
- The Power of Absolute Sound: Because Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes are nondifferent, hearing about Him connects the soul directly to the Supreme Lord, who then acts as a purifying friend from within.
- Transcending the Body: Constant engagement in hearing completely lifts the devotee above the bodily conception of life, freeing them from fear, lamentation, and illusion.
- Protecting the Mind: When the ear is fully engaged in hearing transcendental glories, there is no opportunity for dangerous speculative philosophies to enter the mind.
- The Supreme Recommendation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu established that for the fallen souls of this age, the best course is to simply remain in one's position and constantly engage in hearing about God.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Engaging in Hearing About God - The Foundational Process of Devotion.
Pages in category "Engaging in Hearing About God"
The following 27 pages are in this category, out of 27 total.
A
- A brahmacari hears only words concerning Krsna consciousness; hearing is the basic principle for understanding, and therefore the pure brahmacari engages fully in harer namanukirtanam-chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord. BG 1972 purports
- A pure devotee is interested only in devotional service, not in material affairs. To execute devotional service, one should always engage in hearing and chanting about Krsna, or Lord Visnu. The process of temple worship is called arcana
- Although his (Svayambhuva Manu) duration of life gradually came to an end, his long life, consisting of a Manvantara era, was not spent in vain, since he ever engaged in hearing, contemplating, writing down and chanting the pastimes of the Lord
- As far as the eyes are concerned, they should not be allowed to see anything but Krsna. That will control the eyes. Similarly, the ears should be engaged in hearing about Krsna and the nose in smelling the flowers offered to Krsna. BG 1972 purports
- As stated by Srinivasa Acarya in his prayers to the Gosvamis: nama-gana-natibhih. A paramahamsa devotee is always engaged in chanting and rendering loving service to the Lord
B
- Because most people are fallen and because there is no time to elevate them by a gradual process, the best course, according to Caitanya, is to let them remain in whatever condition they are in but to engage them in hearing of the activities of the God
- Brahma said, "O Lord, a devotee who abandons the path of empiric philosophical speculation aimed at merging in the existence of the Supreme and engages himself in hearing Your glories, can conquer Your sympathy and mercy even though You are unconquerable"
- By engaging in sravanam kirtanam visnoh under a spiritual master one's life becomes perfect, and his attachment for Krsna becomes positively manifested. In that stage, he is situated in ecstasy, experiencing bhava and anubhava
E
- Even fifty years ago, I saw that in the villages of Bengal and the suburbs of Calcutta, people engaged in hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam daily when all their activities ended, or at least in the evening before going to bed. Everyone would hear the Bhagavatam
- Even if one has no assets of favorable austerity, if he nevertheless takes shelter of the mahatmas, who are engaged in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord, he is sure to make progress on the path back home, back to Godhead
F
- For anyone who persistently engages in hearing the topics of the Lord from Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrta and who is actually addicted to this process, it is very easy to cross the nescience of material existence
- For one who hears about Krsna, Lord Krsna, who is dwelling in everyone's heart, acts as a best-wishing friend and purifies the devotee who constantly engages in hearing of Him. BG 1972 purports
- For one who is anxious to engage constantly in hearing such topics, krsna-katha gradually increases his indifference towards all other things
- For the entire duration of his life - 4,320,000 x 71 years - Manu engaged in Krsna consciousness by chanting, hearing, talking about and meditating upon Krsna. Therefore, his life was not wasted, nor did it become stale
H
- He (the pure brahmacari) restrains himself from the vibrations of material sounds, and his hearing is engaged in the transcendental sound vibration of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna. BG 1972 purports
- He is misled and always attracted by temporary, illusory happiness. But Your transcendental activities are so powerful that if one engages in the hearing and chanting of such topics, he can be delivered from illusion
I
- If living entities are engaged in hearing about the unlimited potencies of the Supreme Lord, they are factually connected directly to the unlimited. Such understanding of the unlimited becomes unlimited by hearing and chanting
- If one is engaged in hearing the glories of the Lord, gradually he realizes his real position
- If our ears are always engaged in hearing the glorification of the Lord, there will be no scope for hearing the Mayavada philosophy, which is doom to spiritual progress
T
- The activities of Krsna are nondifferent from Krsna Himself. As long as one is engaged in hearing such transcendental activities of Krsna, he remains aloof from the conditional life of material existence
- The conclusion is that a devotee engaged in the unalloyed service of the Lord, specifically in hearing and chanting of His transcendental glories, becomes simultaneously spiritually enlightened by the divine grace, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita
- The function of the ear can be perfected simply by engagement in hearing the transcendental activities of the Lord, and the function of the head can be fully utilized when the head is engaged in bowing down before the Lord and His representative
- The word abhiksnasah indicates that these engagements (hearing, chanting and preaching) should go on continuously, twenty-four hours a day without stopping
W
- When one is in the bodily conception, he feels the pangs of hunger and thirst, fear, lamentation and illusion. But when one is engaged in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord, he transcends the bodily conception
- Whoever engages in hearing the transcendental activities of Krsna is not on the material platform, but on the transcendental, spiritual platform