Mayavadi philosophers are satisfied simply to understand Brahman to be the sum total of knowledge, but Vaisnava philosophers not only know in detail about the Supreme Personality of Godhead but also know how to approach Him directly. The method for this is described by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu as nine kinds of devotional service, beginning with hearing:

>One can directly approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by executing the nine kinds of devotional service, of which hearing about the Lord is the most important (sravanadi). Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has very favorably stressed the importance of this process of hearing. According to His method, if people are simply given a chance to hear about Krsna, certainly they will gradually develop their dormant awareness or love of Godhead. Sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya (Cc. Madhya 22.107). Love of God is dormant in everyone, but if one is given a chance to hear about the Lord, certainly that love develops. Our Krsna consciousness movement acts on this principle. We simply give people the chance to hear about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and give them prasada to eat, and the actual result is that all over the world people are responding to this process and becoming pure devotees of Lord Krsna. We open hundreds of centers all over the world just to give people in general a chance to hear about Krsna and accept Krsna's prasada. These two processes can be accepted by anyone, even a child. It doesn't matter whether one is poor or rich, learned or foolish, black or white, old or still a child-anyone who simply hears about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and takes prasada is certainly elevated to the transcendental position of devotional service.