Many people are content with just sravanam, or the listening to discourses. The result of that is illustrated by a beautiful story from the Puranas. Once, a person called Gokarna conducted a seven-day discourse on the Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavat Saptaha), which many people attended.
At its conclusion, an airplane came from the abode of the Lord to take just one member of the entire assembly to Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu. Taken aback, all those present asked the pilot why only one person was chosen when so many had listened to the same discourse.
The pilot replied that all had, indeed, listened to the discourse, but, thereafter, none had given a second thought to what had been heard. Everyone went home and got busy with other things. This one man, however, was in great distress.
He continued thinking about what he had heard, of how to put an end to sorrow. As a result, he was able to gain the knowledge. The others had merely heard the talk.
Thereupon, Gokarna declared that they would have a second Bhagavat Saptaha. This time, everyone in the assembly made it a point to listen attentively. At the end of the program, another airplane came and, this time, everyone was taken to Vaikuntha.
This story simply illustrates that no transformation is possible without reflection. Gurudev used to give a beautiful example: if you have a cup of coffee or tea with sugar and you don’t stir in the sugar, then when you sip it, the coffee or tea remains bitter or insipid.
The sweetness comes only from the stirring of the sugar. In the same way, unless we assimilate all that we listen to or read, the knowledge does not get internalized, and no sweetness is reflected in our personality.