Tattva-viveka
Opportunity for doing important seva
Nanda-tanuja Dasa - January 2, 2007 10:53 pm
Dandavats. I would like to call to our dedicated community to perform very important ongoing lecture description seva.
Q: What is it?
A: Currently Audarya produced around 400 CDs with lectures which had been distributed through our monthly subscription and via Audarya Store. Those CDs had been a main revenue generation mechanism to sustain Audarya and its projects. In order to increase distribution of lectures and revenues coming from them we decided to introduce electronic delivery via MP3 download. The final product will be a website with an ability to purchase a specific lecture via Paypal and instantly download it. Also it would be possible for subscribers to pick and choose 4 lectures per month. Each lecture will have a description of its content, so subscriber will make an intelligent decision when selecting a lecture to their liking. Currently only 90 lectured have description.
Q: What is the description?
A: Description (not to confuse with complete transcription) should contain:
- Outline – short list of bullet points, similar to a book’s Table of Contents.
- Summary – self-explanatory, short summary of the lecture (no more then 250 words).
- Audio sample – start and finish time of small representative section of the lecture which you particularly liked (no more then 2 minutes lengths).
Q: What is the benefit for me?
A: Besides doing seva you will have ability do get lectures for free. Unique web links to MP3 files will be sent via email to individual people, after completion of supplied lectures new links will be sent. We would greatly appreciate a speedy turn around, faster you describe faster you will get next set. Two lectures per week would be an ideal speed, but one per week is OK as well.
Q: What do I need to have to do this seva?
A: The requirements are:
- Computer (PC or Mac) with internet access (to download lectures)
- Email account (to get links and send completed descriptions)
- MP3 player (software or hardware to listen to lectures)
- Text editor (to write descriptions)
Q: How do I signup?
A: Send me an email and I will give you more details.
Note: sample lecture description is appended:
Jason - January 3, 2007 12:25 am
I would love to try to do this service for Maharaja. I've emailed you a few other questions. Thanks in advance!
Vrindaranya Dasi - January 3, 2007 2:14 am
Another invaluable benefit of this seva is that it helps one retain more of the classes. Because you need to pay close attention and look for the larger themes, you train your mind and learn a lot more in the process.
Jason - January 11, 2007 4:13 am
Another invaluable benefit of this seva is that it helps one retain more of the classes. Because you need to pay close attention and look for the larger themes, you train your mind and learn a lot more in the process.
No doubt....I just finished one transcription. I listened to the class 6 times and still didn't catch it all. 
Nanda-tanuja Dasa - January 11, 2007 4:47 am
Yes you are correct; Guru Maharaja’s lectures are extremely dense.
I also would like to see higher participation in this seva. We need more people, please do not hide!
Maciek Zolkiewski - January 11, 2007 5:38 pm
I listened to the class 6 times and still didn't catch it all.
Six times? I've listened once, I was stopping the lecture and making notes. Then, using the notes and listening fragments of the lecture, I've wrote the description.
btw. taking notes while listening the lecture surely helps to remember what is the lecture about.
Jason - January 12, 2007 8:09 pm
I prefer to listen to GM's lectures several times over without taking notes. This way I can listen, then think about it during my day, then listen again on my way home, then think about it some more. I don't think that I HAVE to listen to them all that many times, but I think that when I do, it's easier for me to take a few notes and then try to recall from memory, the points I want to include in the summary. I don't really want to write a bunch of notes and then turn those into a summary. I'd rather glance at the notes if I have to, but from memory, type a summary. This way, I'm really using my brain.
This just works for me best...power to those who can do it differently! 6 times is just listening to the class for a few commutes to/from work...it's not that bad. Better than listening to all the crazies on the train!
Jason - January 12, 2007 8:13 pm
...for me...stopping the lecture, and taking a few notes, press play....listen...stop to take a few notes....this prevents me from getting the "flow" of the class. It is the same reason that I prefer to read all the verse translations of Bhagavad-Gita in a chapter...to get the flow; the whole "jist" of the chapter. Then I'll go back and read the purports. I can't read a fragmented text/class and put it into some broader context. That drives me crazy.
Maciek Zolkiewski - January 12, 2007 8:34 pm
Dandavats Jason!
Of course, everyone choose a method which is best for him. 
The way you are doing it is very interesting, but I couldn't listen six times, because I don't have some many time.
Here in poland (at least in my city) we have buses and trams which are noisy, so I rather read books during my road to work.
Syamasundara - January 12, 2007 10:00 pm
I only have the questions left to do in mine, otherwise I listened to it once while taking note of every new point, whether it was important or not. Then I listened again after a day or two and skimmed through those bulletpoints and left the good ones. I've become quite a fast typer, so I don't need to stop the audiofile.
One point I'd like to raise is that those who have good synthesis skills can actually do this job "while" a talk is being given, so when we catch up, each talk will be archived automatically as soon as it's over.