Did you hear the saying that one exercise is more worthy than thousands of readings? It’s a new one:)
There are 3 personal development phases.
1. Informing is a theoretical phase in which you gather information with reading, viewing, listening and talking about the matter.
There are thousands of different religions, cults and sects on Earth presenting themselves as “spiritual”. So-called spiritual life means that the spiritualities are more or at least so important that materialities.
I don’t use that term because is not accurate. Even monks in monasteries live some kind of “material” life. Only “spiritual life” in the physical body is impossible. Forced limiting, renouncing and even sacrificing as isolation in monasteries, hierarchical order, harsh discipline and punishment for sins, uniforms, head shaving, celibacy, rituals, etc are not useful for personal development. Quite contrary, they are very harmful.
The main point of personal development is awareness of the true identity of Being of Pure Awareness, releasing of old Ego partial personalities and their harmful behaviors, and natural, real and honest living of nice and friendly beings.