Is There Any Difference?

[SunSingh]

reciting in mind gives more kamai. lip whispering and out loud are the same. I try to use whatever will give me best concentration. try reciting out loud and listening, then progress to lips only, then progress to just the mind. when concentration starts to falter, u can start this cycle again.

[Guest shastr]

heard in katha, and maybe this is even in baba harnam singh ji's jeevan pustak, but baba ji asked maharaj this question, about how to read gurbani. and maharaj guru gobind singh ji gave darshan to baba ji and said 2 thinkgs, the first was that when u read gurbani, to have a hazooria around ur neck, or like a parna or something. and the second to recite gurbani aloud so ur ears can hear it. as maharaj says the bani which is heard with the ears, is parvaan. now that doesnt mean that the bani that is not heard with the ears is not parvaan, but that stage is for people with lil bit higher avasta.

and in jap ji sahib, listening to gurbani has been emphasized in 4 pauris. all those things said in the 4 suniyai pauris, those are obtained by listening to gurbani.

so to answer the question, yes there is a big difference in reciting gurbani aloud opposed to saying it in ur mind. as that would be doing it with surti, which is a stage that comes down the road of avasthas