Ramana Maharshi answers to Why does not he go about and preach the truth to the people at large?

January 18, 2010

Question: Why does not Bhagavan go about and preach the truth to the people at large?Sri Ramana Maharshi: How do you know I am not doing it? Does preaching consist in mounting a platform and haranguing the people around?Â Preaching is simple communication of knowledge; it can really be done in silence only. What do you think of a man who listens to a sermon for an hour and goes away without having been impressed by it so as to change his life? Compare him with another, who sits in a holy presence and goes away after some time with his outlook on life totally changed. Which is the better, to preach loudly without effect or to sit silently sending out inner force?

Again, how does speech arise? First there is abstract knowledge. Out of this arises the ego, which in turn gives rise to thought, and thought to the spoken word. So the word is the great grandson of the original source. If the word can produce an effect, judge for yourself how much more powerful must be the preaching through silence.

Source: from Silence and sat-sanga chapter, Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, edited by David Godman