Why does not Bhagavan go about and preach the truth?

[Guest guest]

Question:

Why does not Bhagavan go about and preach the truth

to the people at large?

 

Answer:

How do you know I am not doing it? Does preaching consist

in mounting a platform and haranguing the people around?

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-grandsome of the original source.

If the word can produce an effect, judge for yourself,

how much more powerful must be the preaching through silence.

 

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BE AS YOU ARE , The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi

Edited by David Godman

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