He Alone Teaches Who Has Something To Give – Swami Vivekananda on Sri Ramakrishna from The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 4.177.
My Master (Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa) taught me this
lesson hundreds of times, yet I often forget it. Few understand the power of
thought. If a man goes into a cave, shuts himself in, and thinks one really great
thought and dies, that thought will penetrate the walls of that cave, vibrate
through space, and at last permeate the whole human race. Such is the power of
thought; be in no hurry therefore to give your thoughts to others.
First have something to give. He alone teaches who has
something to give, for teaching is not talking, teaching is not imparting
doctrines, it is communicating. Spirituality can be communicated just as really
as I can give you a flower. This is true in the most literal sense.
This idea is very old in India and finds illustration in the
West in the theory, in the belief, of apostolic succession. Therefore, first
make character — that is the highest duty you can perform.
Know Truth for yourself, and there will be many to whom you
can teach it afterwards; they will all come. This was the attitude of my Master.
He criticised no one. For years I lived with that man, but never did I hear
those lips utter one word of condemnation for any sect.
He had the same sympathy for all sects; he had found the
harmony between them. A man may be intellectual, or devotional, or mystic, or
active; the various religions represent one or the other of these types. Yet it
is possible to combine all the four in one man, and this is what future
humanity is going to do. That was his idea. He condemned no one, but saw the
good in all.
People came by thousands to see this wonderful man who spoke
in a patois, every word of which was forceful and instinct with light. For it
is not what is spoken, much less the language in which it is spoken, but it is the
personality of the speaker which dwells in everything he says that carries
weight. Every one of us feels this at times. We hear most splendid orations,
most wonderfully reasoned out discourses, and we go home and forget them all.
At other times we hear a few words in the simplest of language, and they enter
into our lives, become part and parcel of ourselves and produce lasting
results. The words of a man who can put his personality into them take effect,
but he must have tremendous personality. All teaching implies giving and
taking, the teacher gives and the taught receives, but the one must have
something to give, and the other must be open to receive.