In plain words
That is true humanness. Man has no right to teach others what he does not practise himself.
A mighty power lies contained in humanness itself. Man is not merely one who bears a body. Man is one endowed with Vijñāna, Prajñāna and Sujñāna. That Vijñāna, Prajñāna and Sujñāna must be made to flow along the right path. What is ‘Jñāna’? Many people think that Jñāna is what one comes to know by reading books. No, no. True Jñāna is what springs from our inner being. To practise it, to delight in it and to teach it to others: that is true humanness. Human qualities spring from the heart; they are not gained merely by reading books or by listening to what elders have taught.
Reading books is not enough: you must make the head pure
Embodiments of Prema! Why have you come here from Kerala? You have come to receive Vijñāna, Sujñāna and Prajñāna. Jñāna is not mere acquaintance with books. If you do not put into practice the ‘knowledge’ you gain by reading books, it turns into an ‘allergy’. Only when you put it into practice does that ‘knowledge’ turn into ‘energy’. Everything we experience in this world is only the reflection of our inner being! ‘Reflection’, ‘reaction’, ‘resound’ … These three are present as one in this world. You must reflect on them, enquire into them, recognise their inner meaning, and so undertake to teach others. You should not waste your time thinking that acquaintance with books alone is what matters. When the head is not pure, what use is it to read any number of books? You must make your head pure. Only then does true Jñāna spring from our heart.
“I have read the books; I have looked fully into all the śāstras; learning without equal I have mastered”: why such pride? Your two hands joined in reverence, if you cannot worship the Paramātma with Bhakti, this present-day learning, all of it, on this earth, is it not worthless, O man!