If Truth is not in words, why does the teacher speak?

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner: Acharya Ji Namaskar! Is there anything more futile than words? At times I feel beautiful and cry out of joy. Or feel like bursting into tears but words fail me. Other times, I do not feel much but can perfectly articulate it into words. For instance, I write poems, and readers often gravitate towards them.

The irony is that deep down, I know that the poem did not come from the bottom of my heart. And when it does come from there, then the readers enjoy it in their own version, not mine. That makes me question the very process of communication. Can a teacher and a student ever be on the same plane, especially if the mode of communication is words or letters? If not, is it not futile listening to words or reading letters of Truth?

Acharya Prashant (AP): So, I may not speak and just keep sipping tea. But then you would not listen. I have said that many times, that I speak just so that you can be near me. I speak, not so that you listen to me, but so that you just listen. Nearness is important. Listening is important. And nearness really has no object. If I say, you are near to something, then I am merely roaming around in the physical realm. If I say you are listening to somebody, then I am merely talking of…