Acharya Prashant responds to a question about listening and truth by challenging the premise that there is truth in what one hears. He asserts that there is hardly ever any truth in what you hear because hearing is your own personal and private domain. You can only hear words, and the same words can be calming for one person and agitating for another. Therefore, truth is not in the words themselves; rather, truth is the quality of your own mind. If the words you hear emanate from the right center, it becomes more possible for you to surrender to them, but even then, it is your own discretion. To illustrate this, the speaker uses an analogy from the Buddha: a spoon in the soup lives its entire life in the soup, and yet it never tastes the soup. Tasting is the spoon's own domain. The soup is always available, but if the spoon is closed, the soup can do nothing. The irony is that the same spoon will be used to bring the soup to others, but it will never be able to taste it itself, which is a great misfortune. You have to decide and give permission for truth to enter. Truth is not interested in your enlightenment and will not force itself upon you. It will stand at the door and wait patiently, even for an infinite time, until you are ready and open the door. Opening the door is your domain. A master speaks only because you cannot hear his silence; it is a compulsion. The truth is in his presence, which is not bodily or sensually appreciable. Your eyes cannot see him, and your ears cannot hear him. The word traditionally used is 'Satsang', which means the right company or being with the Truth. It is not a dialogue or an exchange of words but a quality of intimacy that does not require the use of senses. The life of the master is available to be read, but because you refuse to read it, he speaks.