Face Your Fear

     On January 12, 1863, Swami Vivekananda was born in a Bengali Kayastha family in Kolkata. His childhood name was Narendra Nath Datta. Later he became a disciple of Swami Ramkrishna Paramhansa, the saint of Dakshineshwar, India. He renounced worldly pleasures and became a sanyasi for the service of humanity.

     Today, on his 157th birth anniversary, which is also celebrated as National Youth Day, here is an inspirational story from his life experience.

     Once Swami Vivekananda was returning from a temple, few monkey ganged up on him. He had to pass by a narrow lane. Swamiji had no other way to escape. He started running in the direction away from them. But the monkeys blocked his way. The monkeys were not done yet and they started chasing behind him! Attacked him screaming and making scary noises.

     Hearing the noise, a sage exclaimed. ‘Stop, don’t escape. Don’t run away from your problems. Face them.’ Swamiji stopped. And with courage he stared at them without fear. At thet moment the monkeys stopped screaming , they scared and ran away.

     This simple incident teaches us an important lesson in life. Swamiji used this story in his New York lecture to mean “Its a big lesson to our whole life. If we face our problems instead of running away from them, they will run away like those monkeys.”

     Friends, what can we learn from this story? In our life we may face many obstacles. But with determination, courage, and fearlessness, we can pass through any obstacle.