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BE BOLD BE FEARLESS

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BE BOLD, BE FEARLESS

Baba said, "Whatever is destined to happen, will happen" in Sri Sai Satcharitra, Chapter XXII

When Swami Vivekananda returned from his American tour and entered upon his work

of regeneration of India, the one message which he delivered, as he travelled

from town to town, from village to village, in this ancient land of heroes and

sages was: "Be fearless! Be bold!" Listen to his words: "Stand up, be bold, be

strong! Strength is life, weakness is death. Weakness is the one cause of

suffering. We become miserable because we are weak. We lie, steal, kill and

commit other crimes, because we are weak. We suffer, because we are weak. We

die, because we are weak. Where there is nothing to weaken us, there is no

death, no sorrow.

I recall a moving incident in the life of Swami Vivekananda. He is in America,

speaking to large audiences on the wisdom of India’s Rishis and Saints. He

urges that the way is not for weakling: the way is for heroes, for those who

would be fearless in the face of every calamity, even death.

A few young men wish to put the Swami to the test. They know of so many who are

wonderful preachers but whose life, alas, does not bear witness to what they

teach. Does Swami Vivekananda belong to the same class? They invite him to

deliver a lecture. Gladly he goes to their meeting. He speaks to them of faith

in God as the secret of the true life. And the man of faith, he urged, is

fearless in the face of difficulty and danger.

Suddenly there is the sound of pistol-shots. Bullets fly past the Swami, just

grazing his ears. Pandemonium reigns in the hall. Men rush out: women shriek in

fear, and some of them drop down in transient unconsciousness. In the midst of

this confusion, there is one man who stands firm, immovable as a rock, fearless

and bold. He is Swami Vivekananda. The bullet that is not meant for him cannot

touch him: the bullet meant for him will seek him out even if he is protected

by a thousand body-guards.

Soon the shots cease. The Swami picks up the thread of his talk where he left it

a minute ago. People returned to the hall. Women wake up from their fainting

fits. Things return to normal and it seems though nothing untoward had taken

place.

When lecture is over, the young men meet Swami Vivekananda. "Forgive us," they

say to him, "the shots were fired by us to see how fearless you were. Your

courage and your confidence put us to shame. Verily, Swamy! You are among the

most fearless men on earth. Pray forgive us!"

(J.P. Vaswani in Mira, April 2004)

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