The first incident is a teaching from the life of Swami Vivekanand. There were days when Swami Vivekanand was on his move as a mendicant. He once stayed at Banaras. He was returning from a visit to the temple of mother Goddess Durga. The path he took was narrow. On one side there was a wall and on the other side there was a large tank. As he was walking on the narrow lane, a troop of monkeys came upon his way. They ran after him, screaming wildly and were about to pounce on his legs.
As they approached him, he began to run. The monkeys followed him. There was no way of escaping from them. Then an old Sanyasi called out to Swami Vivekanand, “Face the brutes”. Swamiji turned back and faced the menacing monkeys. He stared at them boldly at which the monkeys slowly withdrew and finally ran away. So by facing directly into the face of adversities, we can definitely conquer over them.
The second incidence is related to the life of Totapuri and Sri Ram Krishna Paramhans. Panchavati is a lonely place in Dakshineshwar where Sri Ram Krishna Paramhans performed spiritual practices. Totapuri, the great Sanyasi, who taught Advaita Vedanta to Sri Ram Krishna Paramhans was absolutely fearless. Here is an incident concerning a spirit, which shows his fearlessness.
On one occasion at the dead of night, Totapuri made the Dhuni (Sacred Fire) bright and was ready to sit for meditation. The surroundings were calm, without the slightest noise. No sound reached the ear except the chirping of crickets and sometimes the deep hooting of owls living in the holes of the pinnacles of the temples.
There was no wind. The branches of the trees of Panchvati suddenly shook and a tall human form came down from the tree to the ground and looking steadfastly at Totapuri, it came with slow steps to the place of the Dhuni and sat down there. Surprised to see that personage, Tota asked him who he was.
The person replied, “I am Bhairava and I reside here upon the tree for the purpose of protecting this holy place.” Tota did not get afraid of all and said, “Very well, you and I are the same being, you are one manifestation of Brahma, and I am another. Come, sit down and meditate.” The Bhairav laughed and vanished, as it were into the air. Totapuri was not at all perturbed by this event and kept on meditating with full concentration.
The next day he told Ram Krishna Paramhans about the incident. Shri Ram Krishna Paramhans replied, “Yes he is there. I have called to him many times. He sometimes predicted certain future events to me through signs.” Totapuri knew about the true nature of these supernatural spirits. Therefore he could face the Bhairav fearlessly.
Then Shri Ram Krishna Paramhans narrated a strange personal experience of his life. He told that one day he was invited by one of his disciples for a lunch. So, Shri Ram Krishna Paramhans went to her house with one of his disciples, Rakhal. After taking lunch he planned to take a rest in the house. After sometime some foul smell started emanating from a corner of the room.
Soon two repulsive figures appeared in the corner, their intestines were coming out of their bodies and they looked like skeletons in the museums of medical colleges. They spoke to Shri Ram Krishna Paramhans in humble voice, “Why have you come here? Please leave the place. In your presence we become aware of our horrible existence and suffer from pain”. On one hand these spirits were urging Shri Ram Krishna Paramhans to leave and on the other hand Rakhal was sleeping.
Thinking of the agony of the spirits, he took his small bag and was about to go when Rakhal woke up and asked where he was leaving for. To this Shri Ram Krishna Paramhans replied, “I will tell you later”, and took him by the arm and took leave of her disciple. They boarded a boat where he told Rakhal that there were two spirits in the house. They feed themselves by smelling the bones thrown away by the Europeans. I did not want to mention this to the old lady who lives alone in the house”.
The spirits have their own problems and sufferings. They may appear before you seeking your help. If instead of praying for their rescue, you get upset with fear, the spirits may be terribly disappointed. Just as there are wicked men, there may be wicked spirits too. But getting scared of them we only make the problem worse. We should squarely face the problem. There are ways and means of facing it. We should not get unduly perturbed and disturbed.
There are faint hearts who create in their fantasy strange spirits of their own and suffer consequently. Even if we meet ghosts we need not be scared of them. They don’t really frighten us. It is the frightening stories that we have heard about them in childhood that fill us with fright. We should look at the problem from another perspective. Bhutas and Pretas are the spirits that exist in subtle forms after having abandoned the physical body. While we are not afraid of individuals in flesh and body, why should we be scared of beings in a tiny form that have left the physical form?
We get unduly perturbed without trying to analyze the origin of fear, we don’t proceed to ask questions like what, where and how? It is clear that fear proceeds from our lack of knowledge about facts. Some people may dismiss the fear of those who are scared of spirits saying that they are mentally weak, they suffer from psychosis, they suffer from well-established superstitions, etc. They may deny the very existence of spirits. Spirits may be dubbed as illusions. However only those who have understood the real nature of fear can help others overcome fear. They know how to keep off fear.
In a lecture years later in New York, Swami Vivekanand referred to the monkey incident and pointed to its moral: That is a lesson for all life – face the terrible, face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships of life fall back when we cease to flee before them. If we are ever to gain freedom, it must be by conquering nature, never by running away. Cowards never win victories. We have to fight fear and troubles and ignorance if we expect them to flee before us.
Sometimes a situation of danger cannot be foreseen. Then there is often no opportunity for preparing to face it. When a dangerous incident occurs suddenly, one requires a strong mind and remarkable presence of mind to face it. It is not so easy to acquire these qualities. How to face unforeseen circumstances? Can one entirely be free from fear? Swami Vivekanand once narrated another incidence of the days of his mendicancy.
I used to visit different houses in the Himalayan region and gather alms. I used to spent most of the time in meditation. The food I used to get was very ordinary and was inadequate to satisfy my hunger. One day I felt that my life has become worthless. The inhabitants of this mountainous region were themselves very poor. They could not feed their own children and members of their family. Still they tried to save a part of their food for me.
I felt this type of life not worth living. I stopped going out for food. Two days I spent without food. When I used to feel thirsty, I used to drink water from the stream. One day I got into deep woods and sat under a tree for meditation. When I opened my eyes, I found a big tiger before me. With burning eyes, it was staring at me fiercely. I thought that it was end of my life and I was going to be in peace at last. I closed my eyes and waited for the tiger to kill me. A few minutes later I realized that I was still alive.
I opened my eyes and looked around. I found that the tiger was going back into the woods. I was surprised and became aware that God was holding me in protection. I realized that I still had work to fulfil and till then there was no release from this world.
In this case, there was no warning of danger. When Swamiji woke up from meditation, a fierce tiger was standing close by, staring at its prey. However, Swamiji was not scared and got ready to offer his body as food for the tiger. He sat in meditation, ready to be eaten by the tiger. He even didn’t seek divine help. But there was no danger from the tiger. It left the place on its own.
Sometimes people come across events where forces beyond the law of nature seem to be in operation. Rationalists, who refuse to believe in God, in supernatural events, may attribute such events to accidents, chance and coincidence of no consequence. But men of wisdom, men of devotion, see in them the handy work of the unseen power, of God. “I realized God was protecting me”, said Swamiji. It is realized by men of devotion that God protects His devotees.
God can protect man, in whatever condition he may be, wherever he may be. There is nothing that God cannot accomplish. Sometimes, He may seem to leave a person in lurch, but believers see in it a spiritual purpose of God. So believe in your God, believe in your Guru. Fath can take you to place you have not imagined. Such unique incidents not only occur in the lives of saints or great men, but ordinary people in all times and countries belonging to different faiths and sects too have had such experiences in life.
Lord Krishna is the Supreme God who grants attraction power. He is the one who manifests beauty in life, in His Keshav form. He is the one who gives hypnotic powers to His worshippers and He is the one who grants all the wishes. He is the one who can destroy all the enemies. He is the one who can nullify the ill effects of the celestial bodies and He is the one who gives victory. His Rishikesh form is the one which blesses the one to be able to live the household life in entirety. He is the one who can grant a superior offspring and in this form He is worshipped as Bal Gopal. One can perform Krishna Sadhana to remain victorious in every Mahabharat battle of his life. One who does so becomes capable enough to attract anyone by means of his knowledge. You can get this Diksha and the Sadhana articles for free, by adding five new members to the magazine. Gurudev will himself give this sadhana and Diksha to the interested Sadhaks.
On the auspicious date of Janmashtami (18-Aug-2014) this year, Lord Krishna worship rituals will be performed in Kailash Siddhashram, Delhi during evening. After the worship, the blessed food will be provided to all. I am inviting all my loved disciples on this pious occasion with their family.
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