SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.
Day 471
As he grew up Naren [who later became Swami Vivekananda] loved physical training. At that time he was in the materialistic world and he wanted to look like a real man. So he went to the gymnasium and trained. He was known to be the top student in that gymnasium. It is also remembered how he nursed someone who was hurt when everyone else ran away, thus showing his inner compassion. He could not bear to see a man suffer.
Even from an early age he was not prepared to accept any superstition whatsoever. For example: a man told him, "There's a ghost in that tree and if you climb it he'll break your neck." So he waited for the man and his own friends to go away and then he climbed into the tree to see if the ghost was there or not. If you think this is easy, you try it. Let your mother say in the darkness that there is a devil there and see if you do not get frightened. Later when his friend asked him if there was a ghost there he said, "Fool. If there had been a ghost my neck would have been broken - you wouldn't have had anybody to ask. That man was bluffing."
From a young age these things started showing in Naren. That is why we observe a child closely from the time he or she is young. When we see a bad habit in the child we should trim it straight away. People say, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." Sometimes even the rod is good - but not many times of course.
If the young Swami Vivekananda was not prepared to cater to superstition in his worldly dealings, how do you think he would cater to superstition in the scriptures?
There are currently available, over 100 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order. Click HERE for the second website on Swamiji's life and teachings.
Reference websites: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Ramakrishna Dham
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