Face the brutes - Swami Vivekananda

There are a few fortunate souls who are lucky enough to attain success without pitfalls; the rest have to pass through the hurdles and dificulties. But the real hero is who welcomes challenges in life and faces them with boldness and courage.Such a person crossing all the hurdles comes out successfully like a lion. The following incident took place during Swami Vivekananda's wandering days, when he was staying at varanasi.It conveys a profund message to the world.One day,while returning from the Durga temple, Swamiji was chased by some monkeys.To save himself,Swamiji started running, but the monekys ran still faster and grew increasingly aggressive.Meanwhile, an old monk who was witnessing the scene called out to him: 'Stop running.Face the brutes.' Swamiji heard his call and turned to 'face the brutes.'

Swamiji drew a great lesson from this incident. He learnt that one should not run away, when faced with danger or difficulty; and instead, one must face it boldly. In his later life, addressing a gathering in New York,he said; '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. We have to face fear and troubles and ignorance, if we expect them to flee before us.