Swami Vivekananda is arguably the most famous Indian monk and philosopher. He played a major role in familiarising the West with Hinduism, particularly the philosophy of Vedanta. One distinguishing feature of Vivekananda’s thinking was that, though he was well-versed in Indian and Western philosophies, he did not take a book-ish view of life. He was a very open-minded and practical man. He was a keen observer of life and always ready to learn from it. This is illustrated by an incident from his early life that he narrated in his lectures.
Once, Swami Vivekananda was in Varanasi. He was walking through a ground that had a large water tank on one side and a high wall on the other. A large group of monkeys used to reside in this ground. As Vivekananda approached, some of the larger monkeys took it into their heads not to let him pass. As he came nearer, they began to howl and shriek at him. When he tried to pass, they began to clutch at his feet. Swami Vivekananda started to run, but the monkeys chased after him. The faster he ran, the closer they came, trying to bite him. Vivekananda thought it was impossible to escape. Just then, he heard a stranger say, ‘Face the brutes.’ Vivekananda turned and faced the monkeys pursuing him. As he stared at them, they fell back and eventually fled. Swami Vivekananda said that this was a lesson for life for him: like the monkeys, the hardships of life retreat when we cease to flee from them.
When we are faced with a difficult problem, our immediate impulse is often to run away. Playing a video game or scrolling through social media feels far better than dealing with the problem at hand. This gives us quick relief for a short period but ends up making the problem worse. We don’t have to solve the problem in one go. We can tackle it in small steps to make it easier for ourselves. It begins with honestly acknowledging the problem, let’s say, ‘I made my friend mad, and I’m scared to say sorry.’ We can pick one small action that may not solve the problem but can be the first step towards a solution. Let’s say we send a text to our friend: ‘Hey, can we talk?’ It is okay to feel nervous while trying to fix a problem. If we do not allow that fear to control our actions, we will not take refuge in denial. True peace is not the absence of troubles, but the realisation that when troubles arise, we will not flee from them but tackle them with patience and wisdom.