He Answered The Questions I Couldn'T Ask!

Mrs. Asha

Do not believe in a thing because you have read about it in a book.

Do not believe in a thing because another man has said it was true.

Do not believe in a thing because it is hallowed by tradition.

Find out the truth for yourself, reason it out. That is realisation.

So said Swami Vivekananda.

I heard about Swamiji from my very dear friend Prabha with whom I have been close right from childhood. I have always looked to her for learning life's lessons and to help anchor my very unsettled existence. When she told me about her guruji, I was very keen to meet him, since I have always relied on her advice and choices.

Being in Madras, living like a "koopa mandooka" tied

up with home problems, I seldom get a chance to encounter people that I would love to meet and listen to. But once when I went to Bangalore, I had a chance to meet Swamiji.

When I first met him, I thought that he is too young to wear the saffron mantle of a guruji - which usually is worn with grey hair, flowing beard and ageless wisdom...

As it was the time of Swamiji's birthday celebrations at the Ashram in Bidadi, I spent a lot of time there with Prabha and other friends. This gave me the opportunity to be in Swamiji's presence many times. Since I have always been the type to hold back and be reserved, I guess I missed so many chances of speaking out my thoughts to Swamiji, although I was eager to do so. There was so much to ask him, personal anxieties to express and objective suggestions to obtain, but I found that I could not bring myself to actually talk. Instead, I chose to just watch and listen to him.

They do say that the 'harvest of a quiet eye is the best harvest of all'. And indeed, as I listened to Swamiji and as we accompanied him when he went to meet the people who thronged to touch his feet and be healed, I felt that I was in the presence of greatness, a phenomenon that could not be measured in words or images. There was something which reached the very core of our heart and soul, the sheer magnanimity of his vision, his grace and compassion.

His talks and discourses are so full of clarity. As we sat among the crowd asking unspoken questions, I found he gives you answers unasked. That is the sheer magic of his communication.