Editor excerpts from article – I grew up reading Swami Vivekananda’s speeches and writings. For a child just beginning its teenage journey it was thrilling to read his works. It felt as if Swamiji was in the very room with me, talking, telling me to be impossibly good, generous, and kind. I was inspired to seek the divine light within and thought in my naivety that if I wished long and hard enough, with my eyes tightly shut and sitting in a meditation pose, I just might achieve it one day. Ever since I read that the ‘Master appears when one is ready’, I tried to ready myself by praying earnestly.

Swamiji had a proper understanding of India’s great spiritual heritage, so he restored my sense of pride in being a woman and in being born in this hallowed country, where it is said that the gods come down to walk among the people. I was stirred as much by his oratory as by his vision of life, by his conviction in the innate goodness of all human beings, and most important of all, by the power in his words. Little did I know then that I was gently guided by Swamiji, beyond what mere mortal eyes can perceive, towards that very destiny that he charted for every woman, man, and child of the world.

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This article is courtesy and copyright Prabuddha Bharata (www.advaitaashrama.org). I have been reading the Prabuddha Bharata for years and found it enlightening. You can subscribe online at www.advaitaashrama.org. Cost is Rs 100/ for one year, Rs 280/ for three years, Rs 1,200/ for twenty years and Rs 2,000 for twenty five years.

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