How patient a person is, is known when people do bad things to him
This thing can be understood from an anecdote of Swami Vivekananda that When our own evil is in front of us, then our patience is tested. Most people get angry after hearing their evil and start fighting, but this should not be done. If you tolerate those things after listening to criticism, then you can avoid many problems. So many troubles can be avoided. This thing can be understood from an anecdote of Swami Vivekananda.
This is a story about Swami Vivekananda
One day Swami Vivekananda, a disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, was sitting in the first class of the train. In those days travelling first class, the train was very expensive. Ordinary people could not sit in that compartment. Swami ji’s dress was saffron i.e. monk’s dress. In the middle of the journey, two Englishmen came and sat beside him.
Both the British were surprised to see a monk in the first class of the train. They thought that saints are not educated, they must not know our language English. Seeing the English monk, both started doing evil in English. Both were talking that saints are like a burden on the earth. Others’ money travels in the first class of the train.
For a long time, both the Englishmen were talking badly about Swamiji. Swami ji understood English and understood the whole thing, but he did not react to the criticisms of the British and remained silent. After some time the ticket checker came into that compartment. When he reached Swamiji, he spoke to him in English. Both the British were even more surprised to see this.
Both the British realized their mistake. Both the Englishmen apologized to Swami ji and said you know English and we were continuously doing bad things in front of you, yet you were silent. Why didn’t you reply to us?
Swamiji said that it is because of the critical talk of people like you that my stamina improves. I can’t lose my patience under any circumstances. You expressed your views and I decided to tolerate those things. If I get angry, it would be my loss. Had the dispute escalated, there could have been more problems, so I remained silent.
Swamiji’s lesson
In this episode, Swami Vivekananda has taught us that our patience and fortitude are tested when someone does bad things to us in front of us. If we remain calm in that situation then we can avoid many problems.
