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1. His childhood friend: Whatever you may say, I cannot bring myself to believe in these
words. Who can come by that oratorical power of expounding philosophy which you
have? Swamiji: You don’t know! That power may come to all. That power comes to
him who observes unbroken Brahmacharya for a period of twelve years, with the
sole object of realising God I have practiced that kind of Brahmacharya myself, and
so a screen has been removed, as it were, from my brain. For that reason, I need not
any more think over or prepare myself for any lectures on such a subtle subject as
philosophy. Suppose I have to lecture tomorrow; all that I shall speak about will
pass tonight before my eyes like so many pictures; and the next day I put into words
during my lecture all those things that I saw. So you will understand now that it is
not any power which is exclusively my own. Whoever will practice unbroken
Brahmacharya for twelve years will surely have it. If you do so, you too will get it.
Our Shâstras do not say that only such and such a person will get it and not others!
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2. Swami Vivekananda attributed his phenomenal mental powers to a lifelong
observance of brahmacharya.A few days ago, a new set of the Encyclopedia Britannica
had been bought for the Math. Seeing the new shining volumes, the disciple said to
Swamiji, ―It is almost impossible to read all these books in a single lifetime.‖ He was
unaware that Swamiji had already finished ten volumes and had begun the
eleventh.Swamiji: What do you say? Ask me anything you like from these ten volumes,
and I will answer you all.The disciple asked in wonder, ―Have you read all these books?‖
Swamiji: Why should I ask you to question me otherwise?Being examined, Swamiji not
only reproduced the sense, but at places the very language of the difficult topics selected
from each volume. The disciple, astonished, put aside the books, saying, ―This is not
within human power!‖Swamiji: Do you see, simply by the observance of strict
Brahmacharya (continence) all learning can be mastered in a very short time — one
has an unfailing memory of what one hears or knows but once. It is owing to this
want of continence that everything is on the brink of ruin in our country.
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