Christian Sage of the Himalayas- Sadhu Sundar Singh

Sadhu Sundar Singh is a Christian sage of the Himalayas in the 1940s.

When he was still young he had a vision which returned night after night.

In his vision, a sage came to him and said, “Are you prepared to listen to me?
I am your saviour. There is no other way for you.”

He did not know who it was that come to him and ask people for advise.
When he saw a picture of Christ, he said, “Here is the Master who appears in my dream and awakens me.”

Finally he left his home and when to live in the Himalayas where he remained for a long time.

When Swami Rama went to visit him, Sadhu Sundar Singh taught him the comparative study of the Bhagavad Gita and the bible. He said ,“The message that was given in the morning was the message of Krishna; the message that was given in the afternoon was the message of Buddha; and the message that was given in the evening was the message of Christ. There is no difference. Christ the compassionate, Buddha the enlightened and Krishna the perfect gave their message according to their times and the need of the masses who were prepared to follow them. These great ones were representatives of one absolute Reality who assumes various forms and descends to guide humanity whenever he is needed. The sages have a tradition of reverence for all the great religions of the world.”

One day Swami Rama asked him,” Have you seen God?”

He said, “You insult me by asking me. I see God all the time. Do you think I have seen God only once, twice or thrice? No, I am with my Lord all the time. When I cannot be with Him, then He is with me.”

Swami Rama said , “Kindly explain.”

He explained it beautifully.,” As long as you remain conscious, be with God consciously by remembering Him. When your conscious mind starts fading when you fall asleep surrender yourself. The last thought before you go to bed should be, “O Lord be with me. I am Thine and Thou art mine.’ The whole night, the Lord will remain with you. You can always remain together.

One day this great sage vanished in the high Himalayas, never to be seen again.

- extracted from the book “Living with the Himalayan Masters’ By Swami Rama.

I remember reading a small book on Sadhu Sundar Singh in Geylang East National Library.
The book is beautifully written and I took just a while to finish it.
If you wish to borrow it, it should still be available under the philosophy and religion section.

Have a nice day :>

Low ck

Earth Song: Children of the Earth

A nice song: "Children of the Earth"

Extra half hour of Daylight

Share a poem :>

Extra half hour of Daylight :>

If You were to give me an extra half hour of Daylight,
How shall I spend it lovingly ?

Shall I watch the sun set graciously
& marvel at the wondrous Grace
as Day gives way to Night &
the hustle & bustles of the morns
give way to the silent & peaceful hymns of
creatures of the night ?


Shall I visit the oceans,
& allow the elements of air, water, fire, earth to swirl around me,
the wind in my hair, the sand upon my feet,
the sea embracing me, & the last ray of Dusk
blessing the hairline upon my forehead?


Shall I sing You devotional songs,
& envelop myself in sweet Rememberance,
as many a Devotee does,
in ancient time of the past,
Following a scared lineage,
to times of the present?


Shall I enter a closet
& study the writings of the saints & sages,
Allowing the wisdom of the scriptures,
to cleanse and gently massages a soul
leaden with the heavy energy of this world?

Shall I sit in silent meditation,
& focus on the inner light,
which shines forth from all beings
that walk, move & live on this lovely planet.


Or Shall I approach the animal friends,
& learn from them
the gentle manners of submission,
the warmth of family life,
the contentment for simple joys of life.

& heed their plead to 'Live and let live'
to preserve Mother Earth's food & water resources,
& not take More from Nature
than what we really need ?

Water Colour painting “Wali Dad”

Since it is the holidays and I’ve a bit of time on my hands, I went to the library to borrow some children’s book : )

I really enjoyed reading children’s book. :)

An author who won a Nobel prize [Literature] once said,” Children’s book are very good. Truth, Virtues and Gentle manners are found in abundance in children’s book. Adult and children should read more children’s story to remind themselves of their Good nature.” :)

I read a story called “ The Gifts of Wali Dad”.

It’s a nice story with very nice illustrations. It goes like this ….
"Wali Dad is a simple-hearted Grass-cutter. Every day, he cut some wild grasses, bundle them and bring them to the market to sell. Every day, he earns 30 coins. He spent 10 coins for food, 10 coins for other necessities, and save the remaining 10 coins for a rainy day …. "
[I’m not going to tell you the whole story, pls borrow the book from National Library … : ) : ) ]

The book looks like this ..



…………..
When I was admiring the beautiful illustrations, a sudden wish to paint swam over me. :)

Well …. I haven’t been painting for many years now. The last time I did a water colour painting was during my secondary school. : P [That was soooo long ago and I don’t even remember where I place all my painting brush, water colours etc … : ( ]

But, a wish is a wish. And wishes always come true : )
So … I went to “Popular Book Store” , buy a paint brush, a new Water colour [the type with all the colors and a palette], a drawing board, went straight home and started painting : )



After a few hours of hard work : )
[ + a can of Green Tea + some nice cookies + some nice music]

Ta … Dah …. : ) : ) Hey Presto …. It’s done.
[Hint: you can double click on the picture to get a good look :> ]


I have to say that it is pretty cool : ) : )

[Pls say "It's pretty ccccoooooollll." :0 : ) :P]

So … I took a photo, place it in my blog and share with my friends : ) : )

Sharing with you
All the Goodness in Life,
Low ck

NBA James Donaldson advise to sportsman

NBA vegetarian sportman advise on vegetarian diet, take care of the body and respect to life.

Happy Deepavali and some indian poems

Hi friends,

Since it is Deepavali tomorrow, share with all some poems by one of India's greatest poet, Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861 -- 1941), Indian novelist, playwright, poet, painter, composer, was one of the divine poets that have touched my heart. : )

In 1912, W.B. Yeats, an accomplished Irish poet, wrote in his introduction of Rabindranath Tagore that prose translations from Tagore had stirred his blood as nothing has for years.

"I have carried the manuscripts of these translations about with me for days , reading it in railway trains, or on top of the omnibuses and in the restaurants, and I have often had to close it lest some stranger would see how much it moved me. "

In 1913, Tagore became the first Indian to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature. The Novel prize committee had read Tagore's Gitanjali-"Song offerings" and unanimously agreed that one who produce this great inspirational masterpiece should be accolade with the highest honor.

Gitanjali , Song Offerings, a collection of over a hundred poems, covers the entire breathe of life's experience, from the quiet pleasure of observing the children at play to a mum's struggle with the Divine. It captures and expressed each sublime sendiments that every spiritual seeker experienced at one time or another.

Some Indians feel that to read one line from Gitanjali is to forget all the troubles in the world. : ) : )

Share with all some poems from this divine masterpiece.
Extracts from Gitanjali :
...........

Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure.
This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.

This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales,
and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.

At the immortal touch of thy hands
my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.

Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine.

Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.

..........

I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side.
The works that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.

Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite,
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.

To-day the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs;
and the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.

Now it is time to sit quiet, face to face with thee,
and to sing dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.

By Rabindranath Tagore

.......

It's time to close your eyes and utter a gentle prayer : )
Enjoy a sublime Deepavali, : ) : )

Cheers and with Best wishes,
Low ck

Sharing with all,
The Goodness in Life.


P.S. You may like to forward this mail to your indian friends : ) : )

My Music Blog : ) : )

Hi friends,

As this is the holidays and I have a little spare time, I've created a music blog:
http://www.gracious-music.blogspot.com/

I intent to place all the nice utube music into this blog. : ) : )

As a first offering, I have placed the nice devotional songs from various religions into the blog.

I would share some children's music in the blog at a later date : )
[Perhaps when children day draws near : ) ]

You may like to take a look : ) : )


Cheers n have a nice weekend :)
Low ck

Salamat Hari Raya n poems from Hafiz

Hi friends : ) : )

Since it is Hari Raya, Salamat Hari Raya to all muslim friends : ) : )
.....

Share with you a poem from a Muslim saint, Hafiz.
Hafiz, whose given name was Shams-ud-din Muhammad (c.1320-1389),
is a much beloved poet of Persia.
He sings lots of beautiful poems when he is inspiritual bliss. :):)
The following is a translation by Daniel Ladinsky.........

Today
I
Do notWant to step so quickly
Over a beautiful line on God's palm
As I move through the earth's
Marketplace
Today.

I do not want to touch any object in this world
Without my eyes testifying to the truth
That everything is
My Beloved.

Something has happened
To my understanding of existence
That now makes my heart always full of wonder
And kindness.

I do notWant to step so quickly
Over this sacred place on God's body
That is right beneath your
Own foot

As I
Dance
with
Precious life
Today.

...........

Covers her face with both hands

WhatWe speak
Becomes the house we live in.

Who will want to sleep in your bed
If the roof leaks
Right aboveIt?

Look what happens when the tongue
Cannot say to kindness,
I will be your slave.

The moon
Covers her face with both hands
And can't bear
To look
........

Some years back, I have borrowed Daniel ladinsky's book "The subject tonight is Love" from
the National Library. It is a collection of Harfiz's poety translated to english by
Daniel Ladinsky and I've enjoyed it very much. : )

If you have time, you may like to borrow the book from NLB. : ) : )

Cheers and happy holiday :) : )
Low ck

Gentle Video with a vegan message

Hi Friends,

This is a gentle video with a very important message: http://www.nonviolenceunited.org/veganvideo.html

It is true that the vegan/vegetarian diet helps the planet immensely.

Consider the following:

On Food:
The world has 6.6 billion people
55 billion animals are slaughtered every year for food.
Thus, the world not only has to produce food for 6.6 billion people, it has to produce food to feed 55 billion animals as well.

Currently, 74% of all soya beans, 50% of all corns and 36% of all rices produced in this world is feed to the animals every year.

So much resources are fed to the animals and yet 900 million people are starving every day.

Is it not logical to feed all the people first and then feed the surplus to the animals?
Yet the world does not function in this way.

As the developing world becomes more wealthy, their demand for meat grows. With
better buying power, the wealthy nations are buying more food to feed the animals.
This is in direct competition with the poor and pushes up the price of food.

The result is that more people in the poor nations cannot afford the corn, grain and soy.
[That is being diverted to feed the animals] The people in starvation has rose from 800 million in 2007 to 900 million in 2008.
.......

On Water:
70% of all water is being used in the agriculture sector
20% of all water is used in industries
10% of all water is used by household.
Of the the 70% water used in agriculture, it's distribution is as follows:

To produce
1kg of maize -- 900 litres of water
rice -- 3000 litres
chicken -- 3900
pork -- 4900 l
beef -- 50,500 l
So meat production consumes far more water that crop production.
........

On Green house gases:

Producing 1kg of beef produces 36.4 kg of CO2 emissions while producing
1kg of potatoes only produce 0.6 kg of CO2.

The livestock industry produce 18% of all green house gas.
It also produce 37% of Methane [30 times more potent than CO2]
and 65% of N2O [300 times more potent thant CO2]

..........

On environmental destruction:

Livestock industry accounts for 1/3 of all pollutants [nitrates and phosphrous in animal manure] that flows into rivers and seas.

It also drives 1/3 of the world's deforestation.

..........

Thus, to preserve food,water, rainforest and to reduce green house gas emissions, we have to consider switching to a more environmental, low-carbon vegetarian diet.

Dr Rajandra Pachuri of the IPCC panel [Intergovernmental panel for climate change]
recently urge the world population to adopt a one-vegetarian-day-a-week policy to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It's time to heed his advise. : ) : )

Pls forward to friends who are concern about the environment. : ) : )


Cheers and have a nice week end,
Low ck

Loving Hut open at SunTec City

Hi friends,

There's a new vegetarian stall opened at SunTech City #03 Tower 2.
It's called "Loving Hut" : ) :)

It's above Carrefour [On the #03 storey] beside the Indian Vegetarian stall. : ) : )

I've went to the stall last week, the service is good and the food is excellent.

The names of the dishes are good:
"Smiling Dumpings / Rainbow Rice
Vege Curry
Drinks : Sunny Forest / Rose Mary Drink "

Personally, I like Rainbow rice, Smiling Dumpings and Sunny forest.
Sunny forest is a Green lime drink with a dash of lemon. It's served in an elegant glass.
Looks good, taste great.


The price is in the $5:00-a-meal range. [Normal in Suntech city area]
Drinks are $3.80

Address as follows:
3 Temasek BoulevardSuntec City Mall
Sky Garden #03-016 @ Tower
2Singapore 038983
Tel: +65 6238 6755
info@LovingHut.com.sg

If you happen to go to Suntech for exhibitions/shopping, do check it out :) : )

Cheers,
Low ck