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Wisdom of the Sadhu: Teachings of Sundar Singh

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"If you want to see the world of the spirit, you must look with spiritual eyes ... you can only apply the wisdom that arises from love and reverence. In a certain sense, all of space and time is spiritual. God's presence pervades everything. Thus all people live in the spiritual world ... we either turn joyfully toward the light, or rebelliously toward the darkness." -- Sadhu Sundar Singh
As an angry young Sikh distraught over his mother's death, Sundar Singh was preparing to take his own life when he experienced a visionary encounter, not with Krishna, but with Christ. He became a Sadhu, a wandering mystic, not pursuing a hermit-like existence, but traversing the jungles and high mountain passes to appear in remote villages and lend assistance and care to the poor and disease stricken, and to counsel spiritual seekers. In the early twentieth century, Singh led the life of a first century apostle. Western Christians will find Sundar Singh's parables and dialogues wonderfully lacking in western conventions. He eloquently describes the intellectual futility of trying to wage logical arguments against God's existence, his allegorical explanation of the Trinity is better than most, his teaching that there is but One source of peace, love, and understanding is the bedrock of Christianity (and all monotheism).
In Sadhu Sundar Singh we find a true Christian mystic, a student, a servant, a holy man. His ministry and teachings became known to millions, he was admired by hundreds of thousands, and loved by tens of thousands whose lives he touched. His life and teachings also caused certain interests to despise him and attempts were made on his life. He disappeared, alone in the high Himalayas, in 1929.
Singh was not a writer, he produced six small books (which contained much of the material used in this compilation), perhaps solely because admirers urged him to. Yet he offers an elegant economy of words, using familiar objects of the natural world as illustrations for his allegories and parables. His "warning to the West" remains a telling indictment of the spiritual numbness of Western materialism and of western "Christians" who embrace the doctrines of culture more dearly than the teachings of Christ. When, during a trip to Europe, Singh was chided for not being more concerned with twentieth century science, he asked his questioner to what he referred. "Natural selection, you know, survival of the fittest," blustered the questioner. "Ah," Singh responded, "but I am more interested in divine selection, and the survival of the unfit."

Sundar Singh, a Sikh convert to the Christian faith, offers occidental readers a unique perspective of what it means to follow Jesus Christ as the Master or Guru of one's life.

This anthology contains anecdotes, sermonettes, aphorisms, and interviews with Sundar Singh which, if read with opennesss and sincerity, should move you to reflect on the ways you are approaching the person of Jesus of Nazareth in your own spiritual life.

Sundar Singh's teaching is filled with both the passion of christian committment and the insights of ancient

I was first introduced to the character of Sadhu Sundar Singh through the writings of Charles F. Andrews, Anglican missionary and friend of Ghandi. Singh was a contemporary of both Andrews and Ghandi.

The life and writings of Singh have a depth that is rare today. No modern person has influenced my thought and direction in life more than Singh. He caused me to think about what it really means to be a Christian.

I strongly recommend reading this book and any others you can find about him. A more complete book (664 pages) is "The Christian Witness of Sadhu Sundar Singh; A Collection of His Writings," published by The Christian Literature Society in India.

Many of today's Christian writings are excellent and should not be ignored. However, most of them tend to run along side predictable fads. Someone will write a book and half a dozen others will write about a similar theme. As a result modern Christians are caught in the current of a rapidly moving stream of thought.

The historic classics, such as the teachings of Sadhu Sundar Singh will take you outside of today's box and in the process deepen your spiritual life. You may find yourself intellectually alone when you begin this book (most small groups will want something newer), but in the end you will be glad you stepped out of the beaten path.

This book is fabulous!

In it, Brother Sadhu explores different aspects of life through Christ's eyes and when we understand what is said, we want to be just like Jesus.

For the soul-searcher!

-J

This book was my first introduction to Sundar Singh, and I was startled and moved by his simple spiritual observations, parables, insights, and mystic teachings. Here is a man who has had an authentic and real experience with Jesus and wants only to share it with the world.

I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in living a spiritual but not necessarily a religious life. Seekers, questioners, pilgrims, dreamers, and saints will all grow a deeper faith in the presence of Sundar Singh's observations.

the author--represented by the character "Sadhu"--was an ascetic Christian wise man who dedicated his life to the pursuit of the wisdom of God in India. and who used allegories and interpretation to convey such wisdom through conversations with the character "Seeker". who inquires with the wise man for knowledge and truth. the seeker seems to support eastern religion--including pantheism and the teachings of Confucius.

the Hindi word "sadhu" generally means "wise man"--its etymology can be traced back to Sanskrit.

the quality of the translation is very good--which helps make this book a quick read. add to that the comprehensive nature of the author's teachings. the reader could finish the book in a day to receive a dose of godly wisdom.

instead of walking through the realm of western rationalism, the author's theology learned to walk through a realm of eastern mysticism, so his teachings represent a unique perspective and nature.

Wisdom of the Sadhu: Teachings of Sundar Singh and nature.