[deja-vu]

Hristos a inviat!

When Karl Kotthaus, who was skilled in reading people's faces, saw a picture of the Sadhu which was taken by us, he immediately remarked: "This man is quite ready for martyrdom."

Rev.H.Kunick, 1925: "Sundar Singh is a deep, sincere Christian who lives in continuous communion with our Saviour. He is an Asiatic, not a European. This one ought never to forget when judging him. The spiritual life of an Asiatic is not simply the same as that of a European. God's omnipotence, love and care as well as all the promises of our Saviour are taken literally by the Asiatics. It is difficult for the Asiatics to understand that we Europeans, though we are so thorough in other matters, do not take literally the Word of God in our day-to-day life as in the life of the nation, nor live it literally as Sundar Singh does when calling himself publicly a Christian. Sundar Singh connects the name (of Christian) with its action and lives it out... Therefore it is my opinion that there is not much point in exploring psychologically the spiritual life of Sundar Singh and trying to prove anything. Most of such proofs will always miss the mark."

Rev. E.E.Fife, from Ewing Christian High School, Ludhiana, where Sundar Singh received his early education, wrote to Prof. Heiler on 22.1.1925: "I have known Sundar Singh from boyhood as it was to us that he came when he first left his father's house. I well remember the time when, after he had been given poison, he had been cared for in the home of the Rev.P.C.Uppal. He came back to us still weak after what we considered and still consider a marvellous delivrance from death. Since the first day he came to us until the present I have followed his course with the keenest interest. Sundar Singh is a mystic and a saint. He is a sane, truthful, wholesome, thoroughly human man as well - one of the truest it has been my happiness to know." (He was poisoned by his father; later - and amazingly - his father became a Christian. To make amends for his former actions, he paid for Sundar's passage to the West to preach)

Sundar Singh, 1912: "I (finally) came to the monastery of a celebrated Lama. He was the preceptor of the Tashi Lama, who is one degree below the Dalai Lama. I asked the Head Lama if there were in his monastery any book on the life of Christ, because a few years back a Russian named Notevitch had written that he had received a book from one of their Buddhist temples, in which it was stated that Jesus had been to Tibet. He replied: "That is altogether a mistake. There is no such book in any of our libraries. Certainly it is true that a few hundred years ago great preachers came here and converted one of our kings to Christianity, but after his death his successor banished the Christians from the country and from that time until now Christians have no permission to come here". After this I visited several other places, where the people opposed me very much and ordered me to leave. "Otherwise the same treatment - they said - will be given to you as was meted out to Kartar Singh. When he refused to leave, we killed him." On hearing this account I was confounded, because before this no one had heard anything of this unknown martyr. Now I desire to write what they told me about this martyr."

Despre apostazia din Europa si rationalism:

Rotterdam(1922): He became severe and warned Holland: Europe is in danger of becoming more and more indifferent. And yet Europe owes all the blessings of culture, freedom and education to Christianity. Europe is like Judas Iscariot who ate with Christ and then denied Him. But now Europe has also to fear the fate of Judas (it may hang itself on the tree of learning). You have so many privileges. We, in the East, have to give up many things when we become Christians. You do not have to. Be therefore careful that you don't lose your only possibility for eternal happiness."

Sundar Singh despre studiile teologice si discursuri:

In a Confirmation Service he said: "Don't throw bare bones (dogmas) before these young folk but break the bones in order to give them the marrow."

At St. John's College in Lahore he left without completing his theological course. He was fully convinced that in order to be an effective preacher of the Gospel it was not necessary for him to study either in a high school or in a theological college. The only adequate preparation for such work was the study of the Bible and of the Book of Nature under the immediate guidance of the Holy Spirit, who is the Author of both. In his addresses he continually pointed out that human learning was of no avail for our knowledge of God.

After the Sadhu's address on Prayer in Leipzig, the editor of a Church paper denied the evangelical character of the Sadhu's teaching. "He spoke about prayer and introduced his address more or less like this: Most Christians do not know what it is to pray. They think that to pray means to beg. But this is the lowest step of prayer. True, real prayer is union with God."

Urmeaza sentinta teologului evanghelic: "In this doctrine he clashes with Christ who in His teaching about prayer always makes begging an object. The disciple is not above the Master, but in this the Sadhu considers himself above the Master!"

Dr. Van Boetzelaer about Sadhu's visit to Holland: "When we got to know the Sadhu, he seemed to be far less of a heretic than we anticipated after reading the book about him. He assured us that he gave weight to his visions and spiritual experiences only in as far as they coincided with the Bible and that he rejected everything which was not in harmony with the Bible."

Sundar Singh - protestant sau "ecumenist"?

Atitudinea sa fata de secte si cruce, fata de nestorienii care evanghelizasera Tibetul, contrazice teoria ca a fost inregimentat la anglicani:

Christians must tell their experience, their joy that is all…. Sects are strange unnecessary things, the Sadhu thinks. There is one God; why have so many creeds? Piece and quiet come from knowing Christ. Why cause dissension? But still! “This is the world,” he says, resignedly though never without joy. “When all sects are one, it will be world no longer. It will be heaven then”.

There were two sets of critics who viewed with alarm the growing fame and usefulness of Sundar Singh. The Roman Catholics had the firm belief that their own Church was the mother of saints and were troubled when they saw a man of Sundar Singh's spiritual stature appearing in the Protestant Church. The other set of critics were the Protestant Liberals who did not believe in the miraculous element in religion.

The Sadhu prefers speaking in open air. He does not care for buildings, and particularly dislikes Anglican churches, because there are "too many pillars, they come in between me and my hearers".

On March 9, 1920, the Sadhu met and talked for an hour with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the following day he spoke at the Church House, Westminster, to some seven hundred clergy of the Church of England, including the Archbishop of Canterbury and six bishops, probably the first occasion when Churchmen of all shades of opinion met together to well one to whom sect is nothing but Christ is all in all.

The Bishop in Jerusalem asked the Sadhu to preach in the Catedral:
"- Would you object to speaking in a Catholic church?
- Not at all, but there are so many pictures, there would be no room for me"

"As I was going in the direction of the Lake Mansarovar, on the way I saw a stone cross which was set upon a rock. Afterwards I understood from a venerable sage (the Christian Maharishi whom I met here) that when the Nestorians Christians came to preach in Tibet, they had set up that cross here. When I saw this banner of victory in that lonely place, my heart danced with amazing joy and I had the desire to see something more, but when I had wandered all around I was descending the hill with disappointment. I fell down in front of a cave and was surprised to see a venerable man seated there with closed eyes. There was no cloth upon his body, his hair and nails had grown very long. At first on seeing him I was afraid, but when he opened his brilliant eyes and signed to me to be seated, my heart was comforted with the thought: He is not a man to be feared, but he is a true Rishi. He said: "Before we begin to converse together it will be well for us to pray to God." Then raising a book in which the Greek language was written on leather leaves, he began to read. As he was reading, I understood it to be the fifth chapter of St.Matthew's Gospel. Now was my joy inexpressible."

Contactul cu musulmanii (prima calatorie misionara): "He had reached the town of Jalalabad and among that Muslim population his preaching about Jesus, accepted by Islam as one of the prophets, was listened to quietly enough until it became evident that he was being proclaimed as God. Immediately the mood of his listeners changed to open hostility and he was warned that if he did not get out quickly he would be killed." (l-au expediat sa petreaca noaptea in frig, convinsi ca asta il va darama)

He finally said: "It does not matter if I am attacked, even if I am called in Europe an impostor. If through my work only one soul has found God, I shall feel more than rewarded for all my effort. But I can even hope - God be thanked - that more than one soul has been blessed. If these souls have heard and believed the true Gospel, then their salvation cannot be impaired through the attacks made on me. But if these people suffer because the Sadhu is called an impostor, then they have not heard the true Gospel, but they have heard only the Sadhu." There was no bitterness or ill-feelings towards any of the critics who had been so severe on him.

"It is better to burn quickly and melt many souls than to burn slowly and not melt any." - said Sundar Singh about his exhausting style of life and over-work.

Doamne ajuta!