3 Review(s)

MOURNED BY MILLIONS at his death, Sundar Singh (1889-1929) awaits rediscovery at the dawn of the 21st century. Though known in his lifetime as India's most famous convert to Christianity, that reputation is not entirely accurate, for he never accepted its conventions but gravitated instead to its stark original teachings. Leaving the wealth of his home at sixteen to live as a Sadhu, or wandering holy man, Sundar Singh's beggar-like existence, his intense bhakti (devotion), his mystical encounters with Jesus, and his simple yet profound parables became the stuff of legends. No one who met him—including the thousands who flocked to hear him during his visits to Europe, the Orient, and the United States—remained unaffected by this modem Saint Francis. Though hugely popular in India and Europe during his lifetime, Sundar Singh's writings have not been readily available to readers in the English-speaking world for decades. Now, with Wisdom of the Sadhu, a collection of anecdotes, sayings, parables, and meditations, his spirit has been brought alive for a new generation. Couched as they are in a distinctly Indian idiom, his teachings probe the essence of the Gospels with unusual freshness and offer insights of great depth and value to every serious seeker.