January 14
NARA YAJNA
Service to mankind is known as Nara Yajna. Treating man with dignity is a mark of culture and civilization.
Treating foreigners with contempt is the way of the semi-refined people. Exploiting the poverty-stricken people for low living wage is the mark of greed. Doling out charity to the idle indicates false sense of generosity. Helping man to help himself is right service.
Beholding humanity as the manifestation of Divinity and serving it on right lines is verily Nara Yajna.
--- Mahabharata
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Essay
Better late than never
たとえ遅くなったとしても
Would you reply to a message even if 10 years had passed since it was sent?
I did, and it led to an amazing reunion with some old friends.
One day, I was combing through my Facebook Messenger inbox in search of an old contact to interview for work. Suddenly, I saw an unread message from 10 years ago. I had been working in Japan at the time and C., my friend from secondary school and junior college, had asked when I’d be returning to Singapore.
I had no idea how I missed his message. Immediately, I replied to apologize. We started chatting and C. suggested meeting up. We invited two mutual friends, L. and H., to join us. The last time all four of us had met was longer ago than any of us could remember. Most likely it would have been when we still had to wear school uniforms — more than 20 years ago.
Some say that meeting old friends immediately transports you back to the time when you first got to know each other. It certainly felt that way for us. We caught up over a casual dinner at a Thai restaurant and conversation flowed freely, as though we had never lost touch. I was glad that we could chat and laugh the way we did in school.
I asked C. why he had texted me out of the blue 10 years ago. It turned out that he’d wanted to invite me to his wedding. He laughed and said my belated reply had caught him by surprise. “It’s one thing to miss a message. It’s quite another to reply after 10 years have passed! Most people would probably just ignore it.”
The others agreed. It got me thinking. Was it really unusual for me to reply? I simply thought that it was the polite thing to do — better late than never. Besides, it had been a genuine oversight on my part and I didn’t want C. to think that I had deliberately ignored him.
Even if my friends found it weird for me to reply, l’m glad I did. After that first get-together, we met two more times in less than half a year. We also invited other old friends and the group swelled to eight people. Our lives had gone down very different paths and we all worked in very different industries, including education, aviation, health care and media, but our memories and common experiences in school kept us bonded as a group.
In the end, you never know, do you? What seemed like a reply that came too late turned out to be a spark for new beginnings and reunions. (Tan Ying Zhen)
20230113-06x.mp3 - Google ドライブ
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Dueteronomy 008
Chapter 8
Deuteronomy 008.mp3 - Google ドライブ
Deuteronomy 008x.mp3 - Google ドライブ
***** Do Not Forget the LORD *****
1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.
