HE IS A GREAT MAN & A GREAT TEACHER - THE FLOWER OF MANKIND

He IS a great teacher. He inspired me and set me on a path of becoming a better person.

Who do you think is this person - whose gentle voice has spread far and wide, whose balmy, diffusing effect has calmed and soothed millions, whose genial persuasion has heartened and cheered listeners in every region where it has penetrated, whose words spread not by the force of weapons or political power but by love and compassion, and who wins by the warm hand of love, not by the cold threat of terror?

And do you know what some great men have said about him? Well, read on…..

“He gave expression to truths of everlasting value and advanced the ethics of humanity. He was one of the greatest ethical man of genius ever bestowed upon the world” Albert Schweitzer

“He has been something greater than all doctrines and dogmas, and his eternal message has thrilled humanity through the ages. Perhaps, at no time in past history was his message of peace more needed for a suffering and distracted humanity than it is today” Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

“I have examined every one of the great religious systems of the world, in none of these have I found anything to surpass its beauty and comprehensiveness….I am content to shape my life according to that Truth” Professor T.W. Rhys Davids

Guess no more, HE is The Buddha......who else....

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Albert Einstein has said in his autobiography: “If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.” He also said that Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.
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THE ULTIMATE WAKE-UP CALL

Every global crisis presents a golden opportunity for change: for the interntational communities and world governments to re-think about existing policies and priorities. This time around, it is probably not going to be energy and the after-effects of US Subprime that will trigger change – it’s going to be the looming food crisis: one that cannot be solved or elevated by bailouts and fiscal measures.

The food crisis will shake and demolish past efforts to close the gap between the rich and poor, and unravel years of developing aid. It will bestow upon the weak more suffering, create wide-spread social unrests and riots and put mounting pressure on nations, both rich and poor. Left unchecked, it can bring a downfall to the government.

No other crisis will have such devastating effects on national security as this.

It is easy for rich nations to point the finger at emerging economies and continue stock-piling. But if governments of both developed and natural resource-rich countries don’t act fast and put priority on agricultural and sustainable development, shift wasteful and destructive expenditure on defense and work together with developing nations to modernize their agriculture practices and boost production, the pain of the food crisis will come creeping to the doorsteps of the rich very quickly and with crippling effects on their economies.

And, if the world, in particular, rich nations feel that global warming and environment deterioration are issues which are too vague to put serious attention, perhaps, the food crisis will be the appropriate wake-up call to put more attention on sustainable development and the “greening” of planet Earth with crops rather than concrete jungle.