Identifying the bird at Mount Faber

I have emailed Nature Society (Singapore) to help identify the bird which I spotted at Mount Faber. They have replied promptly, identifying it as the female Laced Woodpecker. The male bird will have a reddish crown.
This is the Nature Society (Singapore) website : http://www.nss.org.sg/index.html

Sighting of bird in Mount Faber

Last month, while walking up a flight of steps leading up to Mount Faber, I spotted this bird that was pecking fervently at a hole in a tree trunk. Is it a woodpecker?




Map of the place with a blue marker that approximately indicates the place where I saw the bird (you can drag and zoom or click on 'View Larger Map') :

View Larger Map

Gratitude and Child's Development

In Rudolf Steiner's lecture (The Child's Changing Consciousness: As the Basis of Pedagogical Practice), Rudolf lectured extensively on the development stages of the child. I like to highlight and summarize one of the interesting section.

In Lecture Six (page 124), Rudolf discussed on the three fundamental human virtures, namely gratitude, love and duty. Rudolf pointed out on the importance of nuturing and cultivating the virtue of gratitude in the growing child as it will greatly benefit the child's whole life. The child should live in an environment which is permeated with the mood of gratitude which to a great extent, depends on the behaviour of the people around the child. The development of the this virtue (gratitude) in the child not only affects its (the child's) physical development but also serves as a foundation for the child's development of other virtues such as love and duty.

Reference : The Child's Changing Consciousness: As the Basis of Pedagogical Practice by Rudolf Steiner

Download page for this lecture : http://steinerbooks.org/research/archive.php#waldorf

Two Book Reviews

Recently I read a number of books by Rudolf Steiner. Here are two book reviews which I submitted to Amazon.com for the following titles :
Agriculture: An Introductory Reader: A Collection (Pocket Library of Spiritual Wisdom)
Architecture: An Introductory Reader (Pocket Library of Spiritual Wisdom)

Book reviews link :

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A2IYDB9W2W6QGT/ref=cm_cr_dp_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview

The Two Righteousness At Zhu Ya

Here is my summarized and translated version of the story contained in the Chinese Text Book of Virtues, Book two, Chapter on Righteousness( 义). Please pardon my translation errors and let me know if you spot any errors.

During the Han Dynasty in the region of Zhu Ya, there was a county magistrate who passed away. His second wife, with her nine year old son and the daughter of his first wife returned to Zhu Ya to attend to his funeral. The daughter of the magistrate's first wife was called Chu and she was thirteen years old.

During that time, there was strict laws against the possession of pearls. Those who brought in pearls faced the death penalty. Chu's stepmother had a pearl chain which she usually wore at her wrist. Before reaching Zhu Ya's customs, she had removed her pearl chain and threw it away. Without she and Chu noticing, her son went to pick up the pearl chain and put it into her small container.

At Zhu Ya, the custom officers searched and found the pearl chain in the mother's container. They questioned the three of them, "Who should be punished?" Chu immediately replied, "My mum had already thrown away the pearl chain, I secretly went to pick it up and hide it in the container. I should be punished!" Chu's stepmother went on, "I'm the one who love the pearl chain so I should be the one to be punished!" Both stepmother and daughter, with tears flowing down their cheeks, pleaded to be the one to face the death penalty. The custom official greatly admired and respect their righteousness. He was willing to take their place to be punished. He threw away the pearl chain and sent them home.

Original Chinese story available HERE 《德育课本》,二集卷六,《二十四义》, 编号 : dykb2-06, story number 6.

Zhu Chong gave away his calf

Here is my simple translated version of the story contained in the Chinese Text Book of Virtues, Book one, Chapter on Shame. Please pardon my translation errors and let me know if you spot any errors.
During the Jin Dynasty, there was this man named Zhu Chong who love to read. He was very poor and farmed. One day, his neighbour lost a calf. He mistook Zhu Cong's calf as his lost one and brought it home. The lost calf was later found in the forest. The owner was ashamed of his impulsive deed and brought Zhu Chong's calf back to him. However, Zhu Chong declined to accept the calf.
On several occasions, an ox intruded into Zhu Chong's farm and stepped on his crops. Zhu Cong did not show any signs of anger and even brought out forage to feed the intruding ox. Knowing this, the ox's owner felt ashamed and from that time onwards, managed his ox well so that it would not intrude into other people's farm.
After some time, the court issued an order to summon Zhu Chong to be a court official. Zhu Chong declined on reason of illness and later escaped to the mountains. The remote mountains where he dwelt was near the border of another country. The people of that remote region regarded him as a lord.
Original Chinese story available HERE 《德育课本》,初集卷一,《二十四耻》, 编号 : dykb1-08, story number 12).

The veins of life

One day I came across a roadside tree whose leaves caught my attention. It is shaped like a heart or perhaps, like an apple. What I find most striking and beautiful are the veins, so subtlely well defined. Nature is simply marvellous.

An excerpt from William Blake's poem - "Auguries of Innocence" :

To see a world in a grain of sand
And heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

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What do you "see" in the veins of the leaves?