Martin Luther King, Jr. 739 words, 19K views, 28 comments
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On Dec 13, 2010Pancho wrote :
My family calls me Pancho and I'd like you to know that I love you all.
The Kindness Temple is creative indeed ;-) It is impossible to quantify the impact that this family of the Planet --the Mehta Family-- has done to our communities and souls. It is an honor to be embraced by their unconditional love and their strong self-less service. Home is everywhere we go, but on Wednesdays at Santa Clara, I particularly feel more at home. This is what I had to share last week at the Kindness Temple:
1. Cosmic Companionship
2. (Inner) Compost
3. Why Do We Sit To Be In Receptive Silence?
1. Cosmic Companionship
Marting Luther King Jr. is a champion of nonviolence, service and love. He often reminds us that: the Universe is in the side of justice... [as I type these words I can hear his voice reverberating in my soul... papá Dinesh provided us the powerful audio in his comment].
So, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice" he says. We, humans, can always choose to make a right or a left on the path of life but in the final hour, right before we leave this body, the Universe of Love will tap us on the shoulder, give us a warm hug and whisper in our ear: "Did you love enough my child? Did you stand up for justice, love and compassion long enough that your legs are strong enough and ready to become wings? Are you ready to fly?"
Human beings are not intrinsically good or evil. We are about choices. In any given circumstance, sometimes we only see one option but in reality we always have many options. That's why we spend time in receptive silence, to be creative and find new choices. We all love to have another chance to live a life aligned with the arc of the Universe that bends towards justice. The act of bending is love:
"Power at its best is LOVE implementing the demands of Justice. Justice at its best is LOVE correcting everything that stands against LOVE." --Martin Luther King Jr.
That's why in the emerging paradigm we go beyond right and wrong, we go beyond labels. We are human beings who are engaged and IN LOVE with the voluptuous authority of collective intelligence; with her hugs of learning, respect and peace; and with her kisses of justice, true democracy and freedom.
How are we pursuing these principles in the face of injustice and violence? Through the means of nonviolence.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."-- Martin Luther King Jr.
Oh yes! Let's be bright stars in the galaxy of our communities! Our means are ends in the making. Our collective light is shining and it is starting to illuminate the darkest corners of this Planet.
"I am convinced that the Universe is under the control of a loving purpose, and that in the struggle for righteousness humans have Cosmic Companionship... the Universe is in the side of justice and each of us must keep faith in the future. Let us not despair. Let us realize that as we struggle for justice and freedom, we have Cosmic Companionship." -- Martin Luther King Jr.
Let us not forget that this companionship lives in every small act of courage and kindness we perform. This Cosmic Companionship is always in our hearts.
2. (Inner) Compost
Last Wednesday and was turning up the compost at the Free Farm and I was very impressed to see how a big compost pile --debris, food scraps, left overs from harvesting, horse manure, mushrooms and more-- was auto-cooked at high temperatures and converted into fresh fragrant soil ready to be used for more planting.
If we are part of the flow of Nature, how does our inner compost really work?
3. Why Do We Sit To Be In Receptive Silence?
Every single human being has both negative and positive seeds. Even the kindest most compassionate human on the Planet has to practice inwardly. Why? Because she or he needs to transform that compost on a daily basis in order to be happy and radiant. In order to cultivate those inner smiles that will inspire others. If everything inside of us, all of a sudden, is positive and beautiful, there would no be need to practice.
We always have the choice to cultivate courage, loving kindness or not. Because of this precious characteristic of human life, we must sustain our spiritual practice to avoid walking on the path of self-centered life or burnout. Suffering is needed for compassion and understanding to be born. Suffering is necessary until we know that it is unnecessary. Negative seeds are the inner compost of our farm, our True Self.
Without compost and organic matter there are no veggies, no flowers, no fruits. In the same way, without the inner _awareness_ of violence, greed, anger, untruth and selfishness, there cannot be _embodiment_ of nonviolence, trusteeship, compassion, truth and solidarity.
It is because we have all the time seeds of negative energies that we must continue to practice. The process of transformation and healing requires ongoing practice. We produce material for our inner compost bin every day, so we need to practice continuously to take care of the debris in order to make it into healthy food and beautiful fragrant flowers.
Even the great farmers of the world --those who produce large amounts of local, organic and fresh food and flowers, the giant spiritual teachers-- have to deal with their inner compost and must practice continuously. Let us recognize that self-center nature, that desire based life-style and transform it into fresh-local-organic-healthy thoughts, words and actions.
It is no easy task, but remember that we have Cosmic Companionship ;-)
May all become compassionate, courageous and wise.
Pancho
PS: Dear beloved sister Catherine, I recommend you to read the translation of the Gita by Sri Eknath Easwaran. And Julio Díaz provide us a very inspiring example how to embody nonviolence. Here's one of his stories featured in NPR and the DailyGood: The Man Who Dined With His Mugger. You might want to subscribe to the DailyGood! :-) Love you sister!
On Dec 13, 2010 Pancho wrote :
My family calls me Pancho and I'd like you to know that I love you all.
The Kindness Temple is creative indeed ;-) It is impossible to quantify the impact that this family of the Planet --the Mehta Family-- has done to our communities and souls. It is an honor to be embraced by their unconditional love and their strong self-less service. Home is everywhere we go, but on Wednesdays at Santa Clara, I particularly feel more at home. This is what I had to share last week at the Kindness Temple:
2. (Inner) Compost
3. Why Do We Sit To Be In Receptive Silence?
1. Cosmic Companionship