Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2011 Every time I hear this speech, it sends chills throughout my body. Sometimes my eyes well up with tears. King's words cut deep, right into that soft part of my heart that is so spacious, so wide that there is room for all beings to reside there. It is a recognition that all anyone wants, is to be happy and avoid pain. When I think about this, it makes me feel really good, because it is touching what in Tibetan Buddhism is referred to as Bodhichitta. Bodhichitta naturally arises,especially if you are living your Yamas and Niyamas. I am going to offer a very amateur translation of Bodhichitta as being awakened mind. Let me just say I believe Everyone has Bodhichitta, it is not something you need to try to do or find. If you have ever done something nice for someone else, you were using Bodhichitta. Martin Luther King Jr. was not leading the civil rights movement for himself. He became the leader because he believed in what that movement meant for others. He believed that the entire planet would benefit if the movement succeeded in granting equal rights to all Americans. King's Bodhichitta changed the world. The Bodhichitta you have now, right now is the same as Martin Luther King Jr.'s. Your awakened mind can change the world too. "I have a dream" and awakened mind are inexorably linked together. King was not asleep when he had his dream. Many of us are still sound asleep dreaming. Dreaming that, we are different or somehow separate from others, your neighbor, the homeless man, that annoying person you saw today or Martin Luther King Jr. That our happiness is somehow not intertwined with the happiness of others. Thinking of "#1" first. This is when Bodhichitta has been clouded by ignorance and fear. Catching yourself slipping into this mode of closing down, of shutting the world out is a huge victory, and it's good sign you will be functioning more from your awakened mind in the future. I have a dream that by living with an awakened mind, I can make this world a better place for all beings. I have a dream that if all humans live with bodhichitta, we will be "free at last, free at last, thank God almighty" we will be "free at last." by Aaron Harting |
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I HAVE A DREAM!posted Jan 17, 2011 11:53 AM by Aaron Harting |
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