Martin Luther King : King of Prayers
Today, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 2012, I listened to a recording of the original "I Have a Dream" speech on the radio. I suddenly got the impression of a sadhana--that the speech is a sort of sadhana.
Take the King of Prayers--not actually a sadhana but a much recited sutra. It takes you on a journey into other dimensions, possibilities, possibilities where people achieve their highest potential, achieve liberation, come to live in harmony with everything around them.
Now look at (or listen to) the "I Have a Dream" speech and notice the similarities. Wouldn't it be interesting to recite that speech as a daily practice? a daily prayer? a sadhana?
To call what Dr. King said that day just a speech seems to undervalue it. Is it a prayer? Or even more than that? It seems like an envisioning; and that is what a sadhana is--a practiced re-visioning of oneself and the world.
[Composing this post, I have stumbled upon a short Green Tara sadhana online which happens to have been formatted by a Dharma brother who is suddenly very ill with cancer, Wolfgang Saumweber, so I dedicate this post to him.]
Here I've mixed some of the verses from the speech and the prayer to see what they say to each other. I'm not trying to say they are the same, but there is something that informs each other.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
May I ease the suffering in the lower realms
And in the many directions and dimensions of the universe.
May I guide all wanderers in samsara to the pure bliss of awakening
And be of worldly benefit to them as well.
May I practice constantly for eons to come,
Perfecting the activities of awakening,
Acting in harmony with the various dispositions of beings,
Showing the ways of a bodhisattva.
May I always have the friendship
Of those whose path is like mine,
And with body, words, and also mind,
May we practice together the same aspirations and activities.
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
May I purify an ocean of worlds,
May I free an ocean of beings,
May I clearly see an ocean of Dharma,
May I realize an ocean of pristine wisdom.
May I purify an ocean of activities,
May I fulfill an ocean of aspirations,
May I make offerings to an ocean of buddhas,
May I practice without discouragement for an ocean of eons.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
One may offer to the buddhas
All wealth and adornments of infinite worlds in ten directions,
And one may offer during eons numberless as atoms of the world
Even the greatest happiness of gods and humans;
But whoever hears this extraordinary aspiration
And, longing for highest awakening
Gives rise to faith just once,
Creates far more precious positive potential.
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Take the King of Prayers--not actually a sadhana but a much recited sutra. It takes you on a journey into other dimensions, possibilities, possibilities where people achieve their highest potential, achieve liberation, come to live in harmony with everything around them.
Now look at (or listen to) the "I Have a Dream" speech and notice the similarities. Wouldn't it be interesting to recite that speech as a daily practice? a daily prayer? a sadhana?
To call what Dr. King said that day just a speech seems to undervalue it. Is it a prayer? Or even more than that? It seems like an envisioning; and that is what a sadhana is--a practiced re-visioning of oneself and the world.
[Composing this post, I have stumbled upon a short Green Tara sadhana online which happens to have been formatted by a Dharma brother who is suddenly very ill with cancer, Wolfgang Saumweber, so I dedicate this post to him.]
Here I've mixed some of the verses from the speech and the prayer to see what they say to each other. I'm not trying to say they are the same, but there is something that informs each other.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
May I ease the suffering in the lower realms
And in the many directions and dimensions of the universe.
May I guide all wanderers in samsara to the pure bliss of awakening
And be of worldly benefit to them as well.
May I practice constantly for eons to come,
Perfecting the activities of awakening,
Acting in harmony with the various dispositions of beings,
Showing the ways of a bodhisattva.
May I always have the friendship
Of those whose path is like mine,
And with body, words, and also mind,
May we practice together the same aspirations and activities.
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
May I purify an ocean of worlds,
May I free an ocean of beings,
May I clearly see an ocean of Dharma,
May I realize an ocean of pristine wisdom.
May I purify an ocean of activities,
May I fulfill an ocean of aspirations,
May I make offerings to an ocean of buddhas,
May I practice without discouragement for an ocean of eons.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
One may offer to the buddhas
All wealth and adornments of infinite worlds in ten directions,
And one may offer during eons numberless as atoms of the world
Even the greatest happiness of gods and humans;
But whoever hears this extraordinary aspiration
And, longing for highest awakening
Gives rise to faith just once,
Creates far more precious positive potential.
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
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