I Have a Dream Today! - "Martin Luther King"

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Created on Friday, 13 January 2012 13:12

Written by Maria Tadd

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These famous words ring in the hearts of the young and the old, the rich and the poor, and those who simply hope for a better life. Some of us dream about a kinder, more just and peaceful world and some of us take our dreams and desires to the streets, with Occupy Wall Street being the most recent example. And some of us simply dream.

A winner of the noble peace prize and an icon of civil disobedience and civil rights, King’s vision went way beyond equality for African Americans. Actually, he embraced diversity to the fullest — a view he developed out of his admiration for Mahatma Gandhi.

King first discovered Gandhi through civil rights leader, theologian, and educator, Howard Thurman whose missionary work took him abroad where he met and conferred with the Mahatma. Inspired by the teachings of Gandhi, King was invited by Nehru in 1959 to come to India and visit the sites where Gandhi had lived, struggled and held prayer meetings.

For King, his trip to India profoundly changed his life. While in India he discovered that the inspiration for Gandhi's satyagraha (or soulforce) movement came from his Hindu faith, a faith that deeply inspired him. He was so moved by his experience that when he returned to his pulpit in Montgomery, Alabama, he gave a sermon in which he said: "O God, our gracious heavenly father. We call you this name. Some call thee Allah, some call you Elohim. Some call you Jehovah, some call you Brahma." You can only imagine the courage it must have taken for King to have been so inclusive as it was such a stark departure from the fundamentalist Christian perspective.

“We are preaching the central point is God,” he said in a 1964 conversation with a Christian priest in Paris. “You call Him by any name, it doesn't matter, either you call him Jehovah or Krishna or Allah, that doesn't matter. But you accept the authority of God and try to love God. This is our mission.”

To this day there is an interesting relationship between the Hare Krishnas and the legacy of King. The Bhagavad-gita states, “by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste],. . . A Krishna conscious person does not make any distinction. . . . the Supreme Lord is present in everyone's heart. . . .”

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON, recognizes that in the desire for equality, its mission finds a parallel with the teachings of King and thus since 1995 it has participated in every Kingdom Day Parade—a January event honoring him.

In 2010, the ISKCON devotees won the Parade’s “Second Place for Marching Units”. “This is the United People of the Spiritual World,” announcers read as devotees approached the judge’s stand. “This group is working to keep King’s dream alive by uniting all people, all races, and all religions, on the spiritual platform.”


Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

May we carry on Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy and dream big, as we collectively dream of a peaceful, more equitable world.

Namaste,
Maria and Karen

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