Follow-up on King and Buddhism

I had the feeling that my comments comparing King's wisdom to the notion of wisdom in Buddhism were superficial and not very clear. You may disregard that passage I quoted about the final words of the Buddha. At the same time, I would insist there is a connection. It is not only the notion of mindfulness living, but the Buddhists also believe in what they call "interbeing" which stresses the interrelationship of all living things. You see this reflected in some of King's later writings when he talks in his last book about "The World House." For example, King said the following:

"In a real sense all life is interrelated. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the inter-related structure of reality."

Now, I would be the first to admit, such a view of reality has sources other than Buddhism, but nonetheless it reflects a fundamental Buddhist belief.

King did have a personal relationship with that Vietnamese monk, whose name I put on the board, Thich Nhat Hanh. Thich Nhat Hanh said in an essay he wrote after King's death that his followers considered King a "bodhisattva," or Buddhist "saint". And King did nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, I just picked up Thich Nhat Hanh's latest book, "no death, no fear," and on the back cover is a quote from Dr. King from the letter he wrote nominating Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize. King said:

"Thich Nhat Hanh is a holy man, for he is humble and devout. He is a scholar of immense intellectual capacity. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity."


That's all for now. Remember the extra credit opportunity described in the previous blog post for next Tuesday 2/17, and don't forget the first writing assignment due next Thursday 2/19.