Good morning. Hello. My name is Jordan Thorne. I'm a priest and a student here at the Zen Center. And I'm the tanto. And the tanto is what, Paul? I'm in charge of residential practice. Thank you. I'm also the one sitting on the spot today offering this talk. And it's a privilege to do this, to be in this place. It's also a kind of humbling.

[01:04]

And it's humbling for various reasons. But in particular today, I feel humbled because this is Martin Luther King's holiday weekend and I want to talk a little bit about Martin Luther King and Buddhist practice and he was such a brilliant speaker that I feel, well, I feel a lot of respect for his ability to find words that are really helpful. So today's talk is offered with respect to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, to his memory and to his life and his works, which continued as strong teachers for us today. His birthday was yesterday, January 15th.

[02:12]

I think 1929. And he was 39 years old when he was murdered. He was 34 when he won the Nobel Peace Prize. I believe he was the youngest person to have ever received the Nobel Peace Prize. I don't know. At the time that was true. I don't know if since then some youngster has stepped into that spot. Anyway, first here we are in this room, in this place, which is a Buddhist temple. And as complicated as Buddhism can get, there are also some simple things that can be said about it. And one of the simple truths

[03:19]

of Buddhism, is that a student of the Buddha way needs to, ought to, arrange his, her life in a way that does not harm other beings, other people, which might be just collapsed to do no harm. And I think that is actually a simple foundation for practice. But as I say, do no harm, I also feel a little bit the limitation of those words. Because they might be construed as something a little bit passive, more about ourself, about the way we arrange our own life. And I want to add to a student of the way lives in a way that does no harm.

[04:31]

I want to add to that and say that a student of the way lives in a way that does not hinder others, that supports others, other folks to also wake up. Sometimes in Zen practice, we go down to the meditation hall, we put some emphasis on this, we sit by ourself. Even though we sit in a room with other people, we sit facing the wall, not talking to other people. But it's very important for our life, for our practice, for our Zen life, our human life, it's very important to interact with others. To help everyone else's positive circumstances and this is the way to understand do no harm we're not islands we're connected land masses each of us and Martin Luther King in 1963 when he was in the Birmingham jail he wrote in a letter

[05:55]

We are inescapable, we are caught, we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. We are tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one person directly affects all, indirectly. And then he said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And these words of Martin Luther King about this network of mutuality, they're very nearly exactly what in Buddhism is called the mutual chain of interdependent causation. In Sanskrit, called pratichad samudpada, the teaching that everything is dependent, and relational to something else, like the way a spider's web is all, you pull one corner of it and the far end quivers.

[07:16]

Martin Luther King said, everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see. Everything we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see. In our Buddhist practice, which is what we do here, Buddhist practice, if we really want to wake ourselves up, we have to take responsibility for helping others, for helping others to wake up. We can't leave them behind. And this is one of the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, and it's one of the ways I feel that this practice here in this temple connects to the life and teaching of Martin Luther King, this recognition of how we are all connected.

[08:30]

So here we are in a Buddhist temple, but this doesn't protect us from the world and from what's happening in the world and what's happening in the street and what's happening in our hearts. This might be a place dedicated to doing no harm, dedicated to not killing, dedicated to supporting a mind that is open, and warm-hearted. But still, we live as part of the large world. We live as citizens of this country, as citizens of this world. And in this large world we're a part of, there are some really complicated things. Like, for instance, a war, or wars. left and right.

[09:51]

Some war is being waged by our own government with our own tax dollars with the support of this nation. And it's difficult to understand how our silence can sometimes be a tacit support for this. It's not actually difficult. We can maybe perhaps understand. how our silence, if we are silent, can be a support for suffering being created. I was reading earlier today, actually over the last few days, I've been reading and sometimes listening to talks, sermons by Reverend King, And in the 1960s, talking about a different war, not talking about Iraq or Afghanistan, but talking about Vietnam, he said, the stages of history are replete with the chants and chants and choruses of conquerors who came killing in pursuit of peace.

[11:09]

So in this day when I see the leaders of nations talking peace while preparing for war, I take fearful pause. And at another time he said, the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. And right now, might be understood as a time of challenge and controversy, a time of concern. There's earthquakes in Haiti and wars in the Middle East and suicide bombers, perhaps

[12:17]

boarding planes right now. Who knows? But talking about suicide bombers boarding planes or wars in the Middle East is sort of a smokescreen. I mean, it needs to be talked about. But right here in front of us, we have also a lot of things to pay attention to. We don't need to. travel off to foreign dusty lands to find the work of our life. We can, though. So even a place like the San Francisco Zen Center, which intends to be a sanctuary, which intends to be a refuge, well, which wants to be a place that people feel safe at well sometimes people tell me some folks have told me that they don't feel comfortable here they feel nervous or intimidated or unwelcomed and a whole range of things as well so how do we make a safe place well i don't know if we can

[13:40]

but we should try. We need to make the effort. Living our life in a way that tries to cause no harm is not like a certain state of mind that we can gain and then kind of always have with us. And while we might take up that thought of living to benefit others, once taken up, it becomes complicated and needs to be reinvigorated over and over and over. Because it's nearly a given in our life that we are going to offend somebody sometime.

[14:45]

It's nearly certain that somehow at some time we're going to do something that someone feels it was harmful or painful. We might offend someone's sensibilities of what's appropriate and sometimes this is even especially true when we act from a place of strong conviction. Another quote from Martin Luther King. He said, I never intended to become adjusted to the madness of militarism. Maybe the great need of our nation is for a society of the creative maladjusted. The creative maladjusted. Maladjusted. like many of us.

[15:52]

So one of the problems of our life is that we think we've got a lot of time to work things out. We might think that anyway, or we certainly don't act like things need to be settled and taken care of immediately because we dawdle a lot. I dawdle a lot. And But what can be said truthfully with certainty is that we can never know when an earthquake will strike, when the strong building we take refuge in will crumble around us. We can never plan for and expect that today is the day when someone is going to shoot us and kill us, as Martin Luther King was killed on an afternoon in Memphis. when he was 39 years old. 39, he's not so old.

[16:59]

I can kind of remember when I was 39. Maybe some of you don't yet have that memory. You know, I think that when I was that age, I was not planning my eulogy. But with some premonition or what reason, who can know? Shortly before Martin Luther King passed away, in a sermon he gave, he told those folks there in the church how if he should die, how he wanted to be remembered. And on this day of remembrance of Martin Luther King, I want to read and share with you what he said.

[18:05]

He said, every now and then I guess we all think realistically about that day when we will be victimized with what is life's final common denominator. that's something that we call death. We all think about it, and every now and then I think, I, Martin Luther King, I think about my own death, and I think about my funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid way, and every now and then I ask myself, well, what is it that you would want said? And I leave the word to you this morning. I tell you now this morning. If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them to not talk too long. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize.

[19:10]

That isn't important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards. That's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. That is not important. I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right about the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

[20:14]

He said some more things. come back to them in a moment you know to do those things that Martin Luther King said he wanted to be remembered for none of us need any special credential none of us need permission We don't really even need that much money to do those things. And this is really what I believe our practice is for. We start by feeling confused and feeling that we are in distress and we come to a place like the Zen Center

[21:22]

And it's very true that in order to be helpful to other people, we have to be clear-minded and we have to have a personal health. But we do, we make this effort in order to bring others along with us. It just wouldn't be any fun by herself. As Martin Luther King said, I don't want a long funeral. And... Okay, picking... from where I stopped, I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

[22:24]

And then he went on to say, I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind, but I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say. If I can help somebody as I pass along, If I can cheer somebody with a word or a song, if I can show somebody he's traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain. And, you know, listening to him say these words, such a gifted voice, such a moving, strong grace that he had to be able to speak so beautifully. He said, If I can do my duty as a Christian ought, if I can bring salvation to a world once wrought, if I can spread the message as the master taught, then my living will not be in vain.

[23:31]

Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your side, not for any selfish reason. I want to be on your side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition, I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others so that we can make of this world a new world." And that was that day, his final word. So our Buddhist practice Our Buddhist practice is made real when we're challenged by contact with others, when our life composts with others.

[24:33]

And in particular, this thing called Zen is a tradition that has lasted for some thousands of years, has come down from Buddha in India through China to Japan and now the United States and elsewhere. And in all of these years, it has been communicated through friendships. a warm hand to warm hand, through encouraging words. And Dharma practice flourishes when we all make friends with each other. But we have to actually do some hard work to be ready for this.

[25:47]

It's not as easy as just simply saying, oh, let's be friends. If we really want to be friends with someone else, it helps. It goes a long way if we are first a friend with ourself, if we know who we are. Reverend King again. This is from his last sermon, though he did not know it was his last sermon. This is a sermon he delivered on the evening. This is from a sermon he gave on the night before he was shot in a church in Memphis. He reminisced

[26:48]

And he said, you know, several years ago I was in New York City. Several years ago actually meant it was in the late 50s when this thing happened to him. I was in New York City autographing the first book I'd written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, are you Martin Luther King? And I was looking down writing and I said yes. And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it, I'd been stabbed. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon, and that blade had gone through, and the x-rays showed the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta. And once that's punctured, you drown in your own blood. It's the end of you. It came out in the New York Times. the next morning, that if I had sneezed I would have died.

[27:52]

It was that close. Well, four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened up and the blade had been taken out, they let me move around in a wheelchair in the hospital and they allowed me to read some of the mail that had come. It had come in from all over the states and all over the world, kind letters I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I received a letter from the president, and I received a letter from the vice president. I've forgotten what those telegrams said. I received a visit and a letter from the governor of New York, but I've forgotten what he said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl, who was a student at White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I'll never forget it. It said simply, Dear Dr. King, I'm a ninth grade student at the White Plains High School.

[28:55]

While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I'm a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune and of your suffering, and I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I'm simply writing to say that I'm so happy you didn't sneeze. Laughter And I want to say to you, this is Dr. King again speaking, I want to say to you that I'm also happy I did not sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around in 1960 when students all over this house started sitting in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up. standing up for the best in the American dream. They were taking the whole nation back to the great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence.

[30:04]

If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been around in 1962 when Negroes in Albany, Georgia decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere because a man can't ride your back unless it's bent. If I had sneezed, I wouldn't have been here in 1963 when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama aroused the conscience of this nation and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill. I'm so happy that I didn't sneeze. This said the night before he was shot, he said, it doesn't matter now what happens to me. I left Atlanta this morning. And as we got started on the plane, there were six of us. And the pilot said over the public address system, he said,

[31:10]

We're sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on board, and we want to be sure all the bags are checked and that nothing could go wrong with the plane. So we have to check everything carefully, have the plane protected and guarded all night long. We've had the plane protected and guarded all night. And then I got to Memphis. And as soon as I arrived, some people began to talk about the threats, talk about the threats that were out. the things that could happen to me from some of our sick white brothers. Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got difficult days ahead, but it doesn't matter with me now because I've been to the mountaintop and I don't mind. Like everybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I've been to the mountaintop, and I don't mind.

[32:15]

I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will, and he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people, we will all get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. And then the next day, he was killed. So... Each of us, our lives will vary in length, maybe short or long.

[33:18]

But as Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said, the arc of the moral universe is long and it tends towards justice. The direction of our life, the instinct of our life, the arc of our journey towards awakening is long and is greater maybe even than any, than our individual story. This direction towards awakening is something that has survived through friendships, stretching back through history. This continuous thread joins the past with our future.

[34:30]

And it is our privilege, our responsibility to sustain it, to nourish it. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place, but I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. This great man died 40 years ago, and I was alive when he lived, but I was a kid, kind of a kid.

[35:33]

family, he was not respected. My parents did not think he was a good person. They were upset about his agitation. What a complicated world we live in.

[35:52]

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