The Dharma of Dr. King
In the last year of his life, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked on the Poor People’s Campaign, a nearly forgotten aspect of the minister’s work. Unlike the iconic March on Washington, and many subsequent marches, protests and events, the Poor People’s Campaign was an altogether different undertaking for King. He called for poor people across the country to travel to Washington, DC. His vision was not only a speech or a march, but the creation of an “encampment city,” three thousand Americans camped out on the National Mall, an army of nonviolent protesters and demonstrators brought to the footsteps of power. This work, combined with his anti-war rhetoric, marked the culmination of King’s efforts following the passage of the Voting Rights Bill in 1965.
This time period — 1965–1968 — also marked an evolution in King’s economic and political philosophy, which corresponded with a continued spiritual transformation as well. As he reflected in May 1967,
I think it is necessary for us to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights…[When] we see that there must be a radical redistribution of economic and political power, then we see that for the last twelve years we have been in a reform movement…That after Selma and the Voting Rights Bill, we moved into a new era, which must be an era of revolution…In short, we have moved into an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society.
For King, these basic questions meant whether America was approaching a “spiritual death,” whether the “land of the free” would find itself on the right side of history; whether his government would support “peaceful revolutions” or make “violent revolution inevitable.” And in considering the spiritual fate of America, King evolved his own place in history, from a voice for his black brothers and sisters to all of humanity.
As he worked on the Poor People’s Campaign, King’s attention was drawn to Memphis. His long-time mentor in nonviolence and colleague Dr. James Lawson called Dr. King, asking for help. The Memphis Sanitation Workers organized a strike after two garbage collectors were crushed inside the back of a truck. The strike in Memphis brought together black and whites, and was an issue of human rights. Come and help us, Lawson pleaded with King. King quickly rerouted his energy to Memphis.
A rally on March 28, 1968 turned violent: one protester killed, downtown shops looted, and police eventually sprayed tear gas in a church with hundreds of protesters. King, undeterred by the violence, returned to Memphis on April 3 for a rally, and delivered his prophetic “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech:
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. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And 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, will get to the Promised Land. And so I’m happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything; I’m not fearing any man.”
King planned to attend another march the following Monday.
Instead, at 6:05 PM on Thursday, April 4, 1968, Dr. King was shot dead.
On 50th anniversary of his assassination, a fresh look has emerged of Dr. King, including a closer examination of his inner life, his struggles and challenges that took place after his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. This speech has been the image that has been represented historically; a moment in time frozen, that of King more than five years before his assassination in Memphis, 1968. Now, his image has been further manipulated by that of car advertisers, conflating King’s message for selfless service with the purchase of a new truck.
King, a man who struggled against both abject and institutional racism prevalent in America, also found difficulty in being understood by his peers. In many ways, he was alone in his struggle. There is no place this is clearer than his “Beyond Vietnam: Time to Break the Silence” speech delivered on April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church in New York City; a landmark speech that called for a “radical revolution of values,” and named the United States government as the “greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.”
Ultimately, these words led to Dr. King’s death. While focused on domestic racism — particularly in the South — King found himself in contact with and supported by national leaders, including Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. As he saw that the moral injustice of racism was connected to the poverty created by capitalism and the senseless violence of global military campaigns, he became an enemy of the state. After “Beyond Vietnam,” delivered a year to the day of his assassination, King became further isolated in the national press, President Johnson, and his contemporaries in civil rights movement.
In that speech, we see a different King than the one who spoke to the nation in 1963. He moved beyond sectional concerns of race, speaking instead of the triple evils of poverty, racism and militarism. He knew these words would be unpopular, but the still, small voice of his conscious no longer allowed him to remain silent.
Dr. King’s commitment to speaking his truth, to the point of risking his own life, was spurred on by two great influences in his life: Mahatma Gandhi and Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. From Gandhi he received both the “technique of nonviolent social change” and a call to share the message of nonviolence with the world. From Nhat Hanh, who King nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967, King received an invitation to no longer betray his silence, and to live more fully into his vision of the Beloved Community.
These two men, as well as many of Gandhi’s disciples who mentored and worked directly with Dr. King, helped the Baptist minister evolve spiritually, heavily influenced by the teachings of India, which coincided with his call for the restructuring and reorganization of U.S. political and economic structures.
This work, which King gave his life for, is the Dharma of Dr. King.
Dharma is an ancient word, derived from the Indian language sanskrit. There is no direct translation into English; instead, the number of English words to describe dharma range from seven to twenty words. Dharma is a universal concept in Indian thought but holds holds a close association with Buddhism as it represents one of the three “jewels” of Buddhism: Buddha, dharma, sangha. For Buddhist, the Buddha’s teachings are considered dharma. It is not that the Buddha’s teachings are dharma, but rather that through the Buddha’s teachings one can find dharma: what is true. There is also a metaphysical dimension of dharma, with an acknowledgement that capital-T Truth exists in the structure and sustenance of the universe. For one to follow what is true, they bear or carry these teachings forward in their life. This then, becomes their dharma. It is an energy of inclusion, compassion and harmony. When one is engaged with their own dharma, they are moving in harmony with the divine forces in the world.
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