Martin Luther King on Karma Sort-of...

[Guest guest]

Om Prem -

 

Not being a pacifist by nature or possibly by desire, I have to be

reminded of why one must seek peace when one can with others because

by not doing so it perpetuates the hate, therefore attachments,

bondage to the other and karma. I think what Dr. King is saying

applies to karma and its perpetuation.

 

Eric

 

 

SERMON ON LOVING YOUR ENEMIES

 

http://www.stanford.eduKing/publications/sermons/571117.002_Lov

ing_Your_Enemies.html

 

The Greek language comes out with another word for love. It is the

word agape. And agape is more than eros; agape is more than philia;

agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive

goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It

is an overflowing love; it's what theologians would call the love of

God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this

level, you begin to love men, not because they are likeable, but

because God loves them. You look at every man, and you love him

because you know God loves him. And he might be the worst person

you've ever seen.

 

And this is what Jesus means, I think, in this very passage when he

says, "Love your enemy." And it's significant that he does not

say, "Like your enemy." Like is a sentimental something, an

affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it

difficult to like. I don't like what they do to me. I don't like what

they say about me and other people. I don't like their attitudes. I

don't like some of the things they're doing. I don't like them. But

Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is

understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love

everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that

will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And

here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the

evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what

Jesus means when he says, "Love your enemy." This is the way to do

it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your

enemy, you must not do it.

 

Now for the few moments left, let us move from the practical how to

the theoretical why. It's not only necessary to know how to go about

loving your enemies, but also to go down into the question of why we

should love our enemies. I think the first reason that we should love

our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus'

thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence

of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I

hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad

infinitum. [tapping on pulpit] It just never ends. Somewhere somebody

must have a little sense, and that's the strong person. The strong

person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of

evil. And that is the tragedy of hate, that it doesn't cut it off. It

only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe.

Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off

and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and

powerful element of love.

 

I think I mentioned before that sometime ago my brother and I were

driving one evening to Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Atlanta. He was

driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very

discourteous that night. They didn't dim their lights; hardly any

driver that passed by dimmed his lights. And I remember very vividly,

my brother A. D. looked over and in a tone of anger said: "I know

what I'm going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses

to dim the lights, I'm going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in

all of their power." And I looked at him right quick and said: "Oh

no, don't do that. There'd be too much light on this highway, and it

will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some

sense on this highway."

 

Somebody must have sense enough to dim the lights, and that is the

trouble, isn't it? That as all of the civilizations of the world move

up the highway of history, so many civilizations, having looked at

other civilizations that refused to dim the lights, and they decided

to refuse to dim theirs.