“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate, cannot drive our hate, only love can do that”.
Martin Luther King
MLK is still the man, though most activists today don’t heed his advice and are filled with hate for their perceived opposition.
Buddha expressed the same idea as MLK when he said, “Hatred does not ever cease by hatred but by love alone is healed”.
One of my teachers Dr John Demartini says that anything you judge, you breed, you attract, and you become.
Stop and think about that for a minute.
What he is saying is that you create what you fight against, you attract what you judge, and you ultimately turn into what you hate.
That’s a scary thought. It should make us consider how we approach the things we would like to see changed in the world.
These great teachers are suggesting that violence and activism (attempting to create change) are oppositional and that to create lasting change we must transcend our judgement and hate for the supposed ‘enemy’. We must find a way to open our hearts to connect more with one another and open our eyes to seeing things from the opposing side so that we can find a way forward together. PS. One of the most inspiring books of recent times was the Autobiography of Martin Luther King. I got the Audible version last year and have listened to it a few times already. It is beautifully done as it weaves his story narrated in amongst the original audio recordings of many of his spine tingling speeches. Virtually every word from this extraordinary spiritual being is quotable. His message is as needed now as it was then.