“WE ARE ALL EQUAL”
The country has never been so divided between the rich
and the poor as it is now. The rich are getting richer and more powerful while
the rest are struggling to make a living. The rich were once called “the better
class” and there still may be some people who see it that way, but the truth
is, no one is any better than anyone else.
Your position in life depends on the whims of fate. It’s
all a matter of where and when you are. You can take a very rich man and put
him on a battlefield where his money can’t stop bullets and he’ll be no better
than anyone else. Take a successful computer technician and put him in Amish
country and he’ll suddenly find that his skills won’t get him very far. A
famous actor wouldn’t be much help at the scene of car accident. What we think
of as “important” or what makes us “better” than someone else is fungible.
Racism is a similar thing. Some people believe themselves
to be born better than others because of their color, religion sex or sexual
orientation.
Doctor Martin
Luther King was a man who was once told he was not the equal of other men
because of the color of this skin. He was told where he was allowed to sit in a
bus or a restaurant. But he never accepted the idea that he was a lesser man
than anyone else. He defied his oppressors, stood up for what he believed in
and led a movement that would change the world. Doctor King knew that everyone
was equal and that everyone was worthy of respect. He knew that there should be
no discrimination.
At one time, traditional
schools of Buddhism, like so many other religious practices, discriminated
against women, denying them equality in their faith. Buddhist women were told
that there was no possibility of their attaining enlightenment or becoming Buddha’s.
That’s changed today and woman can hold exalted positions. Similarly, the Native
Americans were once an oppressed minority. They were called “Redskins”.
Hollywood portrayed them as illiterate savages. It’s only in recent years that
a more enlightened generation has come to see the error of this.
Sometimes all it
takes is one person with courage to remind us of this truth. Sometimes, all it
takes is a Martin Luther King or a Gandhi to light the flame and soon there
will be two, four, eight and then eighteen and then eighty and then eight
hundred and then eight thousand and so on, who stand up against those who say
they are inferior. More and more, people today are awakening, as if from a
sleep, joining the march toward enlightenment.
On our own, we
sometimes doubt our potential. But it’s always within us, even when we doubt.
Just like a tree in winter, waiting for a bit of warmth to help it bloom. We’re
like the trees, waiting for the moment when we’ll bloom. We don’t realize our
full potential until we are inspired to unlock it. As Emily Dickenson said, “We never know how high we are until we are
called to rise.”
Our commitment
may ebb at times. One day we may feel that we can conquer the world and the
next we let small problems get the better of us. But it’s when we are feeling
weak that we need to remember that every one of us has greatness inside.
A great leader or
teacher, like a Gandhi or a Dr. King can help bring out this latent greatness
which we all have. Sometimes inspiration is the difference between a life of
unhappy mediocrity and a life fulfilled.
“Teach me half the gladness that the brain
must know, such harmonious madness from my lips would flow, and the world would
listen then, as I am listening now.” Mary Shelly.
We can all learn
and we can all achieve Buddhahood. When Martin Luther King said “We’ll get to the promised land” he spoke
for all of us who would plant the seeds of indestructible fortune in our lives
and make a better world, with equality and victory for all.
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