Dharma Topics

Prior to each Thursday evening gathering in Silver Spring for meditation and Dharma sharing we send out an announcement of the topic. The announcement is includes a short essay that focuses on a way of bringing mindfulness into our lives, families, work, and society. Below are topics that we've discussed in the past.

The archive goes from 2004 to the present. You can search by one or more key words, such as: Compassion Training (no quotes), or by phrases, such as: “emotional and spiritual healing” (with quotes). If you would like to receive our weekly announcement, please click on the bar to the right.

The Nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr.

Facilitated by: Mitchell Ratner| in: Dharma Topics

Discussion Date: Thu, Jan 23, 2020

Dear Still Water Friends,

This Thursday evening, after our meditation, we will celebrate the birth, life, and continuing inspiration of Martin Luther King Jr.

In the Mahayana Buddhist tradition a person who combines great moral vision and courageous moral action is a bodhisattva, an awakened human being. A bodhisattva has gone beyond his or her own likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, to embrace the suffering and joys of others, and to embrace all of life.

Born in 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was an American bodhisattva whose vision and actions opened hearts, recast minds, and guided movements of peace and justice around the world. Thich Nhat Hanh writes in Living Buddha, Living Christ: “The moment I met Martin Luther King Jr., I knew I was in the presence of a holy... Continued