Namaste to everyONE,

For those of you who didn't receive this post on the Love Radiance forum, I wanted to share it with you.

While I realize that this isn't a forum to use for promoting certain ideologies that are more of a personal agenda, I thought it was fitting to share this tonight with all of you in the spirit of love, unity and peace.

After writing the last post, I began to watch the Democratic Presidential debates on CNN in the United States and was quickly reminded of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Today, here in the United States we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of his death.

While most people in our country and anyone else in the world who knows about him are familiar with his " I Have a Dream " speech, there are many unpublicized speeches made by him that have as much if not more impact and relevance to the state of our world today.

My words in the previous post came from more of a transcendental state of awareness which may have its place, but it seems to me that we are needing a spirituality that is embodied, one that doesn't seek to transcend the often tough and very challenging issues of our times. I've often chose to seek the light and attempt to transcend mundane reality in an effort to become " enlightened. " What I realize is that the " spirituality " which I now seek to embody is not either transcendent or immanent but it is both, transcendent and immanent. It is a spirituality that recognizes the Spirit of the One as the Ultimate Orchestrating Principle in the lives of everyONE while at the same time courageously takes action in service to that which serves the highest good for all.

I am sometimes embarassed or maybe the more appropriate word is " ashamed " of the times in which I have backed away from the challenge of standing up for what I know in my heart is the right thing to do. I have allowed fear to dictate the choices I've made in many situations when courage was required to face the fear and act with fortitude for values and principles that I've known were worth standing up for.

I just read one person's interpretation of Martin Luther King Jr's legacy at: http://www.alternet.org/story/74337/.

While Adam Howard's take on MLK is one of thousands, I couldn't help but realize that his interpretation really highlights how MLK was able to represent the transcendent and the immanent, the practical visionary, or visionary prophet with both feet on the ground. What made him so real was his ability to deliver the Vision of " I Have a Dream " while at the same time being willing to stand on the front lines and take action that would contribute to manifesting this dream on earth as he received it from the inner heavens of consciousness. MLK was a revolutionary leader in every sense of the word. He represented the undercurrent that had been smoldering beneath the surface of mass consciousness for many years which eventually erupted into the civil rights movement that began a collective movement towards freedom and liberation that would impact society on many levels.

We are still engaged in this movement and I see this Global Resonance Network as part of a response to the call of embracing a more embodied spirituality where the diverse elements of the world are recognized as strands of one interconnected Web of Life. I see the need to use inspired language with corresponding action that demonstrates the willingness to be a courageous warrior of the Spirit. If I really trust in the Spirit, then I will be able to stand with MLK when he spoke these words while sensing that his physical life and body didn't have much time left on the earthplane:

" Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. 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 I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. ( Adam Howard's response: Even if the spiritual content and motivation of his words don't ring true for you, the essence of his bearing certainly should.)

Here are spoken words of MLK that aren't publicized as much as his, " I Have a Dream " speech which highlight his understanding of the interconnectedness of life and his willingness to speak out against what he saw as injustice and wrongs that the government was perpetrating against its peoples.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." -- Dr. Martin Luther King jr, "Letter from Birmingham Jail", April 1963

"As I have walked," King told the crowd assembled in Riverside Church a year before his assassination, "among the desperate, rejected and angry young men I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked, and rightly so, what about Vietnam? They asked if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."

Lastly, Adam Howard writes, Just because he was motivated by love and peace, that doesn't mean that his message needed to be soft spoken and genteel. It can be and should be about reclaiming power. King himself said:

"There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly. You see, what happened is that some of our philosophers got off base. And one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites, polar opposites, so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love."

I have tried as much as anyone else to transcend the darkness and spend time in " light and love. " However, I've also come to realize that this type of " love " lacks something very needed in order to bring about lasting transformation. As I write these words, I'm convinced more than ever that if I don't act more courageously in situations that call for it and choose to walk away from challenges in which my faith and trust in the One is tested then I am representing a spirituality that lacks the authentic power needed to bring about true and lasting " change " (a word that seems to be used very often in the political arena at this time of elections in the United States).

Tonight I reflect upon the legacy of MLK, a modern day prophet, visionary, revolutionary and spiritual warrior who truly radiated love and stood up for unity in the darkest of times. While I may never be able to live up to the shining example that he set for all peoples who seek freedom and liberation from oppression, I do hope to embody some of the ideals and qualities that his life exemplified until it was abruptly ended 40 years ago on this day.

Love, Peace and Power,

Jonathan