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Martin Luther King Jr.                                                                                  Award  For Community Service

Lama Ragdrol's Acceptance Speech

Reverend Swisher, Dr. Fox, Reverend E, Honorable Key Note Speakers, Choir members, Fellow Recipients, praiseworthy event sponsors and coordinators, and members of this precious community it is my pleasure to be among you today. I am personally indebted to the aspirations of many people hailing from many races, communities, and countries both here and abroad. Their support has brought me to sharing these auspicious moments with you. The list of recognition is too long for these brief minutes of discussion but I would be remiss not to acknowledge the dedication of the Oakland Is . . . television show.  They have given voice to a discussion long over due regarding the legacy of black people in the rise of Buddhist peace throughout Asia and the world. This voice is not my voice. Rather, it is the indomitable voice of a black civilization whose genius was as inseparable from discussions of peace thousands of years ago as it is today.  Lastly, I must acknowledge the students of Buddhism, eastern religions, and philosophies who willingly pay the price of thinking differently than they may have been raised. The world is changing and our lives are involved in that change. Thank you for all you're doing.

The Buddha at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

It is my sincere hope that regardless of one's current faith, beliefs, and politic that when African's in America call on their ancestors they will forever include the call to the East. Even though we may think we are not connected, that feeling of disconnection is a part of our injury from slavery. We somehow have a sense that we are not connected to India's pre Dravidian civilization where successive black dynasties reigned long before the life of Buddha. Because of our disconnection we have spent three hundred years not knowing about monolithic Buddhist statues in Cambodia whose facial features are exactly that of Africa's Massai. Only recently have we come to know of a Royal family of India who's black son Bodhidharma traversed both sea and land to carry the word of Buddhist peace to China. He was the one who, after peacefully meditating for eight years in a cave, emerged to found the martial art of Kung Fu at the Shaolin Temple.  When African Americas recognize their ancestors to the East, another shackle in the chain of our injury from slavery is broken forever. To those that would make the case against this connection I would respond that "one drop' is one drop".

Bodhidharma Statue at site of Shaolin Temple, China

I don't say this to divide us in these times challenging times of. My intention is to remind us that we have always been united in the common cause of humanity's survival. We have never been anything other than interdependently one humanity wanting peace ourselves and our children.

Today we are not safe, Buddhists and not safe and neither a Christians, Jews, or Muslims. Atheists are not safe and all other faith beliefs are not safe today. Our children are not safe nor are the elderly. Every age in between is not safe either. Republican's, Democrats, independents, voters, non-voters, and so on; none of them are safe and there is no place to run or hide. Danger is around us in the same way that sleep surrounds a dream.

Like the Titanic, humanity has hit an iceberg. Unlike the Titanic, this great ship of freedom called America can be saved from sinking into the abyss of perpetual conflict. In my view the vision of Dr. King is key.

My friends, Dr. King new as much about his faith as anyone of his time and yet he saw the value of crossing lines in the name of pace. He crossed the line when he openly looked into the work of Ghandi, a Hindu. He crossed the line again when he later nominated Tich Naht Han, a Buddhist, for the Nobel Prize for Peace. What greater respect can a human being express than to want for another what he has achieved for himself? The Dalai Lama, a Buddhist, and Dr. King, A Christian, are both recipients of the exact same prize for peace. Again the common interest of peace glares into the face of our useless ethnocentric, racial, and political differences. We must strive for peace among all human beings today as though our lives depend on it, because it does.

Our common interest is as clear to me as the nose on my face. I look at my nose in a mirror, then I think about Dr. King's nose, the Dalai lama's nose, the nose of Colin Powell, the nose of Buddha statues through Asia, and the nose's of all my brother's and sister's throughout African America and I realize we have to be careful about thinking of ourselves as separate. We are not separate. Think of how easily we set our differences to the side when the serious illness knocks on our door. We have confidence that we can interchange our kidney, liver, heart, or blood because we know humanity flows in the same river of life.

Although we know many lines are drawn between us. Many of those lines were not drawn by us. Some of them have become outdated when one thinks how deeply we must work together to save ourselves from catastrophic annihilation.

I'm going to end now with an insight I hope you all consider further in the coming days:

We all agree this building has a property line correct? We are currently in West Oakland, right? Oakland has a city line that separates it from it's surrounding cities, do you agree? California has a state line like every other state in America. America itself has a line that separates it from its bordering countries. Indeed, the world is divided into nations each with their own borders and they take them very seriously. 

Here's my point:

When shuttle astronauts look down from their lofty perch in space what do they see? They see that there are no lines on this earth. They see that property lines, community lines, city lines, state lines, national and international borders only exist in the minds of human beings, And, that what we do to ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and our fellow human beings throughout the world based on these imaginary lines is a cause of human suffering created and perpetuated by ourselves on ourselves. Human beings are destroying the fabric of peace for themselves.

Dr. King saw these lines too, and his vision is an example on how to cross them peacefully without sacrificing the integrity of one's faith or politic.  If there is a battle to be fought it must be waged in the hearts and minds of human beings. Our reverence for the sacredness of human life is what distinguishes us from those we accuse of tyranny, oppression, and injustice.  Even if the clamor of War were to stop today we would still be in great peril.  Why? Because the truth is that even in times of peace we have been unable to quench the fires of anger, greed, and aggression among us over our racial, religious, political and territorial differences.  The survival of humanity is not just at odds with the warmonger outside of us but within us as well.  So we must be careful in making sure that the total obstacle of world peace is understood. We know the price Dr. King paid to establish this vision for us. And we, each and every one of us, must consider the price we are willing to pay to keep his vision alive. I cannot say what one must think or do. But, I can say I am glad to have the privilege of being among you today in celebration of Dr. King's vision of mutuality and peaceful coexistence. And, I accept this award on behalf of my friends and supporters.

Thank you

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