Two Great Men Died on April 4th

April 4 is always an interesting day. Genuinely Sad. Two men who profoundly impacted many people's relationship to spirituality and being a basically good person, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., both passed away on this date in different years. Dr. King was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, and Trungpa Rinpoche passed away on April 4, 1987. Here is one quote from each. If you like, please share your favorite quotes in the comments section.

"There are many people who are more learned than I and more elevated in their wisdom. However, I have never made a separation between the spiritual and the worldly.If you understand the ultimate aspect of the dharma, this is the ultimate aspect of the world. And if you should cultivate the ultimate aspect of the world, this should be in harmony with the dharma."

-Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987)

“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality. Did you ever stop to think that you can’t leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom and reach over for the sponge, and that’s handed to you by a Pacific islander. You reach for a bar of soap, and that’s given to you at the hands of a Frenchman. And then you go into the kitchen to drink your coffee for the morning, and that’s poured into your cup by a South American. And maybe you want tea: that’s poured into your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you’re desirous of having cocoa for breakfast, and that’s poured into your cup by a West African. And then you reach over for your toast, and that’s given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. And before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world. This is the way our universe is structured, this is its interrelated quality. We aren’t going to have peace on Earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.”- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

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