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There’s something very mysterious about life and its connections and coincidences. The reading of the final chapter of Larry Tye’s book, Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon, brought me back to the speech that Bobby delivered the night Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. He said then,

“What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness, but it is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country.”

The day after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy delivered another speech known as “On the Mindless Menace of Violence,” in which he said,

“… but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression breeds retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our souls. For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly, destructive as the shot, or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions, indifference, and inaction, and decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is a slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books, and homes without heat in the winter. This is the breaking of a man’s spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man amongst other men. And this too afflicts us all. For when you teach a man to hate and to fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color, or his beliefs, or the policies that he pursues; when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom, or your job, or your home, or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies—to be met not with cooperation but with conquest, to be subjugated, and to be mastered. We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, alien men with whom we share a city, but not a community, men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in a common effort. We learn to share only a common fear—only a common desire to retreat from each other—only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force.”

Bobby’s words continue to touch me deeply, especially in these times when so many individuals of questionable character are rising to power throughout the world. I truly believe that if we dedicate ourselves to work on our own selves to expand our hearts and minds, we will experience the epiphany of oneness, and realize that we can organize ourselves to live in this world in immensely gentler ways, without so many divisions and conflicts, creating a world where everyone can live thriving and dignified lives. I know that once we experience this inner transformation and grow in selflessness, sayings such as, “We are all in this together,” and “From a distance there are no borders,” gain much deeper and expanded meanings. If we forsake violence completely and practice compassion and love wholeheartedly, I am convinced that we can bring Heaven to Earth. The truth, for me, is that Heaven is here, if we want it to be.

We have to consider that our political leaders are a reflection of who we are, and if we want better politicians, we, ourselves, need to be better. I also believe that one of the most productive things we can do to change our less-than-perfect political system is to engage in personal inner work. Please, don’t hastily prejudge and discard this idea. May the insanity and absurdities of these political farces we see playing out all the time before our eyes awaken in us the conscience of the need to work to change our own selves.

Piero Falci teaches Mindfulness Meditation and Mindful Living, leads Insight Meditation Silent Retreats, and organizes Silent Peace Walks. Piero is an educator who believes that the inner work that leads to personal awakening and transformation is indispensable to create a wholesome world. He is a promoter of peace who believes in advancing the idea that Heaven is here if we want it to be. His latest book is "A Better Life in a Better World: Can Mindfulness Save Us from Ourselves?" For more information, visit his website www.pierofalci.com