How Buddhist Values, Practices, and Insights Contribute to the Movement for Democracy and Justice

The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy (BCD) aims to bring together a broad range of Buddhist practitioners from many lineages and with varied political perspectives to participate in the movement to resist the ongoing destruction of democratic norms and our rights by an increasingly authoritarian Trump administration.

There are, of course, thousands of groups and coalitions in the U.S. focused on the same objective, both faith-based organizations and a wide assortment of secular movements, including labor unions, civil rights organizations, and progressive non-profits working on various issues. To get a sense of the breadth of this movement, click here to see the organizational “partners” for the recent June 14^th No Kings nationwide protests.

So, among all these groups, what does the BCD have to offer as a unique contribution to this broad movement to defend democracy, human rights, and social justice?

First, it’s important to acknowledge Buddhism’s limitations in this context. Buddhism doesn’t provide a comprehensive social or political theory of the causes that have led to this perilous moment. Nor does Buddhism offer guidelines for the specific strategies we need to respond effectively to the MAGA attack on democracy. We need other perspectives and practices to develop such theories and strategies; and these are found primarily in a variety of secular movements, including human rights, democratic socialist, feminist, and anti-racist groups.

Instead, the value of Buddhism lies in three areas: its valuable insights about the complexity of human beings; the importance of meditative practices in cultivating the positive capacities of human beings; and its prioritization of certain ethical values. These three dimensions are essential if we want our political activism to be more effective, humane, and sustainable.

Buddhism recognizes that all human beings will experience various forms of suffering — from a mild sense of unease to horrific trauma – in our lives. In a world that is constantly changing and interconnected, human beings will never be able to hold on to what is pleasant and good for us. Instead, as limited, vulnerable beings within a complex web of causes and conditions, we experience sickness, aging, death, and the loss of those we love, as well as all the other disappointments and vicissitudes of our mortal existence. While we experience many joys, we are vulnerable, limited creatures who inevitably suffer.

Our response to the difficulties of the human condition is complex, reflecting our multifaceted human nature. On the one hand, we tend to think, feel, and act in self-defeating ways which cause harm to ourselves and others. Not only do we tend to have a false understanding of our experiences, but our actions tend to be instinctively reactive, dominated by anger and/or greed, capacities which cause suffering to ourselves and others. These are the “three poisons” of greed, anger, and delusion which have a huge impact on us and which we entrench in habits of behavior and thought.

On the other hand, these tendencies coexist with other human capacities, notably mindfulness, compassion, and our ability to gain a better understanding of ourselves, others, society, and the world. These capacities enable us to respond creatively and skillfully to the ups and downs of life.

Based on a recognition of our complexity as human beings, Buddhism thus can provide movements for democracy and social justice with a fuller understanding of the needs, motivations, and tendencies of human beings, and how to address them.

Second, Buddhism offers a way of life or path to cultivate our positive capacities so that human beings suffer less and have a greater opportunity to flourish. In addition to ethical action and gaining greater wisdom, the Buddhist eightfold path highlights the importance of meditative practices to counteract the destructive poisons of greed, anger, and delusion, which unfortunately are just as evident within progressive political movements as in other areas of society. Through meditation, we cultivate the ability to become calmer and more mindful in experiencing our internal life and the world outside us. We become less reactive and more capable of responding creatively to all that we experience. We recognize that we are limited, vulnerable beings within the web of causes and conditions. We come to understand the value of keeping an open mind, given the contingent and changing nature of reality. And perhaps most important, we realize our deep connection with all other beings; we become less ego-focused and more capable of orienting toward ourselves and others with an attitude of loving friendliness.

These salutary effects of meditation are integrally connected to Buddhism’s ethical stance. Buddhist ethics acknowledges the ways in which we interconnect to each other, and that we all suffer yet seek happiness. To reduce suffering and promote flourishing, Buddhism prioritizes the values of care and non-harming as the basis of an ethical life. These values need to be integrated into all aspects of our lives, including our political activities. They provide an antidote to some common ailments in political movements: the unfortunate tendency to use any means to attain an end; the widespread internal conflicts in political groups based on excessive egoism and the pursuit of power over others; and the common practice of labeling those we disagree with as an enemy.

So, how do these insights, meditative practices, and values strengthen the work of political activists and the overall movement for democracy and social justice? Here are some important ways:

· By developing our capacity to be more mindful and non-reactive through meditation, we can deal with the ups and downs of movement activity, stay focused on our strategies and ultimate goals, and exercise patience and perseverance in our efforts.

· An awareness of our limitations, complexity and vulnerability enables us to have more compassion toward each other in political settings. We are all imperfect; we all have strengths and weaknesses. We all suffer in various ways, not just from social institutions but from the unskillful ways with which we relate to our experience. A recognition of these basic facts of human existence leads to a more realistic perspective on what we can accomplish together and how we can help each other.

· Buddhism’s recognition of uncertainty and change promotes what the Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki called ‘beginner’s mind’, an openness to new perspectives and a refusal to get too attached to any one point of view. This promotes healthy debates and discussions among political comrades.

· Buddhists understand that, given the interconnected and changing nature of life, we don’t have complete control over events, and the results of our efforts are often not what we wished for. What we accomplish will depend on the efforts of our fellow activists and all the causes and conditions that provide the context for our activity. At the same time, when we lose sight of these insights and have an overly self- absorbed focus on my role and my efforts to achieve social change, we are likely to cause ourselves and others to suffer, to be harmed. In this context, we can easily lose sight of what our goals are.

· Recognizing our limits and lack of control, and the need to cultivate mindfulness and compassion, political activists recognize the importance of practices of self-care to sustain our political activism.

· While anger as a response to social injustice and harm is natural and understandable, and is an important impetus to engaging in radical politics, activism based mainly on hatred – particularly hatred toward our opponents – often attracts negative consequences. We can easily become overwhelmed by anger and give up on doing anything, or our activism can become less about an appropriate response and more about meeting our need to express that anger. We can learn to recognize the common humanity of our opponents on the field of conflict and not demonize them, while still being steadfast in our fight against their actions. If we believe the capitalist system is our primary enemy, demonizing corporate leaders or those who support this system often drives away more potential allies than it attracts.

By incorporating these understandings and practices into our work as political activists, Buddhist practitioners can make a unique and important contribution to the movement for democracy and social justice.

Some of the material in this essay is adapted from my book, Mindful Solidarity: A Secular Buddhist Democratic Socialist Dialogue