How Do We Respond In A Mindful, Compassionate Way To The Social And Political Crises We Face?

On 25 July 2024, the Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand imprint Tuwhiri launched a Kickstarter campaign to publish Mindful Solidarity: A Secular Buddhist Democratic Socialist Dialogue by Mike Slott. To pre-order this book – helping to ensure its publication – people are encouraged support Tuwhiri’s Kickstarter campaign.

In this book, Mike Slott, a longtime labour activist and a member of the north New Jersey chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, encourages political activists and Buddhist practitioners to connect with and learn from each other. He argues that a secular form of Buddhism and democratic socialist politics are both essential if we want to create a non-exploitative and just society in which everyone has the opportunity to flourish.

Secular Buddhism enables us to recognise the ways in which we harm ourselves and others, as well as how our actions weaken progressive political movements. An ethically-informed, secular Buddhist meditation practice, he suggests, is an essential tool for activists working to transform oppressive social institutions, the source of so much human suffering. Political movements can become more sustainable and fruitful by incorporating the Buddhist virtues of mindfulness and compassion into our campaigns and projects.

Slott contends that we need to be engaged in both individual and social transformation – meditative practices and political movements. The two processes mutually interact and support each other. To the extent that we can transform ourselves through secular meditative practices, we become more effective in our political practice. At the same time, our political activism should aim for not just social transformation but also at individual transformation by supporting our capacities for mindfulness and compassion.

© Scoop Media