Teachers, practitioners, monastics, and administrators. Young and old. Novice protesters and veteran activists. Buddhists from all walks of life and virtually all major traditions.
The idea behind the conference was simple: Buddhists strive to alleviating suffering. Political and social crises cause immense suffering around the world. How can as-of-yet unconnected Buddhists groups work together to help?
The answer to that question is not simple. Unlike many other faith groups, Buddhism has no central authority, and there are differing beliefs about Buddhism’s role in politics and activism. Even among liberal American Buddhists, there is no consensus on the most important issues. Groups might focus on climate, immigration, heritage, justice, incarceration, food security, education, poverty, misogyny, racism, pollution, or other issues.
Yet, presenters noted, Buddhists do share common fundamental goals — like the promotion of wisdom and the alleviation of suffering. All Buddhists share a dedication to compassionate action, and so Buddhist activism is grounded in love, not hate.
Through the afternoon, participants broke into groups and put their ideas down on chart paper. On one sheet, each group identified overarching principles for the conversation, like playfulness, compassion, receptivity, engagement, and openness to disagreement. Then they discussed the purpose of the meeting. At the fore was the idea of giving Buddhists a more prominent position as a voice of justice, the importance of Buddhists working to alleviate suffering by engaging in social issues and politics, and a need for education about social issues in Buddhist communities.
As participants discussed how to organize such a movement, many focused on creating a network or coalition that would support communities and initiatives already underway. Finally, next steps for creating such a coalition were identified.
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