Spiritual Activism

The Greatest Spiritual Explosion

The great Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca once said: “The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth, there will be the greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known. Humanity cannot imagine the joy that will burst into the world on the day of that great revolution.” As a Buddhist, I consider the Buddha’s enlightenment (and his “turning the wheel of the Dhamma”) to be the greatest spiritual event in human history. But I still find it striking that Lorca says the eradication of hunger will launch a “spiritual explosion.” To my mind, this suggests two things.   MORE >

A Walk Can Be More Than A Walk

Walking can be viewed in bare physical terms as an intricate interplay of nerve impulses, muscles, and bones resulting in a change of location. Viewed pragmatically, walking is a means for getting us from one place to another, from our starting point to our goal. But the process of walking can bear a significance greater than bodily mechanics; it can play a wider role than satisfying our everyday needs. Walking can be an act of conscience by which we project our values and ideals from the inner recess of the heart out into the world. The process of walking can move minds and motivate action. It can even change the course of history, causing empires to tumble and unjust systems to bend.  MORE >

Eating the Body of the World

As we all know, living the Dharma is living conscientiously, which means taking responsibility for our whole life. And taking responsibility also means being aware of how we exist within the interconnected web of existence. It includes how we relate to others, how we drive, and how we eat. How we conscientiously eat includes the whole interdependent web involved in the act: what we eat, how we eat it, how we get our food, and how all this affects others and the planet.  MORE >

Accompanying document: The Five Contemplations – Meal Gathas

BGR “Launch” Event

Videos from the BGR Program
“Turning Back the Tide: The Sacred Dimension of Compassionate Action.”