Enlightened Engagement

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect." —attributed to Chief Seattle, 1855

“Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” – Rumi

Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, chances are you regularly experience some degree of anger, frustration, or demoralization related to politics in the United States. It is easy to become cynical, to lose faith in the integrity of others, or to take refuge in ignorance by turning off the news. And yet, we intuitively know that our fragile democracy only works if we participate, that participation is the only way to better our situation and that of others. There is a middle path for those of us not willing to give up: enlightened engagement.

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Enlightened Engagement

Enlightened engagement is the Buddhist path of political participation, which encourages us to work for the greater benefit of all while maintaining equanimity and caring for ourselves. So how can we practice enlightened engagement?

For starters, it’s important to clarify realistic goals. Is it possible to engage in politics without having uncomfortable emotional reactions? Probably not. Are you going to feel some anger and frustration when those in opposition to your perspective dismiss you, misrepresent your views, and even lie in order to win? Any psychologist (or Buddhist) will tell you that it’s healthy to have feelings about that!

The key is not to prevent or escape the feelings, but to let them exist without getting caught up, or lost, in them. This distinction might be an interpretation like, “I don’t understand her view and I think she is wrong,” vs. “That person is evil and I hate him.” Another example of this distinction is noticing our anger vs acting in anger. Acknowledging and accepting feelings that arise is extremely healthy; by contrast, getting mired in tit-for-tat battles or lashing out takes a toll on our physical and mental health.

So we begin the path of enlightened engagement by expecting some discomfort and readying ourselves to notice when it happens and care for ourselves appropriately. And then we step back from our “side” and focus on the commonalities and interdependence of all living things on this planet so that we can wisely engage.

Interdependence and Compassion

Much as we like to think we are solely responsible for our lives, in fact, our happiness and prosperity are not just products of our individual actions or even of our good fortunes at birth. Rather, in order to get where we are, we had to rely on countless other people and circumstances that occurred in the particular way they did. For example, we were shaped by the people who raised us, taught us, healed us (and even hurt us). Then there are the countless hidden others making our lives possible: those who built the schools we attended and the roads on which we drive, wrote the books we have read, created the music we love; those who designed and sewed our clothes; those who grew the wheat for our morning toast, etc. When we pause to think about all of these people, the list is truly impressive. We have a lot of people to thank (only some of whom would probably agree with our political perspectives).

We are even more fundamentally reliant on non-human beings and factors in our environment. For example, the majority of the food we eat is grown thanks to soil of a certain quality and to weather of a specific kind. This is to say nothing of the habitability of our planet due to the positioning of the sun, our magnetic field, the chemical composition of the air that allows us to breathe, etc.

All these conditions must occur in order for our lives to exist as such, and we cannot free ourselves of our dependence on these countless variables. Similarly, others are dependent upon us: the work we do, the impact we make on the world around us. And our behavior creates the conditions upon which future people, beings, and environmental circumstances will occur.

Spend a few minutes contemplating this idea and you will naturally find yourself at its logical conclusion: We are all connected, whether we like it or not. We are all in this together. Furthermore, as human beings, we are more similar than dissimilar. We all want our children to grow up healthy, secure, and feeling loved. We all seek connection to others. We all suffer and become ill. We all die.

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We can rise above partisanship by building compassion and focusing on our human commonalities. Compassion benefits our own mental health and enables us to feel inspired, engaged, and optimistic — rather than demoralized, angry, or resentful — about the state of the world. Compassion practices encourage us to reject the false narrative (so deftly employed by politicians) that we belong to teams called “us” and “them.” To engage in an enlightened way, we must truly understand that we are all on the same team.

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Superordinate Goals

The famous Robber’s Cave research experiments introduced the idea that when people from opposing sides must come together to work toward common, essential goals (called superordinate goals,) it increases understanding and cooperation and reduces tension and conflicts among groups. But this is true only for goals that offer the prospect of success for both groups, not goals that only one group can enjoy. For example, saving the planet we all share would be a superordinate goal. Or getting the COVID-19 pandemic under control.

While there are countless important initiatives and issues we can support and fight for, we can most readily find common ground by focusing our energies on superordinate goals. Doing so is both altruistic and practical, as it benefits us all and we are more likely to find consensus and build cooperation in these domains. The hopeful result of skillfully working on these types of goals is that our engagement with the political process will be less interpersonally contentious and more impactful.

Begin the Journey

I recommend taking some time to absorb these ideas and then moving on to the following steps if this approach to engagement appeals to you:

1. Adopt the mindset with meditation practice on interdependence and compassion.

2. Talk to neighbors and relatives to identify superordinate goals. Or research the surprisingly large number of things Americans agree on, regardless of party affiliation.

3. Act with compassion and thoughtfulness toward identified goals.

4. Maintain inspiration in the face of difficulty by connecting with others who are working to better the world.

5. Take breaks for self-care, as needed.