In an 1848 article in the Revue des deux mondes, the French novelist, Émile Souvestre, suggested that:

there is something more powerful than strength, than courage, than even genius: it is the idea whose time has come.

I would suggest that the practice of ‘mindful solidarity’, in which social and political engagement sits alongside meditation practice, is an example of an idea whose time has come.

In brief, the proposition of mindful solidarity starts by asking: How do we respond in a mindful and compassionate way to the social and political crises that we face? Buddhist meditators and progressive political activists rarely interact. Activists may dismiss Buddhism as irrelevant in the face of struggles for urgent political change, while many Buddhist meditators believe activists fail to recognise that human suffering arises not simply from unjust social institutions but also from our tendency toward greed, anger, and delusion.

Political activists with a meditation practice, imbued with an ethic of care, are likely to be more effective as they work to create fundamental social changes. At the same time, the Buddhist path of individual transformation is enriched by making it more ethically and socially focused.

The proposition of ‘mindful solidarity’ has been developed at length by Mike Slott, editor of this website, in his new book Mindful Solidarity: A Secular Buddhist Democratic Socialist Dialogue. Due to be published by Tuwhiri on 9 October 2024, you can find it here:

https://tuwhiri.org/pages/mindful-solidarity

How is the notion of mindful solidarity different from the popular term, mindfulness? Mindfulness caught the public imagination after Jon Kabat-Zinn developed Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as a program for people suffering from physical pain and emotional distress. Kabat-Zinn defined mindfulness as:

Paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally to things as they are.

Along with others, Kabat-Zinn showed that mindfulness, as it had developed through forms of meditation rooted in ancient Buddhist traditions, can be a powerful tool for alleviating stress and pain. What happened, though, was that mindfulness became thought of as a just solitary, quiet activity – meditation – performed by individuals and for the relief of individual stress.

While mindfulness programs are extremely valuable, what’s missing is any recognition that our distress and unhappiness are not just a matter of how we, as individuals, relate to our experiences. Many of our problems are rooted in exploitative and oppressive social systems that harm people, preventing us from living well and flourishing.

This is why Mike Slott argues in the book that there is a need to integrate mindfulness with political activism, along with the ethical values of care and compassion. He is appealing to both meditators and activists.

To meditators, he says: Carry on meditating, but we need to recognize the societal sources of suffering as well and the importance of collective action to address these sources of suffering.

To political activists, he says: Let’s keep up the good fight, since effective and fruitful political action depends on incorporating mindfulness and a basic sense of decency and compassion into our activism.

That’s what mindful solidarity is about. What are your thoughts? Get the book, and sign up for the Mindful Solidarity newsletter and leave a comment.