Postponed: Mindful Politics
with Bodhipaksa
Wednesdays, March 2nd – March 30th, 2022 | 7:00pm – 8:30pm ET
Due to unforeseen circumstances, this program has to be rescheduled for a future date.
Thank you and we apologize for any inconvenience.
In recent years the political sphere has been a source of intense stress and even trauma—and it’s likely to remain that way for some time to come.
The current situation is not just the same-old-same-old; politics is more polarized, hate-filled, and intolerant than it’s been in living memory. As spiritual practitioners living in this challenging context, we often struggle with maintaining our mindfulness and kindness.
Burning practical issues we’ll explore in this five-week course include:
• Even for people who have spent many years developing mindfulness and compassion, politics is a particularly difficult area. Why is that the case?
• How do we avoid withdrawing from political engagement in despair or cynicism?
• How can we maintain equanimity and calmness in the midst of crisis? And when democracy itself is under threat, how can we do so in a way that avoids ducking responsibility?
• What spiritual tools can help us remain empathetic and free from anger as we discuss politics with people whose views we find extreme?
• What are the most effective ways for us to change our opponents’ minds, when discussion seems to polarize us further?
• How do we avoid being dogmatic in our political beliefs and avoid our political identities from reinforcing rather than attenuating our self-view?
• As engage politically, how do we practice self-care so that we don’t burn out?
This course does not promise easy answers to these questions, but it will introduce tools, perspectives, and practices that can help you to think more deeply about them, and perhaps find your own answers.
With the help of traditional Buddhist teachings and insights from social psychology, and through exploring our own minds and emotions in meditative practice, we’ll seek a way to practice a more compassionate, wiser, and more mindful politics.
If you have any questions, please contact registration@nyimc.org.
Teacher(s)
Bodhipaksa
Bodhipaksa is a teacher of meditation and Buddhism, known for his accessible and down-to-earth approach to practice. Born in Scotland, he now lives in New Hampshire and has two children. He’s the author of several books, including “Wildmind: A Step-By-Step Guide to Meditation,” “Living as a River,” “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha,” and “This Difficult Thing of Being Human.” He is also the author of many guided meditation CDs and audiobooks, and is the founder of Wildmind (www.wildmind.org), a prominent online meditation center.