Mindful Politics

I am in the process of reading a book that I am going to go ahead and recommend. It is a book of essays called, Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place. Melvin McLeod, the editor, is a lifelong student of politics and is the editor of two Buddhist magazines. Mindful Politics, c 2006, is published by Wisdom Publications of Boston.

The introduction begins with McLeod saying that if Buddha ran for public office he would have a four-point platform:

• May all beings enjoy happiness and the root of  happiness.
• May they be free from suffering and the root of suffering.
• May they not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.
• May they dwell in the great equanimity free of passion, aggression, and ignorance.

He says that this platform is known as the four limitless ones and that the key word is "all." This prayer rather encapsulates the book.

The very thoughtful book includes different types of Buddhism and is divided into into three sections: View, Practice, and Action. Contributors include Thich Nhat Hanh, Sam Harris (author of The End of Faith), The Dalai Lama, Jerry Brown, Pema Chodron, Trungpa Rinpoche, bell hooks, Ezra Bayda, Meg Wheatley, and many more.


In our highly charged, extremely partisan, and rapidly changing global world this can be a very helpful book --as much as or more so than when it was first published.