Political Activism as a Spiritual Path
by Tess Pender
Activism – Expressing Our Highest Values
How can political activism be a path to know God? What do those words even mean? From dictionary.com:
Activism – 1. The doctrine or practice of vigorous action or involvement as a means of achieving political or other goals, sometimes by demonstrations, protests, etc. 2. Philosophy. a theory that the essence of reality is pure activity, especially spiritual activity, or process.
From Wikipedia: Modern spirituality is centered on the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” It embraces the idea of an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality. It envisions an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being.
Activism is a means of expressing and living one’s highest values. Once a person understands and adopts a spiritual belief system, the next step, traditionally, is to reject the trappings of the former life, and devote one’s self to living in alignment with the new system. Jesus preached his “good news” in every town, offering a method to reach salvation. For those who are not born the Redeemer, we need another path. That path is to live a life guided by moral principles – and that means be active politically.
The Value of Human Life Demands Activism
A simple example is the belief in the value of all human life. The believer can give away all worldly possessions, but this carries limited effect. A more universal act is to change the system so to meet all individual basic needs. The political activist can feed the poor in violation of local laws, can work to pass universal care policies, or can work on providing minimal “life support” (food, shelter, health care) to everyone. All these are political activities designed to change society to align with spiritual beliefs.
Most spiritual and ethical systems start with respect and care for others, so, unless you have adopted Ayn Rand as your spiritual mentor, the next logical step on the path is to work for societal improvement. The most effective way to do that is to get active.
While the mystics who separated from the world to live in seclusion and prayer may be admirable for their devotion, they did not change society. Feeding, educating, delivering health care and shelter are the actions that demonstrate love and compassion on this plane. Hence, it is impossible to care for a soul driven from the body by starvation or illness!
The Demands of a Spiritual Life
To know God is to understand the demands of the spiritual life, then to live those ethics and help others to reach the same awakening. “A people that recognizes itself to be the focus of God’s special concern, or that devotes itself to the exemplary life called for by the truth, also recognizes that it is responsible to manifest the highest standards of faith and behavior.” (WORLD SCRIPTURE: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts, Dr. Andrew Wilson, Editor, International Religious Foundation, 1991).
Thus, the steps of awakening are: 1) Adopt a value system; 2) determine what needs to happen on earth to bring about that value system; and 3) get active with others (the polity) to make it happen!
About the Author
Tess Pender is an ordained Interfaith Minister, active in 12-step programs for thirty years. Her spiritual practice began in Native American Sweat Lodges under the guidance of a Medicine Women, led to four Vision Quests. She led a Teen Spiritual Education Program for four years, teaches classes on accessing intuition, practices Earth-Centered Spirituality and co-founded two Wicca-inspired groups. Tess can be reached at: www.facebook.com/Rev-Tess-Interfaith-Minister-1333335763419001/
Most spiritual and ethical systems start with respect, care for, and purification of oneself. Caring for others is never trumped by personal responsibility.
Many of the mystics who separated from the world to live in seclusion and prayer have changed society in a big way by attaining supreme levels of consciousness. There would already be nothing left of human civilization but scorched earth and desolation without them. The TM movement showed how this works by their own modern-day experiments: When they gathered together in various cities in the US by the hundreds to meditate together for a month, there were noticeable drops in the cities’ monthly crime rates in each case.
It is very popular for people to take up external activism and protest now because it feel good to the ego to be ‘against’ something in the name of being ‘for’ another thing. Self-righteousness is always a sign of non/anti-spirituality. The best. most reliable, and most difficult approach is to go inside (via meditation, sadhana, etc.) and continue to purify all your patterns beliefs, and attachments to the external. When enough of that is done, inner truth and knowing (which is the only true guide) arise spontaneously. And that, along with taking responsibility, leads to the sadhak naturally going out into the world to act. And because the action is guided by the higher self rather than the mind/ego becoming a believer or ‘joiner’ in any pop cause, it is right and effective.
Actually, i never really bought into the whole non-attachment idea! If we choose to live in this world, then I believe we have a moral obligation to improve it! (Or as in the Zen story of the death of the Master’s son: “Oh, but you understand this is an illusion” He replies, “Yes, and the death of your child is the most painful illusion possible!” I actually did not advocate “external activism and protest” though I feel they are vital and necessary! I recommended doing the work of improving the world for the vulnerable – providing food, shelter, health care. EVERY spiritual tradition has some version of the golden Rule. One of the Five pillars of Islam is giving to the poor. In Christianity, it is said “Hope, faith, and Charity – and the greatest of these is Charity! Jesus said the greatest law is to love God, and the second is to love others as oneself. I do not think “Most spiritual and ethical systems start with respect, care for, and purification of oneself. ” All that I have studied demand that the aspirant care for others. the most revered Swamis in India set up schools, orphanages, and hospitals. I do not accept your characterization of political activism as “ego” or anti-spirituality.
It all depends on how its done. When people get self-righteous and strident about their activism, it is ego-driven, and that attachment can lead them to become, shall we say, ‘unpleasant’ when it doesn’t go the way they had hoped. When it is done for the sake of itself with non-attachment to whether it succeeded to achieve an imagined goal or not, it is spiritual. When it is done this way (which is not easy for most people), it makes it possible to continue under the hardest of circumstances, and actually makes one more effective at doing the work. It also makes it possible to follow it to conclusions and possibilities that the doer never even conceived of. ‘Moral obligations’ and doctrinaire religions are rule-driven constructs draped around spirituality that have so often thoughout history been used to control people (as ShivaBalaYogi said: “religion is spirituality contaminated by poltitics”). The truest path is the one that arises in you spontaneously after you’ve purified and cleared yourself of ego, ideas, conceptions, and beliefs, because what you are running on then is on spirit rather than ego-mind. I wont argue that’s the ‘best’ path for anyone to take cuz that’s another stupid mind judgement itself. Ultimately there is no ‘obligation’ of any kind for anyone in their life. Karma and the universe works everything out: as you reap shall you sow. Do what you want – write what you want, and go on defending it as ‘right’ if you want.
Sorry – I should have noted that service to others is vital, but for diminishing one’s own ego and selfish tendencies as much as ‘changing the world’ (there is never any guarantee of what your efforts will achieve). Worldly work is actually a part of spirituality that I am trying to work and mature with now myself (e.g., working with persistence to manifest good stuff you want to see happen while at the same time remaining detached from whatever the eventual result is, etc.), so I had to catch myself – I was blabbing like I know all about it which is just my own ego.
The trick is to work for good in the world without getting entangled in the world, because no matter how painful or pleasurable worldly stuff is, it is all transient, varies up and down, and is temporary. In the ultimate sense it all really is an ‘illusion’. Our spirits are what is ‘real’ (in the sense that they always are unchanging and eternal), and that is where ‘real’ home is.
So much of the western view the came from Plato, Descartes, etc. that the physical universe came first and then sentient life appeared within it is wrong. What is primordial is conscious, with or without matter around, and with or without lifeforms around for it to inhabit. Call it god or whatever you like. Everything, apparent or not, came from and is that.
Thank you so very much for your comments! I am honored that you choose to engage.
It is clear to me that you and I have very different views of reality! I worship the Goddess, (when I decide to worship a God with qualities, which is only occasionally!) and I’m not much of a Buddhist! So, my lack of interest and belief in non-attachment as an important Spiritual path. In the Earth-centered spirituality I follow, caring for others is a primary value IN ITSELF, not as a means to achieve some other end (like destruction of the Ego). (Remember, in Wicca, “And you harm no one, do as thou wilt is the whole of the law). I am familiar with the precepts that consider material reality an illusion. My perception is that even in those philosophies, compassion is still a value in and of itself, rather than as some path to improving the soul. (I tend to be drawn to Thich Nhat Hahn’s Engaged Buddhism, rather than the more traditional schools.) So, I hear what you are saying, but I disagree, based on the philosophy and cosmology I have adopted as my polestars. So, I agree that in your belief system political activism may be merely ego in action, but in mine it is the beginning and goal of spiritual practice. This is why I chose to become an interfaith minister – I like being able to choose the traditions and practices that appeal to me. I was taught that there is a Golden Thread of Truth that runs though all traditions, once separated from the cultural and historical chains. this view pleases me… even though I am unable to make clear statements of what is “true” and “the ultimate goal” or “the right path”. I sort of like living with ambiguity!