How the Left and Buddhists can learn from one another

Engaged Dharma Book Club: ‘Mindful Solidarity’ Review & Discussion

To launch the Engaged Dharma Book Club, I chose Mindful Solidarity: A Secular Buddhist Democratic Socialist Dialogue because at the center of the text are two key questions central to my own work:

What can Buddhism learn from Marxism and radical politics?

How can the Left strengthen its movements through Buddhist practice?

Mindful Solidarity recognizes that Buddhism and Marxism share a common goal: the alleviation of suffering, but both contain shortcomings in each of their approaches. The Left—which includes anarchists, social democrats, radical socialists, and communists—can build stronger, more sustainable movements to confront capitalism through implementing mindfulness, compassion, and open-mindedness in their organizing practices. Western Buddhist practitioners can alleviate suffering more directly if they are able to address the material systems that make meditation, a crucial part of the path, impossible for the global majority.

Mike Slott, the author, is an adjunct professor of labor history at Rutgers University and an editor of the Secular Buddhist Network website. After spending thirty years as a union organizer, Slott discovered Buddhist meditation practice through the Insight tradition. He promotes a secular, radically engaged Buddhism; his perspective is shaped by life-long agnosticism and a preference for secular Buddhist teachings, as articulated by Stephen Batchelor.

The book begins by comparing Buddhism and Marxism, noting their similarities and differences, and concludes with a constructive critique of radical political parties and revolutionary movements throughout history. Slott writes, “From a historical perspective, we can discern a pervasive tendency for idealism and solidarity to be increasingly replaced by authoritarianism and unethical behavior.” He also draws from his direct experiences as a member of the New American Movement and the International Socialists groups, and the limitations he witnessed from members holding too tightly to views, not allowing for open dialogue and dissent, leading to internal conflict, demoralization, and disillusionment.

Slott dedicates a significant portion of the book to arguing why secular Buddhist teachings offer an ideal version of Buddhism to complement radical political activity. A central part of secular Buddhism is removing “the cultural accretions and transcendent, divine entities that developed as part of the various Asian Buddhisms.” In general, secular Buddhism translates core Buddhist teachings like the Four Noble Truths into practical “tasks,” and refocuses Buddhism’s goal to alleviate suffering within one’s current lifetime, rather than achieve awakening.

While I recognize that Slott is personally invested in secular Buddhist teachings from his vantage-point within the tradition, I believe a non-sectarian radically engaged Buddhist approach is more powerful and compelling.

If we’re looking to mobilize Western Buddhists, wouldn’t organizing existing engaged Buddhists, the vast majority of them ancestral practitioners, be a better use of effort?

I’m also concerned about privileging a Buddhism that disregards the “cultural trappings” of a tradition that has been maintained by Asians and their cultural heritage for millennia. What secular Buddhists refer to as ancillary cultural teachings—karmic rebirth and the cosmology of the six realms—have been integral to the way the tradition has been understood, practiced, and transmitted throughout all three schools of Buddhism.

Slott and other secular Buddhists insist that a focus on lifetimes and enlightenment distracts from the ethical imperative to improve conditions for human flourishing here and now. While I acknowledge that this may be true for some, I don’t believe it applies to all or even most Buddhists, particularly within the Mahayana tradition, where reducing suffering for others is seen as essential to the path. Personally, I’m motivated to improve material conditions not only because it’s morally just, but because I also recognize that I could be reborn into more vulnerable circumstances—perhaps as an animal—in my next life. It’s also important to note that “secularism” is not neutral and could just as easily be considered a “cultural trapping” of modernity.

Despite my concerns about the secular approach, I find Slott’s analysis of the dialogue between radical politics and the dharma to be both welcome and urgently needed. His observation that engaged Buddhists often fall into the trap of seeing the world’s suffering as merely a reflection of individual defilements is spot-on. Slott recognizes that individual conditioning plays a role, but this is not the only or basic cause (capitalism and systems of oppression are).

Slott also offers an interesting critique of the bodhisattva ideal, suggesting a shift from the heroic, charismatic individual to a focus on mass movements. He stresses the need to reemphasize ethics and relational practices in Western Buddhist pedagogy, which would better prepare practitioners for political organizing. Slott draws on his own experiences of exclusive silent meditation retreats within the Insight tradition to highlight the limitations of such practices in the context of activism.

Most compelling to me is Slott’s unique perspective as a lifelong activist on the Left, and how he sees Buddhist teachings as invaluable for social change. He offers practical advice on making meetings more productive and emotionally aware. But perhaps more importantly, he emphasizes how a Buddhist mindset—grounded in interdependence, impermanence, non-attachment, compassion, and beginner’s mind—can help activists manage disappointment, remain flexible in their approaches, and sustain long-term efforts to build movements for radical change.

I’m thrilled to dive into discussion with all of you and Mike Slott on Thursday, January 16th, 6:30-8:30 pm ET. We’ll start with introductions and a guided meditation, followed by small and large group discussions on the text and its relevance to our own organizing. I’ll continue to post in the weekly Chat for more in-depth reflections on each chapter.

Registration for the Zoom link is available below for paid subscribers. If you’d like to join but can’t afford a subscription, please feel free to send me a message.