Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye. Salt is delicious, but using too much of it will ruin your meal. In the hands of a skilled surgeon, a knife can save a life, but it can just as easily end it.

And activism is a powerful force that can be constructive if we are sensible, but activism can also be terribly destructive if we are careless.

Mindfulness is the tipping point.

And to be clear, I'm not suggesting there's a right or wrong way to go about it.

My concern as always isn't so much with labels such as Buddhists or Christian for example but

whether our behavior is Buddha-like or Christ-like so I offer some reflections and

questions for you on this divisive topic on how Buddhists can be activists.

Since compassion is meant to fuel our actions, many Buddhists believe it is their duty

to participate in social activism on a large scale.

There is an ever-growing gap, however, between what the Buddha taught and some people's modern interpretation of the teachings.

So I wonder whether radical activism is aligned with Buddhism or if it actually goes against it.

Just try to picture the Buddha Rioting,

and you will catch a glimpse of the large spectrum of activism,

and why without certain parameters,

there is such a thing as too much salt, so to speak.

At the core of Buddhist teachings is the eightfold path to end our suffering.

This means certain thoughts, livelihood, speech, and actions are conducive to our liberation,

which includes mindfulness, concentration, peace, and serenity, while other patterns are detrimental to our freedom from suffering such as ill will, worry, and doubt.

So can Buddhist be activists? I think it depends on whether we are able to remain peaceful and calm while we do it.

The moment we slip, we may still be guided by pure intentions, but we have definitely veered off

the path.

There is no doubt the Buddha urged us to never be passive in the face of injustice.

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