Welcome to Engage! the East Coast Engaged Buddhist Blog

If I could just get five Buddhists in a room together who gave a shit about something, we could change the world.

I could do that easily enough if I went to the Buddhist Peace Fellowship retreat in Oakland, CA in August (2014). But I’m not going because, even if I could afford the $1000 plane ticket, or even if somebody bought one for me, there is no way that I could justify emitting two tons of C02 to fly out there from Halifax, Nova Scotia, just so I could be in the room to talk about the travesty of global warming.  You have to draw the line somewhere, and that’s what this blog is about.

This blog is the beginning of what I hope will be a multi-media hub that publishes articles by major and lesser-known authors who are on the cutting edge of engaged Buddhism: anarchists, anti-racists, art activists, animal rights activists, climate justice and environmental activists, culture jammers, decriminalizers, disability advocates, feminists, free Palestiners, greens, immigrant rights, indigenous rights (INM), occupiers, peace activists, poets, prison abolitionists, psyche righters, queer culturists, sex positivists, union organizers, social justice and human rights advocates. I especially welcome articles that examine the systemic causes of individual and collective suffering, systems of ideology and power that shape the issues we face today, and how buddhadharma addresses those issues.

I especially want to feature activists on the East Coast who are engaged in many community-based organizations that improve the lives of people at the local level: community gardeners, outreach workers to street people, local resilience groups, HIV/AIDS harm reduction educators.

I want to cover global events, especially the impact of the wealthy over-developed world on the many other worlds of people in India, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Indigenous nations, and other parts of the world where disempowered people, animals and landscapes are ravaged by the ignorance and greed of digital Capitalism. They fight back and they have a voice here. Understanding how everything is connected is essential if we are going to survive the coming collapse of our social-eco system as a species with a future.

I especially want to extend the free and liberal use of this blog to queer people of every stripe who do not have a voice in mainstream Buddhist organizations. Those of us who have been silenced and unrecognized will speak here with a powerful voice. You can’t shut us up now.

As editor, I retain the right to select and edit which stories are published, but I’m pretty laid back about this stuff, so long as you aren’t advocating for gun rights or war with the Anunnaki. I actually prefer longer pieces that are original, well-written, well-researched and well-thought out. I welcome photographs, poems, short and long prose. I just can’t pay you for anything. I also really like stuff that’s funny, off-beat, creative, personal, passionate and hard-hitting. You will not go to Buddhist hell for speaking your mind, even if a few other people are offended.

I will be publishing my own stuff here. It will be a kind of pre-publication pad for posting and editing my own work, so expect lots of edits. I’m a compulsive editor. Someone told me there’s a gene for that. Other authors may want to do the same. There are no exclusive publishing requirements on this site; you can publish here and elsewhere as you like.

I used to run a Facebook page, then a blog, called Wisdom & Compassion for Recovery at another WordPress site. That site will be closed down, and entries of that type will be published here. I fully believe that warrior bodhisattvas need to take care of their own minds, addictions, neuroses and enlightenment. Meditate daily please. There is no substitute for daily shamatha or zazen or TM or whatever method of meditation you use. Just please do it for your own well-being and to prevent compassion burn-out.  I got plenty of fire and compassion, but everyday I have to take the giant chill-pill and meditate on emptiness. It’s really good for your mind. I am celebrating the birth of this blog with my own glass of wild blueberry juice, my favourite substitute for red wine. After 23 years of sobriety, I don’t need to hide that fact any longer. It’s my life.

I will continue to run the NB Harbinger at my other WordPress site. I have been covering environmental issues in Maritime Canada for five years and will continue to do so in a completely non-sectarian way. This blog is about my special love for engaged Buddhism.

It’s official: the blog URL is http://engagedbuddhism.net

I should note also that I am a member of Nalandabodhi Halifax, although I accept submissions from Buddhists of every tradition and non-Buddhists as well.

According to Thich Nhat Hahn, ’empty of self’ means that you have the capacity to be filled with compassion for everything and everybody else. Emptiness is as important as connection in a complete model of engaged Buddhism. My first article for this blog will be on just that subject.

Let’s go!  Andiamo!