“…we must understand that meditation, the centerpiece of the Buddhist path, is itself the most radical kind of political action. Why? In meditation, we step out of the value system of the conventional world and start to look at things from a fresh viewpoint. Meditation is not activism as we usually think of it, yet it fulfills the definition in a radical way, because it is activity that fundamentally aims to change the world.

Finally, there is the knowledge that our political activities are also a way of working on ourselves. As we engage politcally, our own arrogance, aggression, small-mindedness, and self-centeredness are going to be exposed. We should take these as golden opportunities, offering us a more informed, more humble, and less self-preoccupied way of working with others.”

—Reginald A. Ray, in “Working On Ourselves First,” an article in this the summer 2006 issue of “Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly.”