As I write this, the country is finishing up a day of voting. Whether you’re voting red or blue or chartreuse, there’s no doubt this has been a decidedly unspiritual past month, politically speaking; mud has been slung on all sides.

Which makes me glad for a new collection of essays that looks wonderful, “Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place.” Edited by Melvin McLeod, it includes work by Thich Nhat Hanh, The Dalai Lama, Pema Chodron, and Sam Harris.

The back cover includes this quote from Jon Kabat-Zinn: “Imagine a mindful politics! That is exactly what these thinkers, activists, and teachers are doing in this marvelous collection of essays. May these perspectives and practices inspire, inform, and nurture the next generation of political leaders as well as all of us–as we ponder and hopefully contribute to the health of the body-politic, which is nothing less now than the health of the whole world.”

The press kit even came with a cute political-style button that says it all: “It’s the Ego Stupid.”

How do you keep your politics conscious and kind?