Life for an activist would be boring indeed if all we ever did was shout, protest, fume, and fulminate. At BPF we embrace anger, yes, but also agency. The power to build and cultivate the things we want to see in the world.

We are always practicing something, whether we are conscious of it or not. By becoming conscious of what we practice and intentionally choosing to practice something new, we can transform ourselves and our world.

Sometimes wise action means blocking the doors to a police weapons expo. Support Buddhists learning dharma wisdom and nonviolent action tools for social justice.

Buddhists, Native Americans, and white environmentalists unite against fracking in California.

Personal behavior change is not enough to stop the colossal harms of Big Oil and Big Ag. So what can we do?

By the time we arrive at the Fourth Noble Truth, the Buddha offers us the medicine that helps to bring an end suffering. He teaches it as the Eightfold Path, a set of interdependent practices that help us to untangle the knots of greed, ignorance, and hatred.

When it comes to the education of low-income students of color, mindfulness can easily mystify the structure of social oppression, shifting the analysis of school reform from the systemic level to the individual. I hope for a future in which mindfulness is grounded in notions of interconnectedness and social benefit, rather than focusing on individual growth.

For many years, the two preoccupations of my life, “meditation practice” and “environmental science”, were two streams that ran parallel to each other.

Mushim Ikeda, contributor to BPF's The System Stinks curriculum, is launching another year of the Practice in Transformative Action (PiTA 2) yearlong program at East Bay Meditation Center! Application deadline is August 15, 2014. ​

This Keynote event is open to the public and we’d love to have you join us. The event will also mark the beginning of a weekend-long BPF National Gathering: multigenerational Buddhist activists from around the country, meeting face-to-face to deepen our practice in social justice and spiritual awakening.