What does it mean to be defenseless? This question, a koan for me of practicing with the precepts of non-harming, loomed in front of me Saturday as we set out from Robinson Park in Albuquerque, marching toward the hotel hosting the NRA’s National Police Shooting Championship. “Hands up!” someone shouted

When DC / Maryland / Virginia Buddhists gather before the White House for racial justice, spiritual and political wisdom combine openly for a greater good.

Authors of the recently-gone-viral diatribe "Corporate Mindfulness Is Bullshit" examine whiteness in the Mindfulness movement. How does whiteness inform the common question, "Was the Buddha really Buddhist?"

When Bay Area Black liberation groups picketed a Whole Foods store, Buddhist Peace Fellowship members joined in. What they learned might surprise you.

Without radical change, we are on course to a terrifying future of extreme weather events, mass refugee crises, serial species extinctions, and the likely loss of human civilization. Time To Stand Up: An Engaged Buddhist Manifesto for Our Earth encourages Buddhists to join with other faith groups and activists to reverse the causes of catastrophic climate change. We can’t bring about the changes needed on our own, or as small groups; instead, to ensure a sustainable world for future generations, there has to be massive mobilization to pressure political and social systems in order to catalyze energy, economic, and social revolution.

Even the meditator who loves practicing in solitude should speak out against solitary confinement. Buddhist Peace Fellowship interviews two BPF supporters: attorneys fighting for justice in California.

As engaged Buddhists, are we ready for the ferocious compassion of nonviolent direct action within racial justice movements? Are we openhearted enough to hold the searing truths that such actions might reveal?

Holy shit. Feels good to be on a bridge in Portland this morning. Behind me and amazing comrade Kristina Flores are 13 brave people, some I'm honored to call friends, suspended from a famous bridge, low enough to form a human blockade preventing a Shell Oil icebreaking ship from leaving the port.

Activists rappelled off a bridge in Portland, Oregon early this morning to stop a Shell Oil vessel from heading back north to support Arctic drilling. Early morning meditators were spotted on the bridge

Join us for a weekend NYC intensive on Dharma & Direct Action, building concrete skills for compassionate confrontation. In a world tormented by racism, sexism, climate disasters, economic oppression, and more — learn how to develop inspiring responses guided by spiritual wisdom, political awareness, and a bodhisattva's vow for collective liberation.

From observing the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings with 70,000 paper cranes, to leading engaged Buddhist meetups and mini-trainings on "compassionate confrontation," BPF's upcoming visit to the Southwest is full of opportunities to join in.

Jack Downey: Laudato Si represents an expansion of the formally “theological” subject matter, and Catholicism’s first environmental encyclical. This is not the first time a pope – let alone regional bishops – has remarked on the record about this topic, but the doctrinal gravity of the subject makes this text stand out.

As a white person, I’m feeling the importance right now of addressing my fellow white people. This shit is deep, friends. White privilege is not isolated events, and it’s not something we can just disavow. White supremacy is not just the KKK, and it won’t stop hurting people because we wish it so.

Are you interested in the EcoSattva Training hosted by One Earth Sangha, from September 13 - November 15? BPF co-directors Dawn Haney and Katie Loncke will be presenting at 2 of the 8 sessions!

From August 5 to 9, join BPF co-directors Katie Loncke and Dawn Haney at the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a national gathering marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

David Loy shares an encouraging shift that he observed at the mega-Buddhist-teachers gathering at Omega a few weeks ago: "My presentation argued that the paths of individual transformation and social transformation need each other, and my sense is that we are collectively beginning to understand it."

As the Pope makes an historic statement on climate change, and Co-Director Dawn Haney prepares to go to Rome for an interfaith convergence of emerging leaders, we're curious: what do BPFers think about the strategic role of interfaith organizing?