Rev. Danny Fisher

Today’s quote comes to us from the great Sulak Sivaraksa–Thailand’s preeminent social activist and one of the titans of the modern engaged Buddhist movement.

Sivaraksa founded and currently directs Thailand’s Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation.  He also serves on the advisory board of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists.

In addition to all his work as an activist, organizer, and social critic in Thailand, he has also served as chair of the UN’s Asian Cultural Forum on Development and has been a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Hawaii, and Cornell University.

A Nobel Peace Prize nominee, he is the author such books as Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society, Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World, and Loyalty Demands Dissent: Autobiography of a Socially Engaged Buddhist.

I’ve had the distinct pleasure and true honor of meeting and receiving teachings from Sulak, and I think he’s one of the most extraordinary and inspiring individuals I have ever encountered.

Here’s the quote–from Sulak’s official homepage.

We have more than enough programs, organisations, parties, and strategies in the world for the alleviation of suffering and injustice. In fact, we place too much faith in the power of action, especially political action. Social activism tends to preoccupy itself with the external. Like the secular intellectuals, activists tend to see all malevolence as being caused by “them” – the “system” – without understanding how these negative factors also operate within ourselves. They approach global problems with the mentality of social engineering, assuming that personal virtue will result from a radical restructuring of society.

The opposite view – that radical transformation of society requires personal and spiritual change first or at least simultaneously – has been accepted by Buddhists and many other religious adherents for more than 2,500 years. Those who want to change society must understand the inner dimensions of change. It is this sense of personal transformation that religion can provide. Simply performing the outer rituals of any tradition has little value if it is not accompanied by personal transformation. Religious values are those that give voice to our spiritual depth and humanity. There are many descriptions of the religious experience, but all come back to becoming less and less selfish.

As this transformation is achieved, we also acquire a greater moral responsibility. Spiritual considerations and social change cannot be separated. Forces in our social environment, such as consumerism, with its emphasis on craving and dissatisfaction, can hinder our spiritual development. People seeking to live spiritually must be concerned with their social and physical environment. To be truly religious is not to reject society but to work for social justice and change. Religion is at the heart of social change, and social change is the essence of religion.