Preface "A Declaration of Interdependence" We hold these truths self-evident, that all people are created equal and interdependent, that everyone -- all races, genders, classes, sexual identities, religions, and nationalities -- belongs, and can be truly happy, and has something to contribute to the ensemble, and deserves the opportunity to answer life''s ultimate questions in their own words, that in this endeavor life, liberty, and happiness are sacred, and no one waste away from want, when there is abundance. When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to take a stand, we stand on common ground, practicing mindful democracy, aware that the present moment is the only moment -- friendship not enemyship is our foundation; affirmation not destruction is our politics; love not hate is our motivation; we act not for light and transient causes, but for the eternal aim: That we might be truly happy, in this life, together. Introduction There Is No Way to Democracy, Democracy Is the Way "We have frequently printed the word Democracy. Yet I cannot too often repeat that it is a word the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawaken''d." - Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas (1871) My friends, we''ve gotten democracy all wrong. Today, democracy is a "war" between political parties for control over the levers of power, with everyday citizens like you and me expected to enlist in the "battle" to defeat our "enemies." This model of democracy is not just ineffective. It''s destroying the human spirit.
It has begun to feel like we live at high noon, under a blood red sky. Standing on the edge like this takes a real toll. When democracy becomes a war, it''s only natural to want to fight for what is good, and right, and true. Today many people see themselves as soldiers for democracy. They match aspiring tyrants and their messengers blow for blow on social media and at demonstrations. And like soldiers, these caring people see the world in terms of friends and foes. They speak angry, hateful words directed at their "enemies" -- and sometimes commit violence against them -- comfortable that their actions are ethical because the cause is just. To those people fighting the political war on the side of democracy, I ask, is it working? Has the war reduced the amount of suffering in the world? Has it reduced your suffering? Many people I know agree that it''s not working, and they believe that is because they are not fighting hard enough.
I don''t think that''s the trouble. The problem is the strategy itself. Fighting a war for democracy is counterproductive. To see why, let us step back from the frontlines for a moment and ask: What is so special about democracy? Why is it worth protecting? Democracy rests on the belief that everyone should have a say in making decisions about issues that affect their lives. Moreover, when there is an injustice that affects our community and causes people to suffer, we should all pitch in to fix it. Democracy is government not just of, by, or for the people, but also with the people, regardless of who they are. Democracy is a radical principle of collective empowerment. Democracy matters because it is how we work together to manage, and reduce, the amount of suffering in the world, so that we can be truly happy.
The philosopher John Dewey had no use for talk of democracy as a war. To him, people preaching the gospel of political warfare miss the point of democracy, and they fail to understand its real power. Dewey''s view of democracy was simple: democracy is community. "Democracy is not an alternative to other principles of associated life. It is the idea of community life itself," he wrote. Democracy empowers everyday folks like you and me to build communities that take shared responsibility over our shared world. That''s what self-government means: taking responsibility, together. Our English word "democracy" is derived from the Ancient Greek word demokratia, a combination of the words kratos, "power" or "rule," and demos, "the community" or "the people," so democracy literally means "the power of the community to govern itself.
" Power is a slippery word, of course, capable of papering over all manner of sin. When it comes to "power," I find Mahatma Gandhi''s distinction between "physical power" -- the power that comes from domination, exclusion, and repression -- and "spiritual power" -- the power that arises from respect, inclusion, and collaboration -- helpful. Physical power is the power of armies. Spiritual power is the power of communities. Democratic power is not physical power: it is not about domination. That''s what we''ve gotten so terribly wrong today, in thinking that democracy is a "fight" or a "battle" or a "war" that we must "win" by "dominating" and "defeating" our "enemies." That''s why I say that the strategy of waging war for democracy is counter-productive. Democratic power is spiritual power: it is the power that we collectively generate from building safe, inclusive, and vibrant communities in which we care for each other and for our shared life.
Democratic power is the power of collaboration, not combat. The Vietnamese Zen master, poet, and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh used to say that "there is no way to peace, peace is the way." The same is true for democracy. You can''t use undemocratic or anti-democratic means to achieve democracy. You can''t create spiritual power with physical power; you can''t build democratic communities with violence. It''s for that reason that I like to tell my students, "there is no way to democracy, democracy is the way." Make no mistake: history shows that war always destroys democracy, whether that war is a physical conflict fought between armies or a culture war fought between fellow citizens who see the world differently. War wrecks democracy by undermining the values and virtues central to it -- respect, inclusion, community, deliberation, teamwork, collaboration, tolerance, patience, humility, problem-solving, and mutual support, to name a few.
The only way to defend democracy is to practice democracy. If we want to resist tyranny and practice democracy today, we must abandon the language, and the psychology, of war, and adopt something wiser and more collaborative in its place. Now is the perfect moment to quiet the vituperation and transcend the old, outdated paradigm of us versus them. Now is the perfect moment to pause, to slow down, to look deeply, and to recognize that we are enemies only in our minds. Now is the perfect moment to understand that just because we disagree does not mean that we cannot get along, or that we cannot work together to make the world a happier and less painful place. Now is the perfect moment to declare interdependence by learning to practice what I call "mindful democracy." In this book I show you how. Why mindful democracy? Democracy demands the skills we learn by practicing mindfulness: paying attention, slowing down, pausing judgment, looking deeply, speaking lovingly, and listening carefully.
In fact, I''ve come to think of mindfulness as a type of civic education. Good citizens are mindful citizens. The study of democracy also enriches mindfulness practice. To fulfill its ultimate goal of transforming suffering into happiness, mindfulness benefits from the skills typically associated with democracy: building community, working together, resolving conflicts, deliberation, and nonviolent action. Years of studying democracy as a scholar, and years of teaching my students how to be engaged citizens and ethical leaders, has convinced me of this fact: Democracy does not work without mindfulness, and democracy is how we put mindfulness to work to achieve the ultimate goal of being happy and free together. In these pages I offer you a guide to mindful democracy: which I''ll define as the practice of working together with others to care for each other and for the life that we share, so that we can be happy and free and at peace, together. This guide consists of 27 short "lessons" that describe the practice. The first part of the book details the personal foundations of mindful democracy.
The second part describes how to build communities to practice being together and caring for our shared life. The third shows you how to put your insights into action to stand up for justice and make the world happier, freer, and more peaceful. Hopefully my words will inspire you, because now is the time to be emboldened, not to back away. We are much stronger when we stand together, on common ground, and the truth is that we need you, your wisdom, and your voice. The Two Kinds of Suffering Slow down, and look deeply, and you''ll discover an inescapable fact of being human: everyone hurts, sometimes. There is suffering in life. Look even more deeply, and you will see that not all suffering is the same. There are at least two kinds of suffering.
First, there is the suffering that is innate to the human condition: sickness, old age, and death. Second, there are the kinds of suffering that are created by humans. This second kind of suffering includes the wasting plagues we inflict upon each other: war, discrimination, dehumanization, racism, sexism, homophobia, colonialism, and environmental destruction, to name just a few. As skilled as we are in the arts of friendship, we are equally skilled in the arts of enemyship. We build monuments to heaven, and caste systems that reduce people''s lives to hel.