Political Activism as a Spiritual Practice:
a 6-session class

Somewhere along the line, we started to separate the political from the spiritual, as if anything in life doesn’t touch everything else.

Now we find ourselves in a critical moment; democracy is under assault around the world, and we have a choice to make. Will we fight to preserve this system or will we stand by and watch as authoritarianism rises?

When we understand that the division between spiritual and political is a very effective way of maintaining the status quo, we begin to shift our experience of what is and isn’t spiritual. When I lived in an ashram, the dominant view was that spirituality is “separate” from the mundane issues that we consider political. There was a sense that the spiritual was more important than the political. What I now know to be true is that any separation between those aspects of life is a false one.

Would we say that Dr. King or Gandhi weren’t spiritual men? Would we read the writing of Octavia Butler and not see both the spiritual and the political in it? The mental separation we’ve been conditioned to have is a misunderstanding of what both spirituality and politics are.

Bridging the gap that has arisen between the spiritual and the political (which we can also understand as policy) is essential if we’re going to navigate these challenging times successfully.

In these six sessions, we’ll explore the pillars we need to strengthen as we bring the political and the spiritual back into the right relationship with each other.

LOVE

COMMUNITY

CURIOSITY

ENGAGEMENT

ATTENTION

PERSEVERANCE

These six pillars weave together to create the structure that supports making our political activism a part of our ongoing spiritual practice.

Pillar 1
Love: In week one we’ll lay the foundation for this class and for merging our political activism with our spiritual life. We’ll look at why it’s critically important to bring love to our activism and why a spiritual practice devoid of activism isn’t as rich and meaningful as it could and should be.

Pillar 2
Curiosity: In week 2, we’ll explore the role of curiosity in bringing depth to both our activist and spiritual work and how curiosity is often exactly the bridge we need in challenging circumstances.

Pillar 3
Attention: In week 3, we’ll look at attention, both in the sense of being focused and in choosing where to put our focus. Attention allows us to be more impactful with our actions. We’ll also look at obstacles to attention and how we can overcome them.

Pillar 4
Community: Over the past few decades, we’ve lost many of our public spaces, those places we would see those who live in our neighborhood or town. That’s led to isolation and the silos (both political and personal) that many of us find ourselves in. Exploring how to strengthen existing communities and build new ones where needed will be the focus of this week.

Pillar 5
Active Engagement: Thinking is important, but doing is how we make change. Finding ways to move into action that are appropriate and sustainable for us is what we’ll explore this week.

Pillar 6
Perseverance: In this final session, we’ll look at how bringing all six pillars into our planning helps us both deepen our spiritual practice and stay engaged in our activist practice over the long term.

What you get from this class:

Six 75-minute learning in community calls

Weekly writing prompts to deepen your engagement with each pillar.

Guidance on where to start (or how to continue) building your activism in a way that makes sense for you.

A suggested reading list.

Email support: Have questions or need encouragement between sessions? Just email me.

SESSION DATES: We will meet on six Saturdays from 1-2:15 Eastern time
January 18, February 1, February 15, March 1, March 15, March 29

INVESTMENT

Pricing has been structured to accommodate different social locations and financial capabilities.

$199

Pay because you can: (general rate for those who have what they need to participate)