I want to thank everyone at DIY for supporting me in my retreat with Donald Rothberg last week. Special thanks to Rachel Lewis and Brian Williams, to Westcoast Dharma, and to Donald Rothberg himself for coming to town to share his work on meditation and social action.
The weekend was rather intense for me, and I suspect for others. Apparently Westcoast Dharma retreats are usually conducted in silence, but this one (fittingly) required that we act and interact in sometimes very exposing ways. I found that being amidst a community that I did not know, I was more challenged by having to do the work than I would have expected (after all, I am supposed to be a mahayana buddhist, seeking the enlightenment of al beings, as well as a Shambhala warrior, brave enough to step up to the chalenge). The first practice where we were asked to work in pairs I opted out, out of fear and discomfort. But eventually I realized that this is the work we are really talking about when we discuss Buddhist social engagement! I find the loneliness of meditation rather easy compared to the personal exposure of social engagement, but if we want to bring our practice from the cushion to the world (as many of us really want to do) we will need to learn to be honest with each other just as we need to learn to be honest with ourselves when we sit in meditation. Maybe that is the first and only step when it comes down to it. The Bodhisattva is not always nice, but she or he is always, always genuine.
I think the root of Buddhist social engagement (meditation in action, as it has been called) is bringing the discoveries we make on the cushion into our daily lives. Rothberg asked us at the beginnning of the retreat how will we enact the wisdom we discover through practicing the Dharma, on a personal, social, and organizatiional level? These three levels go hand in hand (in hand), as it turns out, and though I have heard the news before, I believe it has finally hit home that this his how we do it. For real! When I think of social activism, I usually think of something outside of my personal quest for happiness and wisdom. There are the actions I take upon myself to improve my own life- meditation, self-care, education, friendships- and then there are the social actions I strive to realize- public action, social commentary, philosophical discourse, political choices. Rothberg, like may others, rejects a difference between these words, and insists that the only way to bring real change on the larger level is to start with the changes we enact within our own hearts and minds. 
This is not to say that we should only sit in meditation or strive for our own enlightenment before we dare give anyone a helping hand or good advice. I don't believe there is anything to stop a practitioner from being as socally active as they feel the can. If we are going to wait until we have everything right, we will be waiting a long long long long long time. At the same time, it seems as though Buddhist social action is not simply proclaiming the five precepts or the eightfold path from the rooftops, or demanding that our governments and society conform to the ideals of virture that we as Buddhists have come to appreciate. It is no secret that we see many dedicated social activists who will act out of grasping or violence in their search for peace and justice. Not to mention the questionable ways in which we (and I do mean WE) can sometimes treat our own selves and our loved-ones when the stress of trying to change the world for the better gets to us. To be the change we want to see is absolutely critical to social action, and to do so with an appreciation of how difficult that can and will be for everyone involved is what makes us Buddhist. (remember the first noble truth ... not the "first noble maybe"). Forgiveness of ourselves and others for not being completely liberated yet seems like a skillful first step to the whole scenerio.
Rothberg began with comments about the individual path of Buddhist practice, and the suggestion that if we look closely we may find that our meditation tends toward getting what we want for ourselves. Even when we engage in social action, don't we al get diverted from the thought "what is best for our world?", and succomb to the battle for getting what we want? I have seen myself begin many a battle with the thought, "I want justice for z, y, or x!", and end up with "I want those in power to do it MY way!" Though my intentions may have started off strong, something goes wrong along the way. Anyone else ever experience this?
In the west we are super-priviledged human beings. We hardly realize it, most of the time, but when we are practicing away, worried about our romantic disappointments, middleclass discontent, and fear for our children and neighborhoods, we are forgeting the 3/4 of the world who won't eat tonight; Who are living in constant danger of being disappeared, having their families destroyed, dying from disease that could easily be cured were they to have even half of the luxury that we in Canada and the USA enjoy. This is not meant to be a guilt trip or accusation. It is the way we live and the way the human mind works. there is no demand for us to reject or refuse to enjoy the privlidges that we are so blessed with! Indeed, in my own experience, this is a foolish pursuit. HH the 17th Karmapa once refered to western practitioners as people who "live like Gods". We have the power to change the world in our actions, and the power to feed and heal millions, or to destroy them, in the simple activities of our daily lives. Keeping that in mind is important, no?
It would be hard not to go one for hours regarding the experiences of this retreat, but I wanted to share the following considerations, which I have been contemplating this week, guided by Rothberg's own trinity of individual, social, and collective engagement and practice:
1) We always start with the self, as usual. What is my own practice really doing for me? What am I aspiring to? What am I practicing and how do I see that benefiting my own peace, happiness, wisdom, and liberation? Am I stronger, or weaker? Am I more at peace, or more needy, more annoyed, more deluded? I have practiced the Bodhisattva ideal in very wrong ways over the years, trying to drown out my own desires with the repetition of phrases about all sentient beings and on and on. But when push comes to shove, each of us are guided by our own desire for happiness and freedom from pain. So, what about that? Those Bodhisattva teachings that guide us to regard the well-being of all beings actually stem from the claim (or, if you are luckier and more skilled that I, the realization) that it is in seeking the hainess of others we gain happiness ourselves. So, what does that really mean? HH the Dalai Lama says that the bodhisattva (who vows not to attain perfect liberation until all beings everywhere are enlightened) is actually one of the most selfish of beings, but also the smartest, because she or he gains greater liberation from suffering by attnding to the needs of others. That in contrast to my own experience of self-sacrifice and self-denial, supposedly for the benefit of others. If you don't enjoy your life, chances are no one else will either! Hmmm, eh?
There is also the practical aspect of individual practice to be considered. If you wish to benefit others, you will need great resources yourself. Burn-out in social workers of any variety comes from pushing ourselves to far for our own good. If we get involved with Big Ideas, and strive to realize them, without taking the steps that allow us to be striong enough, we will end up with resentment and exhaustion. Never condemn yourself for practicing peace, stability, and above all, joy and love, for yourself first. This is the only way any of us will ever find the strength to do it for real, you know?
2) Bringing the practice to your social circle. Your community. Making changes ona national or world scale is important, yes, but how do we treat our own friends and loved ones? Just as walking meditation is a bridge between sitting still and meditating in every moment of our lives, practice with regards your family and community is important. Can we think of ways to act in our community with the same sort of strength and wisdom that we act with ourselves on the cushion? Giving people space to express themselves. Being honest in expressing ourselves to them. Practicing some sort of integrity of communication and action with the people around us. Just as individuals make the world- deluded or wise, ignorant or awake- we are most directly effective within the community that surrounds us. use that as a starting point, and see what comes of it.
3) Seeking to bring it to the greater realm. We do a lot more than vote as members of a democratic nation. Many of us are directly involved in groups who seek to change the systems we guide our country and our world by. Bringing some stability of mind and wisdom into those interactions also matters very deeply. What are our collective modes of being? (Rothberg brough up the Irish tradition of "keening"- when the women of a particular community gather and wail loudly at the passing of a member of their community. what do we have that resembles this? what do we do together? how could we develop more and wiser ways of public mourning and celebration?) The workings of organizations that seek top change the world is also a direct and important part of the practice. Laerning ways to be with each other, to hear each other, and to resolve difficult situations within an organization means more to the world than the ideald that organization might display to the public.

Finally, there was much discussion about expectations and results, and I think it is a lesson for us all. Being able to act with energy and persistence, without attachment to the way we hope to see it fruit, is the most important bit of the game. Not the easiest part of the path, on any of the levels, and yet perhaps the most important no matter which direction you come from. Because acting in the hopes of getting what you want, whether it be for yourself, your friends, or for the world, is part of what leads us all to more stress. Can we learn to act with as much wisdom and compassion as we can, and yet not be attached to it turning out the way we want it? What if we through a revolution, and nobody came? Would it still be worth the effort?

I feel I'm fading, but I hope that I will hear some comments about this topic. How do you expand your Buddhist practice, no matter what it might be, into social and political action? What are the most important aspects of it for you?