Ep326: Enlightened Politics - Leigh Brasington

In this episode I am once again joined by Leigh Brasington, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of ‘Right Concentration, A Practical Guide to the Jhanas’.

In this episode we had planned to discuss Leigh’s latest book, entitled “On The Way To The Far Shore”. Instead Leigh spontaneously began to explore the theme of Buddhism and politics and so we decided to go deeper into his ideas.

Leigh shares his take on the world situation and reveals the impact of his childhood upbringing and college education on the development of his own political views.

Leigh discusses whether or not Buddhist spiritual development necessarily leads to left wing politics, reflects on the role of compassion and interdependence in the left-right divide, and considers whether or not past Buddhist masters who held different political views to his own lacked enlightenment.

Leigh also warns about the dangers of clinging to fixed views, gives advice for how meditators should relate to politics, and explains why he believes political engagement is a natural result of the spiritual path.

This episode is a spontaneous exploration of Leigh’s ideas about Buddhism and politics in the spirit of open discourse and is not intended to represent my own views or the stance of this podcast.

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Video version: guruviking.com/podcast/ep326-enlightened-polit…

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics Include:

00:00 - Intro
01:18 - Complexity and inequality
02:52 - Global warming
03:28 - Visiting mission fields in Mexico
05:13 - Overpopulation
06:02 - What motivates Leigh’s political engagement?
08:24 - Practice and politics
11:03 - Should Buddhists be politically engaged?
16:49 - Dependent origination leads to politics
22:21 - Diverse politics of past Buddhist masters
24:31 - Evolution of Leigh’s political views
28:40 - How Leigh relates to those who hold different political views
32:19 - Why did past Buddhist masters hold different views to Leigh’s?
35:21 - Spiritual insight leads to left wing positions
40:54 - How does Leigh explain past Buddhist masters who have held conservative views?
47:58 - Does it give Leigh pause to claim his political views are the most enlightened?
54:11 - Leigh comments on the awakening of past masters who held different political views to his own
56:34 - Leigh refines his position
57:44 - What if Leigh is wrong?
59:16 - Advice for how to relate to politics as a spiritual practitioner
01:02:27 - New sutta index
01:06:09 - Why discuss controversial topics?
01:08:43 - Concluding remarks

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Previous episodes with Leigh Brasington:
- guruviking.com/search?q=brasington

To find our more about Leigh Brasington visit:
- leighb.com

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James