Last year, I attended a meditation conference in Vancouver with a prominent international organization. The event featured an important teacher of Christian contemplative spirituality who spends much of his time travelling and teaching. I wrote much of this reflection the day after the conference and then decided not to post it. But I want to publish it now that some time has past because I think the distinctions I make are still relevant to our unfolding meta-crisis.
After my talk I was on a panel. An elderly woman stood and in her shaky voice said that she wants to know what we can do about climate change. And that for her, at her age, the best thing she could think to do is pray and meditate. I empathized with her desire to know what we can do, and I tried to assuage her guilt a little for not being able to do more. This was a meditation conference after all. So, I said, its not as though meditation is a tool in our climate action toolbox and that we should walk away from a conference on meditation with a list of five things you can do to solve the climate crisis.
The figurehead of the conference, who was also on the panel followed up in his characteristically blunt, didactic tone. Despite what I thought was a realistic and contemplative response, he took me to task for suggesting that there was nothing we could do (I did not say that). He suggested that while we shouldn’t instrumentalize meditation, it should always lead to action; and that there are plenty of things we can do to take meaningful action to solve the climate crisis.
At the end of the conference, the local organizer (who works in corporate finance) asked us to get into small groups and literally make a list of things we could do to combat climate change. This felt like a direct jab at my panel contribution, and at that point I could not stay in the room or join a small group. So, I stood up and left.
I admit this was not the most mature thing to do. But I also think that the gesture expressed without words how I feel about the risk they were taking in packaging the purpose of contemplative practices as useful action. So let me defend my one man walk out.
There is a controversy that goes all the way back to the Greeks between contemplation and action. Should the good life be devoted to higher things of the mind or the worldly things of politics and society? The Benedictine monks I have worked with say, do both! Their motto is Ora et Labora, Work and Prayer. But notice that the motto is not Work is Prayer. Work and prayer both have their place in the monastic life, as do contemplative and active pursuits outside of the monastery. But in relation to climate change, there is an important space to keep between these two domains.
Because here is where we are: avoiding 1.5- and even 2-degree warming targets are likely unattainable at current rates of emissions and international commitments. So, when we talk about “taking action” on climate, we are not talking about little things that will contribute to a gradual cultural shift. We are not talking about our individual actions adding up to dodging the worst implications of two degrees warming. We are talking about urgent, massive internationally coordinated efforts to radically reduce carbon emissions, and, at this point, because we have no other option, to pull carbon out of the atmosphere because if we don’t, we are looking at three or four degrees warming by the end of the century. That is where we are.
So, I agree, we should never stop asking the question “What must I do?” We are living out the risks of not being able to answer this question. My lifetime may never fully answer this question. I want to keep asking it. But when it comes to climate change, I just do not know of an answer that can be packaged into a pithy hope-slogan or a list of actions. There are dozens of things we can do with our days. And I have too long lists of them. But there is no thing that we can do individually, municipally, provincially or even nationally that will swallow this meta-crisis whole.
And that is where meditation resides. It lives in the dark folds of my still hopeful heart. Contemplative Practice is not a tool to get us ready for the right action. It is not just one of our strategies for effective climate action. It is not just a practice of self-care to process our burn out from our at-least-we-are doing-something actions. It is not just a means to an end. Contemplative practices are the ground of our action. They are the soil out of which right action grows and the air our actions breath. I engage in contemplative practices whether our actions succeed or fail, whether I know what to do or not. I meditate as I wait for the answers to come, or not.
holyscapes 
Dear Jason,
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I think it is important to reflect and be honest about what is said at certain conferences, which in my experience are often very rushed happenings which rarely leave enough space for genuine thinking and dialogue. They give academics another accolade to add to the CV and if you’re very lucky, you might truly connect with a new person in a way that is fruitful to the cause of your work.
My immediate feeling upon reading the question asked to the panel, is that meditation, prayer, as well as attending a conference, are types of actions – if only because they demonstrate an engagement with the world including an abiding concern and an individual search for how one makes a difference, and if that is alive in someone throughout their whole life then I think that is positive, because it certainly isn’t for everyone.
But I wholeheartedly agree with you, that the word ‘action’ could be considered much more meaningfully than it seemed to be at the conference. I am strongly influenced by Jungian psychology, so I would put emphasis on action that is led by the Self (as opposed to the ego) in discovering one’s unique contribution, and regard this as something we each can do (some Jungians might say it is all we can do in the face of collective problems). Given that it was a meditation conference, I assume people there would have had an understanding of some concept of the Self, regardless of the tradition. It is in this sense that I agree with what the figurehead of the conference said – that meditation should always lead to action – but only in the sense that if the Self guides us in a certain way, it leaves us with the ethical imperative to act on that as best we can, because otherwise nothing really happens. And of course, this may be on an inner rather than external level first and foremost (spirit and matter). I think this is close to what you’ve also said in your final paragraph.
In short, I would say that ‘action’ undertaken by the Self is very different to ‘action’ undertaken by the ego alone, and unlike the ego (which easily feels defeated), engaging the Self can be very empowering and can sustain, guide and inspire people in times of crisis and transformation given its spiritual foundation – and constant connection to the nature within.
With much respect and appreciation of your work,
Carmel
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Thank you Carmel! What a great distinction to make. Your voice adds some much appreciated nuance.
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Hello Jason –
I do appreciate your very thoughtful blogs. Thank you!
This one hit the mark for me, as I too am a senior person who has been grappling with this very issue for a while now. I have numerous challenges that restrict me from participating in many of the activities previously available to me.
Then, just yesterday, I felt enlightened. I came to the conclusion that prayer, kindness and singing are the best options I have.
Importantly, no one can tell me or convince me that even one of these is NOT action. Pray, sing and be kind with all your heart!
Thank you again for your inspiring words.
Blessings –
Margery Hadley Victoria, BC
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Thank you Margery! Please keep me in your prayers as well.
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Hi Jason,
I love reading the things you write, and I always agree with whatever it is. I often wonder about this same query – and maybe more than just a “wonder” – it’s more of an almost-existential question that comes from a viscerally-experienced disparity between the need to meditate and live in mindfulness, and the nudging feeling that large action is waiting and needing to happen (and is never enough). I find that paradox alive in me on a daily basis, and sometimes I reconcile it by claiming that some people in the world are outward activists, and some people are inward meditators, and that both actions are needed, as if some sort of balance in the world is required between movement and stillness for things to operate optimally. But perhaps a different answer would be better. Perhaps it’s an excuse – but if so, the guilt causes a lot of anguish to a lot of people who don’t really know what to do.
Most people cannot dedicate every waking minute of their entire lives to action for climate change, or for any cause. It’s painful, but there has to be some reckoning with the limitations of our human lives, which sometimes includes other work and commitments, or even just coping with one’s self, and all the earthly confines and responsibilities a human may have. I think that one way I find mindfulness practices to be helpful in this regard is creating a space where just being is enough for the moment. Maybe that’s a cop-out, but I think that in order to live a life of balance within oneself (which is a worthy cause in itself, I hope) there has to be space for that aspect of peace that is separate from action, or if related then maybe it can help place ourselves in a more humble position in the face of it, and/or inadvertently make it feel less urgent, maybe like raising arms in surrender and saying, God, I’m taking a breath, please help; a prayer. Or maybe mindfulness is a way to help us be able to then face the crises with more resilience. I don’t know. Do I have to go DO something after I meditate? Well, doesn’t that sort of defeat the purpose since meditation is about the NOW? So what do we do with that conundrum?
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Thank you Miriam! Great to hear from you.
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