May 2017
Towards the end of this essay I use a sentence from the Buddhist psychoanalyst, Mark Epstein’s book, Going on Being, as an epigraph: “You don’t have to change to awaken, you only have to awaken to change”. This suggests the importance and power of awakening, not only for consciousness itself but also for the actual changes that will inevitably accompany it. The most effective activism springs from, and is an expression of, the practice of contemplation and meditation. Mindfulness - in everything we do - can change our lives and the world about us.