As Europe, and indeed, the world, faces very serious challenges, the Ecodharma Centre, in Spain, continues to explore how Buddhism can empower social engagement. This beautiful 4-minute video features activists reflecting on their lives, on retreat in the wonderful mountain landscape of Catalunya.

EcoDharma's pioneering work in Engaged Buddhist Training has gained an international reputation over the last few years. This summer they worked with Engaged Buddhist writer and academic David Loy to host a ‘community of inquiry’ entitled 'Action from Depth', and they were invited to contribute to the online Ecosattva Training hosted last month by One Earth Sangha. They recently published this video about that work.

The Ecodharma team hope that their work can support an increased social and ecological engagement within the Triratna Community and in other Buddhist sanghas.

“We are living at a time in which we need to contest our future vigorously,” says Guhyapati, one of Ecodharma’s key trainers. “This work is relevant to people across all Buddhist communities, as well as non-Buddhists. So, we take a non-sectarian approach in order to make it as widely available as we can.”

As well as trying to support Buddhists to engage more effectively they also aim to support the work of non-Buddhist activists with Dharma-based practices and perspectives.

“Without a transformation of consciousness our efforts to respond to the crises of our times often reproduce the problems we are trying to solve,” says Guhyapati. “Buddhism can offer important insights into what that change of consciousness means. The Engaged Buddhist Training supports Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike."

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