Jeremy David Engels was kind enough to join us on the Becoming a True Human podcast! Listen in for an enlightening discussion of a revised Declaration of Independence – A Declaration of Interdependence!
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Jeremy David Engels discusses his new book, On Mindful Democracy with Dave Kopacz and Chris Smith. We start by asking him about the nature of the “true human” and “true democracy.”
In the book he defines true democracy as “working together to care for each other and the life we share,” (4).
The book is divided into three parts, recognizing our common ground, walking the path of interdependence in community, and practicing democracy with hands and heart.
Jeremy has drafted a new interpretation of the Declaration of Independence as the Declaration of Interdependence.
Throughout the book and our discussion, he draws on Thich Nhat Hanh’s concept of interbeing as a foundation for our common ground of mindful interdependence – and he draws on Martin Luther King Jr.’s concept of the beloved community as a model of mindful working together to foster true human connection.
Jeremy elaborates the concepts of “enemyship” (viewing relationships as us vs them, and competitive and conflictual – the opposite of interbeing) and mindful deliberation as a modality of working with tensions within the individual and within communities. He tells us that “there is no way to democracy, democracy is the way,” (103).
We discuss a great idea of bringing together various thinkers on contemplative forms of democracy, such as mindful democracy, spiritual democracy, and inner democracy – into The Varieties of Democratic Experience (with a nod to William James).
Jeremy closes our discussion with a poem from his book, entitled Hope (p. 155):
Hope
Snow melts from a tree branch
Someday soon it will be a cloud
And rain will fall on new leaves
There is spring in winter
And winter in spring
Take heart
Zen and the Art of Democracy Substack
Jeremy’s website
Recommended Reading
Jeremy D Engels
On Mindful Democracy: A Declaration of Interdependence to Mend a Fractured World
The Ethics of Oneness: Emerson, Whitman, and the Bhagavad Gita
Living Namaste: A Practical Guide to Mindfulness, Yoga, and Building Community
Thich Nhat Hanh
Good Citizens: Creating Enlightened Society
Parker J Palmer
Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit
Glenn Aparicio Parry
Original Politics: Making American Sacred Again
Steven Herrmann
Spiritual Democracy
Walt Whitman: Shamanism, Spiritual Democracy, and the World Soul
Marc Andrus
Brothers in the Beloved Community: The Friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and MLK Jr
David R Kopacz
Caring for Self & Others: Transforming Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Soul Loss (ch. 10, Becoming Caring: Caring for All)
Becoming Medicine: Pathways of Initiation into a Living Spirituality (ch. 14, Spiritual Democracy)
Being Fully Human 