Zen Buddhism, to me, as I am currently learning about it, means being present. Being aware of what is here, now; reality as experienced in this moment. This moment, of course, changes every ... well, moment. That's Buddhist teaching, too, the transient, contingent nature of experienced reality.

It's a tricky business. It was easier, in my youth, to be born again. Religion is simpler; you obey the rules, do as you are told. It seems complex at times not because religion is complex but because life is — and overlaying an insufficient framework is like putting a dam in a river: something's gotta give.

So I've given up religion, which is easy in one way — it makes sense — and tough in another: years of habit. What I've not given up is politics. To me, politics is nothing more than the public side of life: everything that is beyond the self (and that's an inaccurate, insufficient definition). Politics is just about everything in life at some point. It's how we get along with others, the rules we make, the negotiations to share common space, etc. It's a whole lot more than government and elections, although these are the common forms of control and decision-making.

Being a Buddhist political activist isn't easy. Buddhism teaches that all the distinctions we make between people are, in essence, false. Phantasms we create and which may be useful at times but ultimately disappear into the wind. Politics, however, means making distinctions. Picking sides. Fighting battles. For example, I truly do want Sen Barack Obama to be elected president next year, and I'm going to work hard to help make this happen. Does that mean I'm being false to Buddhist teaching?

I think that if I examine my motives and actions and keep what I do in alignment, as best I know how, with the Eightfold Path, I'll be all right. If my perspective towards others, including Republicans, Libertarians and the nonvoters who bear terrible responsibility for what's become of our nation, is compassion; if I can seek to act without ego, then I should be ok. If Buddhist teachings about transience mean anything anywhere, it's in the outcomes of political, and especially electoral, activity.

But it's important to act to make the world better. That's at the heart of compassion: making an effort to do good for those I can. And that's why politics is so important: We can have a good, compassionate effect on our world. In fact, there really is no other way to do but through politics. Even so-called private efforts — churches, clubs, foundations, charities — are political. Otherwise they'd be invisible and useless.

Politics is not the same as sitting zazen, but done with the right perspective and attitude, it can be a Zen endeavor. At least, that's my hope.