Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, September 15, 2026

First, “Democratic.” The Buddha lived in a dynamic political moment where there were various models of governance in close proximity, from the imperial kingdom of Magadha, ruled by Ajatasattu the haunted parricide we meet in DN 2, to the Vajji democratic republic whose governance and social practices the Buddha praises in DN 16. The Vajjis had a large assembly of community leaders who met to make policy, seeking consensus but also voting. The assembly was oligarchic, composed of heads of families and community leaders, with the same general demographics as the famous ancient Greek demos in Athens: excluding women, slaves, and the working class. The Buddha drew on his experience with the Vajjian system in his organization of the monastic Saṅgha, and the monastery regulations in the Vinaya still maintain a democratic, consensus-based model.

Despite that, the ancient Buddhist ideal government described in the Pāli discourses is not democracy, but benevolent monarchy: the “Wheel-Turning Monarch” (DN 26). This is an individual (of any gender—there were several powerful queens in ancient India) firmly established in the Dhamma, who is able to act fully in the interests of the people, not themself. The main governance practice they use is wealth redistribution. Wheel-turning monarchs spend tax revenues to support working class people in their trades, uplifting the general economy while minimizing crime, since crime is seen as a corollary of poverty. So while this is not democratic, it is definitely proto-socialist, so more on that in a moment.

I empathize with a growing number of young folks saying they’re democracy-skeptics. I think successful democracy depends on universal education, a strong safety net, an election system protected from corruption, and classic civic virtues like empathy, tolerance, and generosity. Folks need to be able to vote in an informed way, with the skills to be able to think clearly about large-scale issues. When all of these are weak, as they are now in the US, it seems inevitable that demagogues and bad actors will be able to gain power. So democracy is beautiful, but corruptible. (Yeah, we know.) And of course, how often does a selfless, generous, wise monarch (or well-designed technocracy) come along—and survive politically long enough to stabilize their realm in socialist egalitarian bliss? (Excuse me while I take a relaxed phone call from some Danish friends.)

So early Buddhism says it would be great to have an enlightened (or enlightenment-adjacent) king or queen, but when that’s not happening, it’s good to be in a stable, well-run republic. Great. I wish I was. What about the Socialist part? Is this tax-and-spend monarchy really the Buddhist economic ideal?

The heart of Buddhist economics is compassion, the wish to prevent suffering for others. In economic practice, one traditional expression of this is using minimal resources for yourself, and giving away resources and wealth to benefit others. Using minimal resources is captured in the term nekkhamma, usually translated as renunciation. And giving away resources is of course dāna, inspired giving. Dāna and nekkhamma are a matched set, the internal and external aspects of what we might call “right/wise economics.” Of course there is already a limb in the Eightfold Path for this, sammā-ājīva, usually translated as “wise livelihood.” The classical definition is just a list of professions to avoid, but in the same way that we always now include systemic considerations as part of individual ethical cultivation, I take livelihood to include all the ways our actions interact with the larger economic system, which at this point is global.

The thing that’s hard about Buddhist Socialism as a large scale system rather than an individual orientation toward simplicity and generosity is that not everyone wants to restrain their consumption or give to others. Dāna and nekkhamma are practices, not normative or prescriptive ethics (things everyone should do in order to conform with social norms). You have to cultivate them intentionally, and doing so often goes against the stream of the culture around you. This is the problem anytime we try to make Buddhist ethical ideals into social mores. You can’t force anyone else want to be kind, generous, or compassionate, all you can do is try to convince them to want to. Because of this, Buddhist ethics always snaps back to individual practice, and leading by example. Start by cleaning your side of the street, and then make coalitions with others through dialogue, connection, and mutuality, not coercion, and slowly there are more clean streets.

The Wheel-Turning Monarch also presumably does not rule over a realm where everyone always feels generous. The socialism of this wise ruler uses the soft coercion of taxes to support their redistributive practice, and the understanding seems to be that the benefit of decreased crime and increased economic activity will benefit everyone and prevent dissatisfaction or rebellion. In the real world, it doesn't always work. King Aśoka, the closest to a Buddhist emperor India ever had, aroused the rebellion of the Brahmins because his egalitarian practices stripped them of their hereditary power. He also formed a kind of moral police called dhamma-mahāmattas, empowered to enter people's homes to enforce Buddhist orthodoxy. Yikes. I don’t think the Buddha would have approved. Aśoka was overthrown by a Brahmin revolt that led to a long anti-Buddhist backlash and resurgence of Brahmanism and caste separation.

So I do read Buddhism as inherently Socialist, and encourage participation with groups like the DSA if you feel like they reflect your values well enough. But our practice always has to be rooted in our own cultivation of the core practices: learn to do with less, and give much away. Renunciation is complex in a moment when only a tiny percentage of our very unequal population has the kind of excess resources where they can get real traction simplifying their consumption. Most everyone I know is barely getting by, hanging on in expensive progressive cities, with a margin of simplification only amounting to a few luxuries. You can’t easily scale back your rent, healthcare, or basic needs. But every bit of simplifying our personal consumption footprint can be a satisfying shift in the kind of energy we engage with every day. Simplifying our lives is good practice, at any level. And then we have to organize, to enter coalitions with others. That’s politics.

Dāna is the same. Giving away our resources to support others, especially those who live solely on that support, like dependents, elders, and monastics, bears profound fruit. Joyful giving is the secret to successful Socialism, which never survives only on coercion. Speaking of the Danes, read the stories of them celebrating the quality of life in their country and speaking in surprisingly positive ways about their high tax rates. Surprising only to us, maybe, in a terrifyingly unequal oligarchy that seems to care little for the well-being of its lower castes and classes.

Though I’m at times skeptical about at least two out of three of these labels, call me a Buddhist Democratic Socialist. Maybe you’re one too.

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, September 8, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, September 8, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, September 1, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, September 1, 2026

The July full moon marks Dhamma Day (Āsāḷha Pūjā), the anniversary of the Buddha’s very first teaching, given to five friends in a deer park 2,614 years ago. This one ancient talk is said to contain the entire path. And it still asks something extraordinary of us: a complete reorientation of how we live. We’ll listen for the fierce compassion at the heart of that original message—and explore how to actually take the medicine, right now, in the middle of everything.

“Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation.”
– Venerable Kondañña, upon hearing the first teaching (SN 56.11)

This talk references Saṃyutta Nikāya 56.11, “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma”.

Listen and read along to Sean reading the discourse here.

Watch on Sangha Live

We'll be live at berkeleyalembic.org the fourth Tuesday of every month. Locals, join us!

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, August 25, 2026

About Eva

Eva Gold PsyD is a psychologist in private practice. Her current interest is in working with psychotherapists–as mentor, consultant, supervisor, or individual therapist. She was an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Pacific University School of Professional Psychology where she taught Gestalt therapy for 15 years. A Gestalt therapist since 1978, her lineage includes extensive training with Isadore From, Bob Martin, and in the Graduates Program at Gestalt Training Center—San Diego with Erv and Miriam Polster. The author and co-author of numerous articles and book chapters on Gestalt therapy theory and practice, she also presents nationally and internationally on the intersection of Buddhist psychology and Gestalt therapy. A student of Buddhist psychology, and an Insight (Vipassana) Meditation practitioner for many years, she is co-author of the book Buddhist Psychology and Gestalt Therapy Integrated: Psychotherapy for the 21st Century. Website, Gestalt Therapy Training Center Northwest.

Session #2, July 29

Session #3, August 5

Starting with a meditation connecting us to the natural world around us, and the many kinds of conscious beings that may be there, we explore bringing back animist understandings of the world and the Dharma that have been lost in our modern psychological, individualistic practice. 

(Halfway through the talk, at least two coyotes came down to the hall, hung around outside the windows where people could see them up close, and then sang their howl song for a while. I don’t think the coyote song can be heard on the recording, but it was one of the most delightful parts of the evening, and you’ll see in the middle of talk all of us get excited that they’re there.)

Watch on the Spirit Rock site

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, August 18, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, August 18, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, August 11, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, August 11, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, July 14, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, July 14 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, July 7, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, July 7, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang
Online, June 30, 2026