What differentiates the outcomes will never explore your own capacity to love and forgive.
advocated by the sacred activist and the activist? Sacred activists understand that service is the only road
to profound and lasting joy, and that the deepest service
The sacred activist is aware that the temptation and excitement rises out of their deepest compassion, which is born out of
of projecting their own unacknowledged darkness onto others their deepest heartbreak.
keeps them from seeing just how implicated they are in the
problem. Such an enlightened thinker also understands that How do we know our sacred cause when we meet it?
advocating for any cause in the spirit of condemnation only
reinforces the behavior it is trying to end, and virtually ensures Sacred activism asks two related things of those who serve:
that any efforts increase resistance, rather than healing. to remain open, without illusion, to the danger that the world
The radical psychological self-work on their own is in and to ask, “What is my deepest heartbreak?” If you can
shadow, or dark aspects, as well as incessant prayer by the open your heart to the horror of what is happening and at
sacred activist, opens the doors to a sense of humility which the same time identify your deepest heartbreak, the answer
views opponents not as an “other,” but rather through the will marry a profound urgency with a focused and passionate
eyes of kindness and respect. The most effective negotiators commitment to your primary cause.
in situations of extreme danger or conflict are those who
experience their own continuing inner conflicts, which keeps What has kept you going for more than 20 years as an activist?
them humble. While it would be sentimental to claim that
this approach always succeeds, we can say that the active The things that keep me going—a sense of urgency about
spiritual path shows us the way to the only solutions that can the dangers we face; a tremendous love for human beings,
succeed in the long run. animals and nature; and an energy that rises out of the
depths of profound and direct realization from the divine—
What qualities do all sacred activists have in common? are available at any moment, to anyone who has a deep
hunger for them.
The embrace of unconditional love and forgiveness is es-
sential to the success of all major activist adventures in our For more information about Andrew Harvey and the Institute
world, not just to saints and Buddhists. Until you try this, you for Sacred Activism, visit
AndrewHarvey.com.
March 2010 37
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