With the elections in the US, it is a good time to introspect on our lives, the world around us and how we can make it a better place for everyone. Those practice spirituality have a somewhat different view and disposition towards events like elections.

First of all, those who meditate must do their civic duty.

Meditators must not consider themselves to be above their duties to their community, country or this world. If anything, it is a good idea to be more involved to make a difference and bring in goodness, peace and benevolence into everything. It’s one thing to be peaceful and in the pursuit of spirituality, it is a higher calling to spread this in the community. As it is said, to make a change in the system and world around us, we must be in it, not above or outside of it.

Elections form an essential responsibility of every citizen, so those can vote must do so.

Vote for Dharma

Meditators’ lives are governed by a strong sense of Dharma and righteousness. There’s no doubt that today’s politics are incredibly complicated and it is hard to classify any party or politician as entirely good or bad. The higher truth is that politicians are a true reflection of the people’s psyche in a country. They are a mirror image of what people think and how they act, even if those people do not represent everyone in the country.

So elections are a good time to introspect on how much the world around us is on the path of Dharma. As a country, we may be on the right track on some aspects while entirely on the wrong track on others.

But those who are spiritual must rise above personal preferences, likes and dislikes, superficiality, pettiness, vindictiveness and hatred. We make our choice based on what is more Dharmic and will serve the greater good.

Vote for peace

As ardent followers of peace within, it’s always an important consideration that we vote for what will make people and the world more peaceful, even though it might seem very hard. Those who are influenced by extreme views will always be unhappy no matter what. But the majority of others must be able to spend their lives peacefully, so their attention can then pursue higher things in life.

Vote for unity and collectivity

In what may be incredibly divisive times, the choice of those who meditate must go to elected officials who bring people together even if we do not approve of those people or parties.

Vote for the longer term and future generations

It’s not just about us always; we need to think about our future generations and their peace and happiness. Towards this end, we must vote for policies and people who are not just thinking about themselves but also considering preserving our society, environment, Mother Nature and this world for it to be a beautiful place for many generations to come.

Vote against the erosion of values and tradition

Tradition plays a very crucial role for our spiritual growth. It is the fabric of our society and civilization and every good tradition is a stepping stone for our evolution. So we need to vote against policies, people, and parties that may erode our valued traditions and our ancestors’ indisputable wisdom. 

Too often, it has become an accepted practice to normalize what is and was considered wrong or abnormal just a few decades ago. The problem with this is that we’re cutting off future generations’ from following and respecting tradition and getting its benefits. It is rather easy to undo and discard something, but it is a lot harder to find it and reestablish this in our lives.

As such, the modernization and rate of advancements in our lives, while giving many benefits, give us temptations to break down the traditions. Sometimes it is due to the misunderstanding that what’s modern is always better, at other times, it is because we get swept away in this wave of modernization and quickly lose touch with our roots.

Either way, meditators must think long and hard and do their bit to preserve time tested values and morals.

Vote against the evils in our society

As a human race, there are many things that we cannot be proud of – racism, domination using our ego, violence, wars and extreme manifestations of systems like capitalism or communism. 

Meditators cannot be mere bystanders watching these problems destroy our societal values nor can they become activists. Instead, we need to influence improvements in our communities and countries with our moral compass and subtler powers.

Love Thy Neighbor and fellow voter, no matter the result or their vote

Finally, meditators are the only ones that can forgive easily and capable of unconditional love and understanding. If your neighbor or colleague votes exactly opposite your choices, then it is a test of your character to respect and have no animosity towards that person. Even better is if you can understand the reasons for his or her choice without judgment. The quest for spreading peace in the world is challenging; we must live this life of peace ourselves to be credible. Taking sides or demeaning others is never a sign of inner peace, but complete acceptance is.

Can you laugh and joke about your and that other person’s voting choices and how different they are? If yes, then that’s the first step towards finding unity and peace in our world.