ON MINDFUL DEMOCRACY | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Jul 1, 2026 6:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Jul 1, 2026 6:00 pm
14th & V
Join us to draw on mindfulness and modern wisdom to cultivate resilience, healthy engagement, and skillful presence in turbulent times as we approach the US’s 250 year anniversary
250 years after the US Declaration of Independence, this incisive Declaration of Interdependence is a timely, tender, and transformative guide for citizens who care deeply about the world but feel disillusioned by the state of public discourse. Professor Jeremy David Engels--scholar, mindfulness teacher, and longtime student of Thich Nhat Hanh--proposes that clarity and interconnection are not only paths to personal peace, but vital practices for renewing democracy itself.
Structured in the spirit of On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder, this compact, accessible book delivers 27 profound insights--each a short chapter--on how to show up for democracy with compassion, clarity, and courage. It invites readers to step away from enemyship, to root their activism in shared humanity, and to declare their interdependence.
Readers will discover:
- How mindfulness can heal the civic wounds of polarization and fear
- Practices for engaging with news and social media without being consumed
- A reimagining of democracy as collective empowerment, not endless conflict
- Zen stories and teachings to inspire transformation
- Practical tips for showing up skillfully in moments of disagreement and tension
Whether you're a seasoned activist or a tender-hearted citizen seeking a new path forward, this luminous testament to resilience offers a lantern in the dark--and a quiet call to remember who we are, and what we're here to do, together.
Dr. Jeremy David Engels is joining us on the Busboys stage alongside Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, editor and writer at Smithsonian Magazine,to share more about the book, engage in a community reading of the Declaration of Independence, and “uncover the true meaning of democracy” (Smithsonian magazine). Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Dr. Engels will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Doors open to guests at 5:30pm. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of ON MINDFUL DEMOCRACY will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Jeremy David Engels, Ph.D., is the Liberal Arts professor of Communication and Ethics at Penn State University (www.jeremydavidengels.com). He is also a longtime teacher of mindfulness, meditation, and yoga and since undertaking a pilgrimage to walk in the footsteps of the Buddha in India and Nepal in 2018, a student of Thích Nhất Hạnh. He is an award-winning teacher and scholar, and has published numerous books and articles about democracy, community building, deliberation, and peace. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania, where he and his wife Anna run a community yoga and meditation studio called Yoga Lab. Jeremy joyfully joins the Plum Village Beloved Community in practicing mindfulness as "the practice of peace."
Jennie Rothenberg Gritz has been a senior editor at national magazines for the past two decades; she’s a former senior editor at The Atlantic and currently a senior editor at Smithsonian magazine.
She’s a graduate of both the Maharishi School and Maharishi International University, and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where she received the Harper’s Magazine Award for Outstanding Magazine Writing.
BOOK DETAILS
On Mindful Democracy
A Declaration of Interdependence to Mend a Fractured World
By Jeremy David Engels
February 03, 2026 | Paperback, 192 pages, $16.95
