Walking Meditation and Slow Marches: Buddhist Responses to Climate Change Protest
University Library Heidelberg April 28, 2026 Rolf Scheuermann
This paper examines how Buddhist climate change activism manifests in protests in Germany and the UK, focusing on performative techniques. It analyzes how XR Buddhists Germany repurposed walking meditation as a public, embodied protest during XR Germany's Autumn Rebellion in Berlin in September 2022 and subsequent events. Drawing on textual analysis, online resources, interviews, and fieldwork, the authors argue that transforming this contemplative practice into a form of secular civil disobedience allows Buddhist activists to cultivate alternative ways of being and participate in shaping new life worlds amid ecological crisis, grounded in principles like mindfulness, compassion, and dependent origination.