Now more than ever, says Thich Nhat Hanh, we need a global ethic of compassion, understanding, and peace. Here’s how Buddhism can help.

The world in which we live is globalized. Economies halfway around the world affect our own. Our politics, education, and cultural consumption happen on a global scale. Our ethics and morality also need to be globalized. A new global order calls for a new global ethic. A global ethic is the key to addressing the true difficulties of our time.

Around the world, we are facing climate change, terrorism, and wars between people of different religions. Fanaticism, discrimination, division, violence, economic crises, and the destruction of the environment affect us all. We have to look deeply into these sufferings so we can make good decisions and conduct ourselves wisely. We have to sit down together, as people of many traditions, to find the causes of global suffering. If we look deeply with clarity, calm, and peace, we can see the causes of our suffering, uproot and transform them, and find a way out.

Read a longer excerpt from “Creating an Enlightened Society” here. Our January magazine also includes “In the Country of the Present Moment,” Andrea Miller’s profile of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village Community, and “You Don’t Need to Be Buddhist,” a Q&A with Thay about the five mindfulness trainings. Click here to browse what else is in our January magazine.