The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy: Tending the Spark

In this episode of the Peacemakers Podcast, hosts Jim Hōden Fricker and Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe welcome Seth Zuihō Segall and John Murphy to present the vision of the newly formed Buddhist Coalition for Democracy.

Seth Zuihō Segall is a Zen priest ordained in the White Plum and Zen Peacemaker Order lineages, and a retired clinical psychologist who served for three decades at the Yale School of Medicine. He co-founded the Connecticut Chapter of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship in 2003 and the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy in 2025. Seth is the author of The House We Live In: Virtue, Wisdom, and Pluralism (2023), Buddhism and Human Flourishing (2020), and several other books and scholarly works, and is a contributing editor for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

John Murphy is a longtime practitioner at the Philadelphia Shambhala Center, where he serves on its Central Governance Circle. He is also on the Board of the Secular Buddhist Network, and a founding member of the Coordinating Committee of the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy. With a career spanning senior leadership roles in both corporate and nonprofit sectors, John has guided organizations in strategic planning, fundraising, donor relations, and board development.

Together, Seth and John present a fresh and inclusive vision for the Coalition—one that invites Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, conservatives and progressives, to join in protecting the foundations of democracy with compassion, dignity, and care. Their principles are clear: free and fair elections, the rule of law, free inquiry, human dignity, and care for the planet. Their actions are wide-ranging—bearing witness, supporting the vulnerable, educating about threats to democracy, embodying right speech and nonviolence.

This conversation touches on the joy of working together across difference, the courage to remain “for” something rather than merely “against,” and the deep listening that allows dialogue to transform us.

Find out more about the Buddhist Coalition for Democracy

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Show Credits:

* Speakers: Seth Zuihō Segall and John Murphy

* Recording Date: September 16, 2025

* Hosts: Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe, Jim Hōden Fricker

* Audio & Video Editing/Engineering: Jim Hōden Fricker

* Event Coordinators: Clotilde Wright, Geoff Shōun O’Keeffe

* Original Video: HERE

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