Ian Bray Photo: The Friend.
‘Radical change never comes from people who are comfortable.’
Huddersfield Friend Ian Bray is one of the co-founders of Extinction Rebellion (XR). He talks ethics, history and a potential prison sentence with Rebecca Hardy
How were you first introduced to Quakers?
By a friend. Basically, [it was through] someone we knew from antenatal class. I didn’t start going immediately, but it kind of slowly happened. I’ve always liked to experiment, so I went and it just clicked. I pretty much decided it was for me and have been going ever since.
That’s something I hear a lot from Quakers. People often say it’s like coming home.
Literally. I’d tried sitting in meditation and couldn’t do it. I was very heavily influenced by Thich Nhat Hanh and Zen Buddhism, and Quakerism seemed to be the nearest western equivalent. It’s only in retrospect I’m saying this, [but] I’ve always found Buddhism a little bit impenetrable, whereas [Quakerism] fit like a glove.
