Hello all -

Southern California is in crisis, with the LA fires raging and the Santa Ana winds blowing. I had written this post before the fires started on January 7, but modified it after the catastrophe began. As I wrote on Substack,

Sending active compassion to anyone affected by the LA fires. This is a catastrophe beyond words or analogy, but Dresden firebombing, Hiroshima, and 9-11 come to mind. I can only imagine what it’s like to be there, to have lost loved ones, or lost your life’s possessions and home. LA is a major center of narrative creation, diversity, wealth, poverty, and a real driver of many American dreams. I am hoping that the narrative that spins out of this will be one of clarity and uplift - because that’s what the best storytellers do. The ‘blamer-in-chief’ will meet reality on January 20, and he can’t bluster and bs his way out of this - though he will try. The Mumpopathocracy is a giant delusion, or a symptom of the giant delusion that so many have fed with their brains and identities. It’s time to take the red pill, and drop out of their matrix.

That’s the main reason I wrote this - a review of Robert Wright’s bestselling book, but I think it also stands alone.

Take the Red Pill: Why Buddhism Is True, and Needed | Psychology Today (January 11, 2024)

Here are the other posts since my last newsletter on December 8, 2024.

East Wind eZine

MOSF 19.21: The Golden Rule in the Time of Trump: Obsolete Relic or Absolute Imperative? (December 15, 2024) (a more political version of the similar article at Psychology Today, below)

The Golden Rule is timeless wisdom. Confucius himself articulated it 2500 years ago. But it’s under threat. We are in a psychological, spiritual, and social crisis, and we have no choice but to accept the challenge, and cultivate and stay true to our values, to bend the arc of history towards justice, belonging, and equity. “The Golden Rule is humanity’s greatest generational wealth, and to my mind as important a basic need as food, water, and shelter, and embedded in our own Declaration of Independence as a resistance to the distinctly un-golden, exploitative rule of British Monarchy. We should guard and cultivate it like the treasure it is, and amplify its reach to all corners of society.”

MOSF 19.22: Did the Ivy League Break America? Can the Joy League Save it? (December 31, 2024) - a slightly more political version of my post at Psychology Today, below

David Brooks recent essay “How the Ivy League Broke America” offers food for thought on elitism and Ivy admissions’ narrow concerns. He also provides a good reminder of social and emotional values we need to emphasize. However, he misses the mark on what really broke us: white supremacy and Christofascism; our broken informational, emotional, and relational ecosystems; and the broken ways we deal with dissatisfaction and disconnection.

Psychology Today

Take the Red Pill: Why Buddhism Is True, and Needed (January 11, 2025)

Personal Perspective: In the face of wildfires and global chaos, Buddhist practices can help us shed unhelpful narratives. It's time to take the red pill and drop into our bodies.

Duty Vs. Self-Enhancement in the American Psyche (January 8, 2025)

President Carter's long life and passing gives us an opportunity to reflect on personality and the qualities of duty, service, and self-enhancement in the American psyche.

Did the Ivy League Break America? Can the Joy League Save It? (January 3, 2025)

Personal Perspective: A recent essay in "The Atlantic" offers food for thought on elitism and the narrow concerns of Ivy League admissions. But there's more to the story.

An American Buddhist Psychiatrist on Our Human Struggle (December 25, 2024)

Personal Perspective: Hera are reflections on ideals and suffering from an Asian American Buddhist psychiatrist. Happy Chrismukkwanzaa

The Golden Rule: Obsolete Relic or Absolute Imperative?  (December 19, 2024)

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is timeless wisdom. And yet the Golden Rule is threatened by our political divide and by broad dissatisfaction. How do we deal?

Thanks for reading, and I hope we can all stay connected, compassionate, and cultivating in the face of all this!

Warmly,

Ravi