(Image for my latest post on Psychology Today, 3 Building Blocks of Mental Health and Their Great Destroyer) Hi all, My last newsletter blast was October 12th, and I guess in some sense my post on Beethoven's Ode to Joy was prescient, as the Ode is all about human struggle and the hopes fulfilled when we let go of petty self- and faction-centeredness to bask in the reality of brother-, sister- and personhood. Minoritized identities and the expansive collective that is warm to our diversity took a beating on ...Continue Reading

Hi all, If you've stuck with me, you know how I feel. November 5 is all about love versus hate, greed, and the delusion of selfish existence. I don't think any of us live our lives on the latter end, but we do have to get better at cultivating the former - a synonym for enlightenment. Beethoven was fully in support of Enlightenment values, and his symphony came out of this support. I wrote this just after July 4th, after I had a wonderful and warm dream about the Ninth. And pretty soon thereafter, Kamala Harris announc ...Continue Reading

(Maybe there's Buddha, Buddha-lite, the UnBuddha, and Dr. Pepper. I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper .... or wouldn't you like to have an RC Cola too! lol. I can't believe it's not Buddha!) Hi all, This is my first newsletter since the tumultuous weekend of July 17-20. On July 21, President Biden announced he was stepping down from his campaign, and passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been running with it. That same day, I held my first Postcard Party for Democracy, Mental Health, and Social Well-Being. ...Continue Reading

Hi all, Sorry for the second email this month - I'll hold off until August for another. But this felt like it couldn't wait. I wrote it over the course of about 8 hours last night and this morning, though I've been mulling over the ideas for some time. MOSF 19.7: The Attempted Political Assassination of President Biden and Discovering America’s “Collective Psyche” (July 20, 2024) Democrats are in disarray. What does this unsightly mess reveal? Dr. Ravi Chandra takes a biopsy of the collective psyche, and hopes in ...Continue Reading

Hi all, Well, I've been busy writing this last month. I had two more encounters with Psychology Today's quest for neutrality on politics (read avoidance, in my book),  so I ended up publishing those articles at East Wind instead. Particularly with the one on media bias, you can compare for yourself and see the difference between my voice and theirs. They may not be wrong, but they do exert strong editorial control - which some might view as censorship.  Also, I was interviewed by Steven Hassan, who is a fant ...Continue Reading

Hi all,Well, I've been busy writing this last month. I had two more encounters with Psychology Today's quest for neutrality on politics (read avoidance, in my book),  so I ended up publishing those articles at East Wind instead. Particularly with the one on media bias, you can compare for yourself and see the difference between my voice and theirs. They may not be wrong, but they do exert strong editorial control - which some might view as censorship. Also, I was interviewed by Steven Hassan, who is a fantastic exp ...Continue Reading

(The Orpheus Fountain at Cranbrook Academy of Art, affiliated with my high school, Cranbrook, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Highlighted in my article about my reunion.) Dear all, Happy Juneteenth! I've published three new articles since my last newsletter, two at East Wind eZine and one at Psychology Today: MOSF 19.3: Faces/Places: Late Night In-Flight Thoughts Returning from my 40th High School Reunion at Cranbrook Kingswood (June 15, 2024) A reflection on my 40th high school reunion at Cranbrook Kingswood ...Continue Reading

Hi all, Just published my latest post. I saw Suzan-Lori Parks' play, Sally & Tom (about Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson), on the last night of my stay in NYC. I had just gone to the APA panel involving the Goldwater Rule - and was disappointed and distressed by the level of suppression and avoidance I experienced at this session. I woke up at 3:30 am and drafted this article, referencing /Sally & Tom/, and I've barely edited it since that first draft. I had been asked to write about the APA Annual Meeti ...Continue Reading

Hi all!My latest - on Origin and Caste - in Psychology TodayThe New Film “Origin” Forces an Acknowledgement of Caste | Psychology Today, April 12, 2024Can people survive if people prefer something other than people? Can you survive if you, as a person, or your type of people, are disfavored? The answer, of course, is no—and yet we have this kind of disfavor, bias, discrimination, and cruelty built into the structures of psyche and society—so that dominant groups thrive and subordinated grou ...Continue Reading

"Killers of the Flower Moon," Civilization, and Discontents (Adobe stock image by anastasy_helter, licensed by Ravi Chandra) Hi all, My "Love Your Enemies" article in East Wind got a boost from republication at The Greater Good Science Center, and I published a shortened version at Psychology Today. Here are all three versions: MOSF 19.1: Love Your Enemies? Jesus, King, Buddha, and the Psychology of Love (February 3, 2024) Six Tips for Loving Your Enemies (Greater Good Science C ...Continue Reading