Martin Luther + Facebook = Facebuddha!

 
From: "Ravi Chandra, M.D., Psychiatrist and Writer" <hello@PROTECTED>
Date: November 2nd 2017

Psychiatrist F.B. Steele wrote that Facebuddha was "akin to Luther's theses nailed to the door of the Cathedral of Technology." Much to my surprise, I discovered that Luther reportedly nailed his theses to the Wittenberg Castle Church Door exactly 500 years ago, on October 31, 1517. I couldn't pass up this synchronicity. On Tuesday, I went down to Facebook HQ with filmmaker Tony Nguyen and 'nailed' my book to the Facebook sign. Video available on Facebook and YouTube. The statement that I read is below.

Who knows if they'll be talking about my book in 500 years smiley! But let's get the buzz started right now yes  I hope you'll find my book and ideas interesting and compelling!

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For immediate release:

Facebuddha: Transcendence in the Age of Social Networks by psychiatrist Ravi Chandra was released October 10, 2017. Dr. Chandra is available for interviews, contact him directly at ravi.chandra@PROTECTED. Ravi Chandra will be in conversation with journalist Bernice Yeung at Booksmith’s Bindery at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, November 8th.

Facebuddha is available online in hardcover and ebook through all major outlets, and also at your indie bookstore. Check www.facebuddha.co for details and purchase links.

Facebuddha : Transcendence in the Age of Social Networks is a combination of rich, modern Asian American immigrant memoir, a state-of-the-art exploration of the psychological research on social media, and an engaging introduction to Buddhism. Details and reviews available at www.facebuddha.co.

Text of event:

500 years ago today, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church, protesting the corruption of papal indulgences, and thus birthing the Protestant reformation. Today, I’m posting my book, Facebuddha: Transcendence in the Age of Social Networks, to the door of our social media church to protest what social media is doing to our minds and hearts, and calling for a return to the values of compassion, relationship and community. Social media, and technology, have become a new religion, with evangelists and disciples. We beg for our friends’ indulgences with our posts, but our relationships have become monetized for the profit of the few. We may hope for transcendence through our online communion, but in fact we are taken farther from our hearts. Social media surfaces the question of belonging, but does not solve it. Depression, anxiety, loneliness and suicidality are increased by our time on social media. Social media are a platform for cyberbullying and trolling, even by our president, who sets a bad example but also epitomizes the worst possibilities of online interactions, rampaging across our boundaries of mind and spirit, agonizing and polarizing the nation, causing us to lose sight of our common humanity.

Social media are our auxiliary amygdalae, priming us for fight-or-flight responses to the cataclysmic barrage of traumatic events, fake news, and threats to our identities. The social network is a race to the bottom of our brainstems. We think we’ll heal ourselves online, but all our communal wounds (of racism, sexism and homophobia, for example) are empathic failures, failures of love and compassion. Healing comes through real world presence and relationship. By making relationship superficial, we deepen our divide. Society has become more polarized and mistrustful. Social media is ultimately a boon not to transcendence of the self-centered ego, but boosts self-centeredness itself. Our attentions and priorities are narrowed. Our curiosity, openness, ability to consider differing opinions, and ability to reason calmly suffer. The most triggering and inflammatory posts are most likely to get our attention and go viral. Facebuddha is my spiritual memoir, cultural analysis and odyssey across this alluring technological sea, and home to the heart, where I find a measure of transcendence through the cultivation of relationship and love, mindfulness and compassion.

Social media and technology are not just media. They are a new religion. Facebook is bigger than the Catholic Church. Our Tweets and Posts are our Call to Prayers. We thumb our Phones like Rosaries. Food Porn is our Communion and our Offering to the Cloud. The Status Update is our Sermon on the Mount. The Selfie is our personal Anointment and Beatification. Facebook Messenger is our Messiah. The Apple Store is our modern Cathedral, our Silicon Sanctuary. New Emoji are released to the fanfare of a new Pope. Where is this religion taking us?

Read Facebuddha, and find out. Cultivate a path to transcendence, peace and healing, and beyond suffering.

More details, purchase links and an animated book trailer at www.facebuddha.co.

The above text is available at the website:  Martin Luther + Facebook = Facebuddha

Hyphen Magazine's Abigail Licad profiled me: Psychiatrist Ravi Chandra Explores Social Media Culture through a Buddhist lens in Facebuddha

Also - the latest cover story of Psychology Today on Social Comparison quotes me and gives a big shoutout to Facebuddha! Check it out on newsstands (not online yet)

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