Hi all,

Happy Holidays!  Thanks for staying with me and keeping abreast of the latest news and publications!  It’s been almost 6 months since the last newsletter.  I do my best not to flood your inbox.  We all get too many emails.  Hopefully this one brings you some joy and new understandings.

Published in Clinical Psychiatric News
An expose about Amazon’s workplace environment in the New York Times compelled me to write about workplace abuse for Clinical Psychiatric News. Emotional intelligence makes for good workplaces, but the “churn and burn” practices of some companies have a lot of fallout.  Some people thrive some of the time under pressure - but most of us don’t, in the long term.  Watching the Steve Jobs movies reminded me there’s a tough dynamic at work with the most ambitious and hard driving types, but these become ‘cautionary tales’ for society-at-large.  We are all called to leadership in some form.  What kind of leader are you? 

AJ+ Video about Mental Health in minority communities.
I was featured on Al Jazeera’s online station geared towards millennials.  The video has been viewed over 180,000 times so far!

If you're not white, it's harder to get mental health care

Psychology Today
I’ve had three “Essential Reads” in PT in the last few months!  These are picked out by the Editors and featured on the homepage and in topic areas.

Headquarters, What Headquarters?  Behind Pixar’s “Inside Out”  A look at the psychology and neurobiology behind Inside Out.

Slow is from the Heart Inspired by an encounter with a dance teacher in Cambodia.  Slowing down brings us peace, wisdom and love.

The Assault on the American Mind  A response to The Atlantic’s “The Coddling of the American Mind” which generally criticized student “sensitivity” to unconscious and conscious slights.   The Atlantic article highlighted “trigger warnings” that paralyze classroom discussion.  A recent NYT editorial by an African American law professor, Randall Kennedy, expressed concerns that "reformers harm themselves by nurturing an inflated sense of victimization.”   Clearly, we all should be sympathetic to student concerns, and there are serious issues of student safety.  But I think social media especially is entraining reflexive rather than reflective responses to situations.

Since my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia this spring, I’ve been thinking about and internalizing the concepts of nonduality, or as I like to think of it, empathic inclusion.  There are so many “splits” in the world, some with violent consequences.  I think it’s important to resolve these splits within our own minds - through kindness, compassion and understanding.  It is the task of our age to undermine division with inclusion.  There are certainly oppressive forces in the world, but instead of just ‘calling out’ those forces with anger, I think it’s important to “call in” with compassion.  “Harmonizing” can be oppressive, but a recognition and celebration of both diversity and unity is possible.

Earlier in the summer, there was a raging debate on PT.  Was “Anti-intellectualism killing America” or was “Self-Centeredness Killing America”?  As many of you know, I came down in the latter camp.  Of course, reason is critical, and it is important to understand the history of ideas - but I don’t think you can reason properly without getting outside the limits of your own perspectives.  Empathic inclusion helps us do that.  “The world is divided into those who are right”.  “You can be related or you can be right, you can be right or you can be happy.”  This is true for any relationship, from couples to countries.  If we begin with the conviction that we have to be related, then we realize our relatedness must inform all our values.  This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have boundaries; relationship and a sense of self requires boundaries.

Another phrase I’ve become fond of is “The opposite of suffering is belonging.”  That’s the message I hope to bring with my book, FACEBUDDHA, TRANSCENDENCE IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS.  More news on that soon!

May the Holiday season bring you relatedness, belonging, and happiness!

Best,
Ravi Chandra