Dear America,
I want to begin with this:
I love you.
I really, truly do.
I lived in your cities. I walked your campuses. I sat in your coffee shops, dreaming of building something that could change the world.
America was where I studied. Where I discovered my voice.
Where I fell in love with ideas that reshaped my life.
Where I started Mindvalley, with nothing but ambition and a belief that anything was possible.
For a full decade, you were my home.
And in many ways, you still are.
I may live elsewhere now, but I still identify as American more than anything else.
Because America—the idea of America—isn’t just geography.
It’s a frequency. A dream. A promise that inspired not just me, but billions of people around the world.
What we loved about you
We loved your optimism—the way you believed anything was possible.
We loved your rebels—the ones who spoke truth to power and rewrote the rules.
We loved your Martin Luther King Jr., whose voice still echoes across continents.
We loved your Silicon Valley, that dared to invent the future.
We loved your Apple, born in a garage, changing the way we connect.
We loved Burning Man, a wild celebration of freedom, creativity, and community in the desert.
We loved your poets, your scientists, your dreamers.
You were never perfect. But damn—you had soul.
You were the lighthouse.
The messy, brilliant, complicated beacon we looked toward for what was possible.
But lately… that light feels like it’s flickering.
What the world sees now
In just six months, this is what the world has seen:
– Threats to abandon NATO, the alliance that preserved peace for generations.
– Pointless trade wars where everyone loses.
– Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Treaty, while the Earth burns.
– And now—bombs falling on Iran.
Another unwinnable war in the Middle East.
A war your people swore they’d never allow again.
Not after Iraq.
Not after Afghanistan.
And it’s not just the outer world we see you destroy.
We see you tearing yourselves apart from within.
- Immigration raids that tear apart families and have caused LA to burn.
- Politicians who sound like children while openly taking bribes.
- Tax cuts for billionaires, while those struggling now actually have to pay more in taxes.
- A climate movement abandoned by the very country where it was born.
And yet—I’m writing this letter with an open heart.
Because I haven’t given up.
This week, I’m helping my son apply to U.S. universities. We’re preparing for a tour of East Coast campuses. Then, I’m driving from South Dakota to Yosemite, with stops at Mount Rushmore and the great open spaces I fell in love with.
I want to show my son America. Because I still believe in what America can be.
But I also cannot stay silent—not as a lover of your culture, not as a global citizen.
This spiral you’re in?
It must be named. And it must be stopped.
Because true friends don’t stay silent when they see you crashing.
The spiral was not a mystery. It was a choice.
Every war.
Every broken treaty.
Every erosion of trust.
It didn’t just happen. It was chosen through voting decisions.
By people who, often unknowingly, chose:
- Ego over empathy.
- Charisma over character.
- Soundbites over substance.
And I don’t blame you.
You were caught in a storm of propaganda. You were tired, misled, afraid.
But we need to be honest:
When you vote for leaders who enable war, destabilize peace, and govern through vengeance, you are not just voting for policy. You are voting for self-destruction.
What happened to service?
A great American president once said:
“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy
Another said:
“We must never remain silent in the face of injustice.” – Barack Obama
Even Ronald Reagan once called America a “shining city upon a hill.”
What happened to that America?
Now we see leaders who sow division instead of unity.
Who thrive on conflict rather than compassion.
Who look not to serve, but to rule.
And as Sun Tzu warned:
“Some men would set their own nation ablaze, just to be king over the ashes.”
Can you recognize them?
Because now more than ever, you must.
America, you’ve always known how to tell the story. Now it’s time to live it.
Think of your heroes.
The ones you’ve shown us on screen for decades.
Will Smith in Independence Day.
Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.
They save the world, not just themselves.
They protect their families, but they also rise to a higher mission.
That’s what made us fall in love with you.
Your heroes were never selfish.
They were flawed, yes. But they stood up for something bigger.
So why, in real life, do you so often vote for the opposite?
Your vote is not just yours
I say this with love—and urgency:
Your vote doesn’t just affect your neighborhood. It affects the entire planet.
- It affects the air we all breathe.
- The treaties we all depend on.
- The peace we all hope for.
- The future our children will inherit.
This is no longer about party loyalty or economic policy.
This is about consciousness.
This is about whether the most powerful country on Earth will continue to operate from fear and ego —
Or rise into wisdom and service.
What the world needs from you now
We don’t need another American empire.
We need an American elder.
Not one who dominates. One who guides.
Not one who fears. One who serves.
Because you were never meant to be a fortress.
You were meant to be a lighthouse.
But a lighthouse cannot fulfill its purpose if it forgets to shine inward first.
You taught us to dream. Now we’re asking you to dream again.
The world doesn’t hate you.
We’re not laughing at you.
We’re just watching… and hoping.
Hoping that the America we believed in is still in there.
The next time you march in the streets,
March for all of us.
Not just for the poor or hungry in your zip code.
But for the citizens of our shared planet who need you to shine again.
And when the time comes…
Vote with your heart. And with your higher self.
The choice is yours
Not every election is a turning point.
But some are.
And the one you’re facing now?
This is that moment.
You can vote for leaders who turn the world into a battlefield.
Or vote for those who understand that true power is service.
You can choose:
- Ego or evolution
- Division or destiny
- Fear or future
The world is not asking you to be perfect.
We are simply asking you to remember who you are, at your best.
The America that marched with MLK.
That wrote the Moonshot speech.
That created iPhones, NASA, jazz, and the dream that all humans are created equal.
That’s the America we still believe in.
That’s the America the world needs.
Let that be the America you choose.
— Vishen
Founder, Mindvalley
Citizen of Earth.
Forever shaped by the promise of America.
PS: This letter isn’t just mine—it’s a conversation we all need to have. I’d love to hear how this landed for you. What do you believe America still stands for? What does it need to stand for?
Share your comments below.
Let’s make this a space for reflection, dialogue, and hope.
950 Responses
I too had considered this a safe space to gain understanding of self improvement and new philosophy of enlightenment.
Now we have come to understand we must justify our worldly political views as well.
America is a dream of the pursuit of Happiness. This pursuit is bounded by laws that allow us that persist without invading the pursuit of others.
It is revealed in recent events that these laws only apply to those who are not currently in power or those who don’t agree with the ones who wield it.
Our country is great because of immigrants who came seeking the dream but who followed the law.
Not the unlimited flow of all who came to suck on the teat of our country by ignoring the law and facilitated by the greatest criminal administration the world has ever seen.
They sold us to china, ignored the villains who seek to destroy us as the great Satan or pandered to keep it all status quo.
We must stand up and protect America by voting for those who won’t ignore reality.
I believe we must discuss our differences.
I believe we must change the narrative from hate to one of understanding the truth and consensus.
Leave the politics of America to Americans.
Vishen,
This is really touching, I actually had a tear roll down my cheek! I feel exactly the same way. I live in Canada and for the longest time the U.S. were our allies, friends, neighbours. Now it feels like all of that is suffering corrosive energy and rules, eroded down to almost nothing. It’s such a sad time for us Canadians to lose that bond we had.
I believe it will be rebuilt… slowly over time. By people voting for new leaders and like you say leaders who guide and serve their country and people and even neighbours.
I believe in that and will focus on that positive image in my mind while the chaos unrolls. Because it saddens me too much to see the status quo. I have to be like an ostrich and not focus on the negativity too much (it affects and gnaws away at my joy). So I try to not focus on it… for now. Just hoping and believing a better more positive future is just around the bend.
Thank you so much for sharing this. It feels good to see I’m not the only one saddened by the erosion of what once was. It can be rebuilt again. Let’s hang onto that vision.
Take care,
Anita
Ottawa (Canada)
I am going to assume that it is a loving letter and expresses true feelings of loss and of despair and I feel compassion for that, for this is not a perfect world and so much in it is wrong indeed. We need more love, we need more generosity, we need more kindness and compassion. But we also need more honesty and discernment, we need unity and we need openness to diverse thought. What I read is thinking that there is one type of good humans and one type of lower thinking, less evolved, less elevated people. And that all those who voted for Trump have lost their morals and are the deplorables. What I read is that Obama and JFK were the good human beings (you quote them) and that now we have chosen to be led by an evil human, that we have lost our minds. What I read is that now we are bombing Iran and that is evil, while we don’t even mention that Iran’s raison d’etre without shame or reservation is the eradication of Israel and all the Jews and after that America and that they are building a bomb that can destroy the planet… more than the environment. I am not making that up. They are open about it. Yet you never mention that.
What I read is that when Obama deported 3 million people that was ok. What I hear is that when JFK had mistresses or when MLK did, it was just a part of being human but when Trump does it shows his lack of character needed to be a good leader. I don’t love all that Trump does, I don’t want to make everything political but you are and with it you judge and you do so unfairly.
I feel you either lack a lot of information or you just have a biased paradigm of what makes a human good and what makes America free.
If anything, it pushes me more and more away of the ” like yous” even though I aspire to be a good and compassionate human being, I too pray for a good and prosperous world and for an end to suffering. I too try every day to be a better human being than I was yesterday. But I don’t feel I belong in your world any longer. I feel you judge me because I have different opinions. I feel you take away the space for honesty, for tolerance, for openness. I feel alone and sad and yes I feel angry.
I feel misrepresented for what you say a good and fair world should look like. I too want peace and love but I have learned more about facts which I knew very little of when I lived in your world and I have learned that the easy way is to say we all want peace, we don’t want bombs… so shall we then let Russia and Iran take over the planet? Cause they don’t listen to what you ask for… I do think peace through strength is the one and only way…
It is easy to say you want peace in Gaza if you don’t look at how Gaza’s children are educated to want to kill the Jews before they think of a future.
Giving up on NATO? You are mis informed. I am European and I think it is high time that EUROPE pays for its own defense system, even as the US stays in…
The point is that all is so much more nuanced and gray instead of black and white. One needs to take the time to be educated on facts not on propaganda and ideology.
It upsets me and makes me sad that it seems that if you want to work on personal development and make the world a better place it is assumed you live in one and only paradigm… the one you propagate.
I am a life and leadership coach who thinks differently than you. And I am not not deplorable.
Thank you for having hope and not giving up. We need that.
I thought Mindvalley was a safe place to to learn away from politics. I guess I was wrong. I am very disappointed that you use your platform for political discussions. I guess I will not be renewing my subscription. 😢
Thanks a lot Vishen to share your vision. The World needs this deep reflexion.
This is exactly what I hope for from a leader like you leading and guiding fellow leaders in your audience.
Agree 1,000%
Thanks for speaking up Vishen
I was very surprised to read such dualistic words, especially from someone who has built an empire on self-improvement and empowerment. You literally picked a side Vishen! And you are speaking with such conviction as if it were truth. Born in America, it’s not my truth, nor is it 78 million other Americans’ truths. There is an awakening going on right now, which is super evident to people who are not paid-off or in collusion for their own personal gain. People are starting to see the TRUTH, and it’s disturbing to say the least. It makes me wonder why you felt it was okay to use your platform to preach YOUR truth and completely disregard a different perspective? Certainly not aligned with the teachings of your platform, so what’s your motive here? While you use words that elicit love, hope and peace – the underlying vibe didn’t feel that way at all. It felt like elitism – and coming from you, it was like nails on a chalkboard! I didn’t renew my membership earlier this year and was having second thoughts about re-joining. This post solidified my decision that you are in it for the money brother, and that certainly doesn’t align with my core values. Best wishes and sadly, goodbye!
THIS IS NOT who we are!
These are NOT our values!
Evil seeks to exploit.
Love seeks to uplift.
We will get through this difficult time.
The sun will shine on America again.
But OH, it is so hard when you are in the middle of it and there is no light at the end of the tunnel yet.
Please send your letter to U.S. Senators, Congresspeople, & to the Supreme Court. In a few short months, the President & the Representatives/Supreme Court Justices that are controlled by Trump have created so much damaging chaos, hurt international relationships, & aim to do more. The American People are protesting, calling/writing their representatives, and making our voices heard. With the decades-long strategy of the Republican Party to have control of the House and the Supreme Court (gerrymandering, banding together no matter what, Senator Mitch McConnell controlling the Senate…), it’s difficult to fight this tyranny, but it must be done. Evidence has arisen of election fraud, senators have been assassinated, senators & citizens are being arrested/pulled out of public meetings for speaking up – it’s a scary time in the U.S. Thank you for using your platform & please send this to the U.S. gov’t as well. They are supposed to represent U.S. citizens not control us. MAGA’s actions are despicable – human trafficking, creating logging roads/logging in National Parks, creating more wealth for billionaires, & attacking education, healthcare, environmental protections, pushing women to have more babies, & … the list goes on. It’s devastating & this whole administration needs to be impeached & removed immediately.
Please send your letter to U.S. Senators, Congresspeople, & to the Supreme Court. In a few short months, the President & the Representatives/Supreme Court Justices that are controlled by Trump have created so much damaging chaos, hurt international relationships, & aim to do more. The American People are protesting, calling/writing their representatives, and making our voices heard. With the decades-long strategy of the Republican Party to have control of the House and the Supreme Court (gerrymandering, banding together no matter what, Senator Mitch McConnell controlling the Senate…), it’s difficult to fight this tyranny, but it must be done. Evidence has arisen of election fraud, senators have been assassinated, senators & citizens are being arrested/pulled out of public meetings for speaking up – it’s a scary time in the U.S. Thank you for using your platform & please send this to the U.S. gov’t as well. They are supposed to represent U.S. citizens not control us. MAGA’s actions are despicable – human trafficking, creating logging roads/logging in National Parks, creating more wealth for billionaires, & attacking education, healthcare, environmental protections, pushing women to have more babies, & … the list goes on. It’s devastating & this whole administration needs to be impeached & removed immediately.
I read this yesterday. Put it down. Perplexed. Perhaps instead of pointing fingers I would prefer you share a meditation for healing across the globe.
Thank you Vishen. You have taken a risk in using your platform to speak your Truth. The World has witnessed many turning points, and while in recent years there has been a notable slide toward Authoritarianism it is the current US President and Admin that could seal the deal for so many millions beyond the borders of the United States. I have many friends in Europe & Canada who are keenly aware, and some who are currently impacted & silenced in the face of de-Democratization. I have many friends in Latin America who are still traumatized by decades of war, perhaps much of which was initiated by earlier American Imperialist tendencies. And yet, there is this hallowed ‘American Ideal’ that we strive for. May that flourish, and truly evolve to bring Light and Freedom to the darkness that is now spreading in the World. My heart aches as I watch & hear so many Americans endorse the destruction of our Constitution, which has been revered & adapted in so many places. At the same time, there is this idea of Abundance that also has a dark side. Of course it can free us from our past individual traumas, it has helped so many to gain personal financial freedom. And: NO ONE needs billions of dollars. NO individuals should use their wealth as power over others. Where is the commitment to serve the underprivileged? to feed the hungry caught in these webs of power struggles? It is how we choose to use our Abundance energy that can be the positive shift. Not just to ‘have more’. But to ‘give more’- of our time & energy. And our Love. I highly recommend to move beyond this striving for ‘more’…and go ‘serve’: feed the hungry mouths, help build a small-scale off-grid energy system in a village that has never had electricity, finance the building of a school so a rural indigenous community can gain literacy and then learn how to empower their own communities, help free small rural farmers from the choke-hold of Big Ag, which only seeks to steal their ancestral lands so they can turn a profit. Use Abundance not in self-centered ways, but to help others gain some part of social/environmental/economic justice. May we receive the true blessings of the spiritual teachings that show us how to serve the Divine. THIS is what I have devoted my life to. You are invited to help.
Such an honest and elegantly written letter. We really appreciate you putting this out there, given your influence and I think you speak for hundreds of millions of people with your words.
Thanks you Vishen for continuing to promote peace and love in this shared planet
Thank you for your painful, but heartfelt and honest letter. It is heartbreaking.
In my 64 years, I’ve seen the great strides, and backslides as we’ve progressed in civil rights and women’s rights and human rights. In the big, big picture, we’ve at least been trying to do the right thing. It’s always been a work in progress, but at least we progressed.
And now, to watch helplessly as we self-destruct, it’s gut-wrenching.
Nobody, at least no ordinary citizen, wants this, but I, like most people, feel powerless.
I truly believe, we are trying though. In groups we gather, we rally, we protest, we speak out, but when we do this on the days that our own states elected officials are murdered?! And the federal government mocks that? It feels hopeless.
Please know that we will continue to fight. It will take time and I hope I’m around to see sanity restored in this great nation, because we ARE good. We want to regain our good standing,
But we need to reassess how that’s done. It can’t be done again, as it has been in the past, as a benefit to us first. We need to be more genuine within this world. It can’t be about personal greed and growth again.
Thank you for all that you do. I learn so much about my own spirituality and ability to grow personally, from your Mind valley site
If nothing else, this awful and assaulting chaos has forced me to spend a lot of time alone and in self growth and reflection. It’s safer there, and I’m learning to be a quiet observer.
Dear Vishen, my dearest soul brother,
You do not know me yet, but I feel with every fiber of my being that you will. It is fate. We are birds of a feather, and I believe we are meant to fly together. I sense you may need a loving, wise voice right now, and so I write this as one lighthouse to another, shining truth through the storm.
After reading the unkind things people have said, I felt called to speak up. These times are asking more of us. No more sitting on the fence. No more hiding our truth. It’s time to stand tall and speak from the soul, for what we believe in, for what is right, for what is real. Even if it means losing some people.
Because the work we do is not about making money.
It is a passionate soul’s purpose to make change for the highest and best good.
And about awakening consciousness.
I see you, brother.
I’m currently studying psychology at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, earning my degree at 51! It’s never too late to follow the call. One of my lecturers recently said, “If you want to be a great psychologist, you must take a stand for what you believe in. You cannot be neutral in times of moral crisis.” That hit home for me. Big time.
Yes, recently I’ve lost a few hundred followers for speaking my truth. And yes, that’s okay. Because I didn’t come here for followers, fame, or fortune. I came here to make a difference and create change for a better world.
Just like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, some are here to graze, some are here for power, and others are here to soar. You, Vishen, are a flyer. A visionary change agent. And so am I.
Please remember: this is not the fault of the people of the United States. They have been played, misled, and manipulated by those in power. The people, at their core, are good, loving, and kind. But division is the game by the powers that be. Divide and conquer has long been their strategy. And now more than ever, we must practice compassion, empathy, and more than ever before we must trust our intuition, anchor in truth, and continue to educate ourselves and others.
That’s why Mindvalley matters. Vishen, you’ve created a sacred space for awakening, transformation, and conscious evolution. The light leaders will understand. Those not ready for the light and truth you offer may fall away, and that’s okay. Because the light is rising. And your words, Vishen, are part of this awakening. Your truth is a lighthouse for many.
Those who are deeply triggered? They, too, are being activated. And sometimes, pain/resistance shows up as projection.
I was born in the U.S. but have lived abroad for many years. I still do love America and Americans as they are very special heart-centered people. I pray for its healing, and for all the beautiful, soulful hearts there to continue shining like beacons through the chaos. The storm is here, but we must not be swept away by it. We must continue to be lighthouses.
Keep shining, soul brother. Keep speaking your truth. Your voice matters now more than ever.
I hear you.
I see you.
I stand with you.
I wrote this poem, and it’s in my Awaken the Oracle Within deck I created! I want to share it with you and your community.
Be a lighthouse
Do not beg the storm to soften.
Instead, stand firmly in it, be the eye of the storm, grounded in your truth.
Barefoot on sacred ground, eyes wide open, with wind in your hair and truth in your bones.
Be the lighthouse, not the lifeboat.
Do not carry others to safety; the lighthouse does not rescue. Instead, it shines bright, guiding the path
a golden, radiant beam—cutting through fog,
illuminating the way for those ready to remember.
Do not command. Instead, embody the light.
Not power over, but power from within.
Not hierarchy, but harmony. Not perfection,
But wholeness.
Choose to lead not with force, but with fierce compassion – a voice that knows when to roar and when to whisper with wild grace.
This is the New Feminine Paradigm Leader.
Equal parts soft and strong, shadow dancer, truth speaker, wounded healer, and wisdom keeper.
New Paradigm leadership is cyclical, not linear – like the moon, the tide, and the womb.
The lighthouse invites. It magnetizes. It co-creates. It listens. It trusts. Light the path not by dimming yourself, but by rising so others remember they, too, are the light. Shine your inner light.
The lighthouse does not reach or rescue; it shines to remind others of their inner light.
It does not save. The light guides others to safety.
It does not pursue. Instead, it attracts with the light of its presence.
You are not here to tether the drifting or pull others into the light. Do not reach. Instead radiate.
You are here to honor the truth of your flame,
to tend the sacred fire of your soul.
That is your offering. That is your power.
That is your light leadership. You are not the storm.
Not the tide. Not the waves.
You are the quiet, unwavering lighthouse—holding the paradox which is the portal to peace.
The light that remembers when all else forgets.
And in that remembering, you guide the world home.
~Schamet Horsfield
With love, light, blessings, and unwavering solidarity,
Schamet Horsfield
Lighthouse. Seeker. Sacred Rebel. Mirror. Soul Sister in the Great Awakening
How disappointing. I have used this platform and enrolled many in it for the thought leadership found here.
As a patriot, with a family I am behind Trump for what he has been exposing, and giving me back hope for my children growing up. Creating an America that is truly free of hypocrisy and dictates.
I would think that an “enlightened” leader would look beyond main stream media before espousing the same propaganda.
You have no idea what it has been like as an American Citizen, watching a corrupt system steal everyday from those it should protect.
Do I love Trump? Through his actions absolutely! Because he has actually kept his promise and for the first time in a long time I am proud of our leadership.
Now I am faced with deciding if I will ever recommend MindValley again, and too whether I will continue.
Let’s take a more honest look at your post.
Nato: All Nato members in the Hague are praising Trump’s leadership on strengthening the alliance with a 5% spending target. If you want Russia to STOP, match them. Peace through strength.
Bombing Iran’s nuclear sites: Would you rather a repressive authoritarian regime have nuclear weapons to carry out it’s very clear death to Israel, death to America goals? Anyway, sites destroyed, Iran and Israel at peace.
Tariffs: Almost every country has tariffs. Those child-sounding, corrupt politicians you mentioned have over decades sold out America’s workers for corporate profits and political contributions. Every county’s citizens have a right to set their own tariff policy, and then countries are FREE to trade or not trade with those rules. Both parties abandoned the American middle class, Trumps actions have real wages going up!
America isn’t going to be what YOU want us to be. We’re doing to be who WE want to be. We love freedom, limited government, honesty and transparency, hard work and fixing real problems. I think that will be an example for the planet. If not, no problem just look to your next best example, we don’t mind.
Vishen – you do great work and built a great company. Consider staying out of politics unless you want to drive 1/2 your customers away. If you choose to engage, at least drop the platitudes, dig in and develop real solution to real big problems. Best Wishes.
That’s the point.
WE get to decide what America is to be, not some keyboard warrior on the other side of the globe.
He isn’t driving half of his customers away. The vast majority of the people outside the United States envy and hate the United States. They would actually cheer him commentary because it aligns with their disdain for the United States
I have followed you and have done so many programs when Mindvalley was not even there. I have seen you grown and you have inspired me and I have trusted in your guidance. All the programs that I have done were excellent I have learnt so much from them and I will continue to learn. You are also one of the membership platforms that have reduced the price of membership which rarely happens.
I agree with you and I am glad that you voiced your thoughts. We can do all the self development we want but we can’t just live in that bubble. What’s happening around us affects our thoughts and decisions and more than anything future generations. I came to America 33 years ago now I am a grandmother and what was America at that time it’s certainly not what it is now. And I honestly wonder and worry about my safety and my children.
I miss truth. I have friends and family with opposing beliefs and when I hear them argue it is clear that in this media/tech environment we are fed only a certain angle. Everyone thinks their side is “right” and the other side is not just wrong but pure evil. I miss open and respectful debate. I’m actually bored in a room when everyone shares my viewpoint. I grow and learn mostly when I inquire the “why” and the history and the reasons that someone may believe differently than me. I may change my opinion or I may not but I always learn and expand my empathy. In the US we are divided into silos. One left, one right. Vishen, this was clearly a very biased statement and from reading the comments they each fit into their respective “silo”. This isn’t progress. I wish you would’ve tried with an angle of let’s listen to each other and find our common ground and move in that direction. More love and understanding and less hate and division. I’m a physician and I feel humans are hard-wired for certain things like survival and often we are just seeing our fear instinct and negative bias take over. We have always survived by being part of a “tribe” and were extinct if kicked out of the “tribe”. We want love and to protect our kin and fight those who would harm us or our kin. Basic stuff. MV could be a very uniting platform as it attracts those seeking more knowledge, understanding, and growth. How about and honest respectful debate instead of a scolding?