Two weeks ago, I landed in Miami.
I didn’t expect to be greeted by two FBI agents with the politeness of yoga instructors and the curiosity of philosophers… but here we are.
I’ve recorded what happened and posted it to the world—the video you’re about to see got 1.3 million views on Instagram.
Here’s what happened.
The FBI agents asked me about my recent travels—Brazil, Istanbul, Dubai.
Brazil?
Rock in Rio.
Istanbul?
Gates of Agartha Festival. Satori was playing; the only thing I was conspiring with was great music.
Dubai?
Well, Dubai is the global center of capitalism and one of the most innovative cities in the world (of course I go there).
Then came the question:
“Have you consorted with any politicians?”
I said yes—last year I was at a dinner in Mar-a-Lago.
They nodded, handed back my passport, and welcomed me to the U.S.
No drama. No hostility. The agents were doing their job.
The real issue isn’t the FBI.
The real issue is the culture of fear America has fallen into.
Fear: the last refuge of leaders with no vision
Tourism to the U.S. is down 15%.
International students are down 20%.
Immigration demonized.
The world’s most iconic “nation of immigrants” now treats newcomers like threats.
Why?
Because fear is the cheapest political drug.
Pushing the fear button is the last refuge of leaders who have no talent, no vision, and no solutions.
And nowhere is this more obvious than in the stories being sold to Americans daily.
The night at Mar-a-Lago that explained everything
I was invited to Mar-a-Lago by a Mindvalley member.
I was truly honored and grateful for the invite.
And I want to say that the people there were genuinely nice to me.
While we disagreed on policy, we got along as friends.
But I’d like to share with you some of the things I heard.
I sat next to a Christian woman who believed abortion should be banned nationwide.
I disagreed—but I respected her conviction.
Then a senator told me:
“There are 300,000 Chinese migrants at the southern border waiting to be activated by China.”
I asked for evidence.
He admitted he heard it as a rumor.
Fair enough.
Another person told me that there are 2 million potential terrorists in America after what happened in Israel.
Of course, there was no supporting evidence for this.
Now let me tell you what I did not hear.
No one was talking about:
- Healthcare
- Lifespan
- Cost of living
- Education
- Economic mobility
There were no ideas. No policies. No strategies.
Just fear.
And yet fear won votes. Millions of them.
But let’s look at the hard proof: The Republican Party is actually bailing on business
Now, let’s step away from fear, rumor, and political superstition… and look at actual numbers.
Because when you examine the last seven decades of U.S. economic performance, a very uncomfortable truth emerges:
The U.S. economy performs dramatically better under Democrats than Republicans.
Take these five core indicators that economists use to measure national performance:
Real GDP growth
Since World War II, America’s GDP has grown at about 4.3% under Democratic presidents versus 2.5% under Republicans.
Job creation
Job growth averages 2.6% per year under Democrats and 1.1% under Republicans, tens of millions of additional jobs.
Unemployment
Under Democrats, unemployment usually falls by about 0.8 percentage points. Under Republicans, it typically rises by about 1.1 points.
Stock market performance
The S&P 500 returns roughly 8.3% per year under Democrats and only 2.7% under Republicans. If you invested based on party alone, you’d retire in a hammock on a beach.
Recessions
Ten of the last eleven recessions began under Republican presidents. That’s not ideology. That’s math.
You can fact-check them by asking AI in regards to what I’m talking about. Feel free to research them.
Most American entrepreneur friends of mine still believe the myth that when Republicans are in power, business is better.
That myth is the exact opposite of actual facts and data as stated above.
Democrats do better and business. And they do so without having to blame immigrants and others.
Republicans do the opposite.
And here’s where MAGA makes it even worse
It’s not just that Republican economic myths don’t hold up. Trump’s current strategy is actively harming America’s economy and global brand.
Trump’s vilification of immigrants—and the violent ICE raids flooding Instagram and TikTok—are already hitting the U.S. economy like a slow-motion avalanche.
Obama deported 3M people. But he did it without harming America’s image.
Here’s what we’re seeing:
- Tourism to America has fallen by roughly 15%. That’s billions of dollars lost annually because visitors no longer feel welcome—or safe.
- Foreign graduate student applications have dropped by about 17%. This is catastrophic. These students often stay, innovate, start companies, and build the industries of tomorrow. They’re the future builders of Silicon Valley, healthcare breakthroughs, AI labs, and biotech.
- Forty-four percent of American unicorn companies were created by immigrants. Nearly half of the most valuable companies in America exist because of immigrant founders.
- Every ICE raid you see on Instagram isn’t just traumatizing undocumented families—it is damaging America’s global brand, driving talent away, shrinking innovation, and weakening long-term competitiveness.
Fearmongering may get votes. But it is a horrible economic strategy. You cannot build a future-ready nation by scaring away the very people who create the future.
If we agree that diversity is beneficial, that unity matters, and that racism is something that belongs in the garbage bin of history.
When we stop falling for these myths, we stop allowing politicians to use them as weapons.
I created the video to dismantle many of these myths.
Darwin and the diffusion of sympathy
Let’s zoom out to science.
Charles Darwin wrote:
“As man advances in civilization, he extends his sympathies to all members of the nation, and then to all nations.”
He called this the diffusion of sympathy—the expansion of empathy.
This is evolution.
This is progress.
This is how civilizations rise.
Shrinking empathy? That’s regression.
Fear shrinks empathy.
Unity expands it.
Darwin knew this.
Walsch knew this.
Wilber mapped it.
And the world desperately needs to remember it.
The spiritual perspective: why unity matters the most right now
Neale Donald Walsch wrote:
“The highest virtue of highly evolved beings is unity.”
And another:
“In advanced civilizations, unity is not a dream—it is their natural state.”
This is the future of humanity.
From egocentric to ethnocentric to world-centric to cosmocentric.
And that’s the work we’re doing at Mindvalley.
The Mindvalley Spiritual Summit: a leap beyond fear
Our upcoming Spiritual Summit is a gathering of the world’s nine top spiritual teachers committed to unity consciousness:
Regan Hillyer (#1 Manifestation Coach), Lee Holden (Medical Qi Gong Master), Marie Diamond (Feng Shui Master), Dawn Hong (Kundalini Master), Shi Heng Yi (35th-generation Shaolin Master), Dr. Peter Levine (Psychologist and Founder of Somatic Experiencing®), Sensei Zen Takai (16th-generation Samurai), Dr. Tara Schwartz (Neuroscientist), and myself.
Get your spot at the Spiritual Summit here
Happening this weekend, November 22–23
I’ll talk about a powerful and interesting idea by Ken Wilber (the world’s most cited academic)—called Stages and States—which helps you understand how we can bring unity consciousness within ourselves and the world. We will go deeper into why unity is important for the progression of humanity.
This isn’t just an event. It’s an energetic consciousness activation.
If fear is the virus, unity is the medicine.
My declaration
People have asked whether speaking openly like this on my Instagram might jeopardize my O-1 visa.
I’m not afraid.
I’ve done nothing wrong.
I’ve built companies, created jobs, supported communities, and obeyed the law.
And America’s greatness lies in its protection of honest speech—especially speech meant to heal, unite, and uplift.
I love America. I want it to thrive.
And because I care, I will not stay silent when this country is being misled.
Not by rumor, fear, propaganda, or leaders who cannot govern, cannot unify, and cannot offer real solutions—especially Donald Trump.
It’s time for something higher. Something wiser. Something rooted in unity consciousness, not fear consciousness.
P.S. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Unity, fear, immigration, evolution—what part of this message resonated with you most? Share it in the comments below. I’ll be reading every single one.
Vote for pragmatism. Vote for unity. Vote for evolution.
Humanity is ready for its next leap.
With love,
Vishen
REFERENCES AND SOURCES OF DATA MENTIONED IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
Presidents and the U.S. Economy: An Econometric Exploration (July 2014)
U.S. economic performance by presidential party
Presidents and the U.S. Economy: An Econometric Exploration (July 2015)
Presidents as Economic Managers (article in the National Affairs magazine)
76 Responses
Vishen, the man of vision! Good on you for speaking out. One cannot ignore politics, it’s part of life on earth. You are brave to speak out, lots admire you for doing so. It is part of your spiritual journey to speak out on worldly matters. By keeping silent you are in a bubble, not when you stand up and speak truth. It’s America’s loss for treating you this way – they’ve already lost the taxes you would have paid if you remained in the USA, apart from losing your billion dollar company. Doet zo voort!
Vishen: I came here to comment about how disheartened I was that you brought politics into this, and by doing so, you are causing disunity when trying to promote unity. I agree 100% with the comment by “James.” He says everything I wanted to say to you. You definitely live in a bubble and it seems that you are influenced too much by mainstream media and should check out other sources. You will find that you have been fed outright bias and lies that have created TDS in you. I’m having second thoughts about listening to your spiritual summit, but because James is going to listen, I am inspired by his willingness to keep an open mind going in, but if you bring politics into your summit, all it does is create division, and in my opinion has nothing to do with spiritual unity consciousness, but in fact creates the opposite — a disunity consciousness — which you are displaying at the moment, so I will likely tune out. You might be surprised by how many people do not share your political views. You sure talk like you think they do share your views, or think they should share your views. So if you want to talk politics, run for office, and maybe not use your Mind Valley platform to do so.
Thank you Vishen. I am part of the Mind Valley Programs. Attended many sessions.
I see Spiritual Summit happening on Nov 22-24. Which is great and that’s what is needed at these challenging times. Every one is behind many other things but distant from themselves and their Spiritual energy. Made life complicated and it could be made easy with Spiritual practices.
Suggestion: In future, Please consider a Speaker from Brahma Kumaris World 🌎 Spiritual Organization. They have amazing Spiritual Teachers.. They are reachable at https://www.brahmakumaris.us
When you introduced the Earth Flag, in Amsterdam, you inspired me 💫so much that I immediately started applying the Earth Flag design to umbrellas, luggage, clothing —and on so much more that I opened a Shopify store dedicated to “Earth Flag Swag.” At age 85 this is a major undertaking for me, 😅 driven by my heartfelt 💖 desire to bring this unifying symbol into daily lives, into homes, and out into the world – to help the world, via Earth Flag Swag. I am very grateful to your outspoken commitment to Unity. And I’d be very grateful 🙏 if you 🧞♂️could help people discover my fledgling website, EarthFlagSwag™.com 💖 Gayla Gordon, Prescott Arizona
La humanidad NO está lista para su próximo salto.-
EN EL SENTIDO QUE DAS A LA “UNIDAD” Neale Donald Walsch.-
Y PERSONALMENTE DISCREPO PROFUNDAMENTE: LA RIQUEZA DE LA HUMANIDAD ES SU ¡DIVERSIDAD! EN TODO SENTIDO, EN TODO AMBITO.-
IDIC: “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations” – Diversidad Infinita en Combinaciones Infinitas.-
SOBRE TU SITUACION PERSONAL DE LISTADO POR FBI, REITERO, ASI PUEDES VOLVER A BORRARLO:
¿QUE ESPERABAS? TE LO DIJE VARIAS VECES: MORENO, PASAPORTE DE ORIGEN DE PAIS ISLAMICO, PROCLAMAS ANTI-TRUMP CONSTANTES, ETC.-
AUN TIENES SUERTE NO TE EXPLUSAN ¡Y A TU HIJO!
¡SUERTE, VISHEN!
CARLOS ALBERTO ALONSO, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA.-
Vishen,
As a truth seeker I’ve been a follower of the Mindvalley teachers, particularly Michael Beckworth , Jim Kwik and Rao. Through these great men, I’ve learned to find the spirit within and use my intuition. I’ve also learned that typically people are usually guilty of what they accuse others of. I find it very concerning and inconsistent that you use politics and fear to pitch unity and awareness. your information reeks of mainstream liberal media, which is full of misinformation. The last true Democrats that were good was 60 years ago with JFK and RFK. Do you recall what happened to them? There hasn’t been a good Democrat since those times. I used to identify as a Democrat but no longer as they have lost their way and seem like useful idiots for globalist ideologies. I agree with the other gentleman that sometimes both parties are different versions of the same story. But this time the Republicans are more levelheaded. The Democrats of today have ruthlessly scrutinized people like Kash Patel the best FBI director in history and Robert Kennedy, our new head of HHS not to mention the other outstanding cabinet members of our president. The Democrats of today have been sellouts to big Pharma, who are addicting and killing thousands of people with their drugs. Our president has gotten us out of globalist organizations like the WHO who are influenced by other globalists in the WEF. Do you support evil men like your mentor Bill Gates who is funding the WHO and responsible for the death and sterilization of hundreds of thousands of young women and people in places like India and Africa with his experimental vaccines and population reducing experiments that stem from minds and ideologies from the club of Rome including the false narrative of global warming and doing climate alteration? All well documented. Our new administration in this country is bringing truth to the people and exposing others for who they really are and holding them accountable. Like the Clintons and Obama’s who have trumped up, ok’d and weponized the DOJ and FBI to create false narratives to damage and discredit our president, who has been vindicated. He has stopped six wars in this world has gotten inflation down and through tariffs brought foreign investment into our country that has created jobs for many Americans. He is not anti-immigrant only illegal immigration, which was used as a tool by the Democrats to stack the votes in their favor. Had we not gotten this new administration we would be under the thumb of the globalist regime who would have truly decimated our God-given rights. The fact checkers that you mentioned cannot be trusted also, they are all part of this fake news that leads to misinformation and spinning false narratives. Had you renounced your US citizenship and is that the reason you were rousted by the FBI? I can understand why you would be pissed about that. But now it seems that you are spreading fear and miss information that is creating disunity. Frankly, I am very shocked that you don’t see through all this. Anyone who has dug a little deeper beyond the mainstream media can see this. Things like the pandemic that was created as a scheme to hurt people financially and take away peoples rights and freedoms. The likes of Tony Fauci who was allowed to spend billions of tax dollars on gain of function research to create a virus that was unleashed on the world while the Democrats turned their head and allowed it to happen. I would highly recommend you get your other news information from sources like the high wire with Dell big tree. A true hero in exposing truth and fighting for freedom. In the meantime, I will listen to your spiritual summit, but before you start spouting off about the president and politics to promote unity, you should definitely look at both sides to this coin. There’s a bigger picture here than you’re mentioning and it’s creating disunity and fear. A few things that are true and happening right now is that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and when two or more are gathered the spirit of truth is involved. I highly recommend that all go in and seek that spirit of truth from our creator who will give us the true answers for free.
I agree with the comments that state that there is great complexity in the current political and economic situation in the US. It is a two party system which by nature creates and projects the cosmic and universal binaries. For people who want to encourage and expand their spiritual nature, and promote unity, the first step is to not take sides but extend empathy for those with whom you may disagree. There is little room for expansion and empathy when finger pointing and partisan politics are at the core of the message. The idea is to extend love in the face of fear and hate not contribute to it, no matter how hard that may be.
La unidad es el más alto nivel de conciencia, somos uno con el todo, aunque la mayoría de la población mundial es inconsciente de gran verdad. “UN TIEMPO VENDRÁ”; El Nuevo Tiempo, debemos y tenemos que precipitarlo: LA UNIDAD.
Este es un tiempo cuando todas las personas, razas, religiones y naciones nos uniremos y “sentiremos” que somos parte de la familia humana – hermanos y hermanas de este planeta llamado Tierra. Las diferencias de cultura o religión ya no las veremos como algo extraño o algo para asimilar o erradicar, sino más bien las consideraremos como algo para atesorar y para reverenciar como un rico arco iris de diversidad que le agrega valor a toda la humanidad.
“Un tiempo vendrá cuando todas las personas reverenciemos al planeta como la cuna y la madre de nuestro hogar terrestre y nos preocuparemos porque Ella Toda sea cuidada, respetada y embellecida para las generaciones que vendrán, porque Ella es la generadora de almas para El Creador y Su Espíritu Infinito (Ministerio del Amor Divino y Misericordia sin fin para toda la creación inteligente).
Un tiempo vendrá cuando las mujeres en todas las naciones estarán en igualdad de condiciones que los hombres y serán vistas como el templo de la presencia del Creador como lo somos todos – hombres, mujeres y niños, porque son las energías femeninas las que transformarán y traerán equilibrio al planeta para su preservación y ascensión, en estos nuevos tiempos de expansión de Amor y Conciencia.
“Un tiempo vendrá cuando el criar a los hijos será el deber más importante y jamás volverán a ser apartados como inconvenientes o distracciones, sino que serán apreciados como los futuros encargados de un mundo que está evolucionando y adquiriendo grandeza, donde los valores de la verdad, la belleza y la bondad son inculcados en sus almas.
“Un tiempo vendrá cuando las corporaciones y empresas multinacionales las volveremos responsables y utilizarán la filantropía como la fundación de su éxito para proveer empleos y para ayudar a resolver los problemas del mundo, al mismo tiempo respetando la tierra, su biodiversidad y construyendo EN UNIDAD un futuro sostenible.”
Thank you for your commented message. I was surprised at first to hear this stand from you as Mindvalley representative. As I read on, this changed to respect for you bringing the topic of fear into the political context – without fear of potential consequences for your business or person. The effects of polarization and related fear can be seen everywhere, in all spheres of life; addressing them at the larger public scale without inciting further extreme reactions takes courage. Dealing with it in a practical way takes skill. I am happy to see Mindvalley working in that direction, and wish it to be successful. I am happy to support such efforts.
Resource: The Words of Martin Luther King, selected by Coretta Scott King, Publisher Collins Fount Paperbacks, 1983 (first publication) p.51
When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice. It is time that we stop our blithe lip service to the guarantees of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. These fine sentiments are embodied in the Declaration of Independence, but that document was always a declaration of intent rather than of reality.”
Where are the ‘good people’ in the United States of America?
Resource: In the Words of Nelson Mandela: a little Pocketbook, edited by Jennifer Crwys-Williams. Published by Penguin Books, 2004
On Apartheid:
” The universal struggle against apartheid was not an act of charity arising out of pity for our people, but an affirmation of our common humanity.”
On Anger:
“It is not easy to remain bitter if one is busy with constructive things” p.13
” It would have been immoral to keep quiet while a racist tyranny sought to reduce an entire people into a status worse than that of beasts of the forest.” p.14
“One of our strongest weapons is dialogue”
“If the criticism is valid, it must be made” p28.
Let’s take a lesson from these great Statesmen who paid with their lives.
Exactly!
Agree.
Truly an Incredible Initiative Brother Vishen. ( The Brother is a Non Religious Expression of an Indian Army Veteran : So Hope no one gets mixed up ).
Happy to share that you have been an Inspiration for me since 2015-16. You are the reason I started writing a Book Series on ” Spiritual Richness” with the First on already published on Kindle. The Art of Giving – Others which will come now are unique and first of its kind experiment on Panchmukhi Hanuman : Avatar Meher Baba : The Concept of VIVEK. But the most wonderful alignment will be my Take on ” Spiritual Outlook on current Geo Political Landscape ” – in that Book I press forward the idea of ” UNITY “. Would surely now mention your take on the subject and seek your Blessings 🙏…Best Regards, Suunil. Lt Col Suunil Narula (Retd) Pune India. +91 9011127111
Vishen, I have read through these comments and quite frankly, I am surprised by the amount of people who are still ‘drinking the kool aid’ here in America. BTW, Wikipedia says that ‘kool aid’ neologism represents a strong belief in and acceptance of a deadly, deranged, or foolish ideology or concept based only upon the overpowering coaxing of another. Frankly, I had hoped by now that the actions of this administration would have woken those up who were misled by all the fake news that spreads lies inciting fear and anger and divisiveness and finger pointing. The whole ‘us vs them’ mentality. Sadly, it still seems to be far too prevalent. And you are right to call it zenophobia. But why must we be like that? When there are so many interesting people and places in this world where one can go and learn new ways of thinking and being from others. When we actually have all of that now, right here in America already. We our a F’ing melting pot. A land of immigrants. Everyone from everywhere and Lady Liberty says all our welcome. So then, why do so many people here not want that anymore? It’s just a sad state of affairs here currently and I am so ready to immigrate the F. out of here now. Still, glad to see that you are willing to stand up and fight for the aspects of this country that make it so great. I hope you never give up hope. To that end, don’t let these naysayer type comments dictate to you what you can and cannot say and do and think, yadda yadda on your own platform. You are shining a light on a very real problem in these dark times. In fact, those that can still see the truth should all be doing so. The time to rise up and speak the truth is now, before it is too late. So, to those who refuse to see the light, I say…F. your thoughts! Just like I’ve seen bumper stickers that say (to us bleeding heart democrat types who just want everyone to have their inalienable rights)…F. ur feelings? Really! To that, my response is, just wait until your inalienable rights are stripped from you. Then don’t come crying to me expecting me to care about your feelings either. So then, Vishen, you just keep doing you, and F. their thoughts!
Interesting post but scratching my head at a spiritual summit that doesn’t include Dr. Michael Beckwith or any pure devotees in touch with Vedic knowledge and solutions for the actual crisis we’re suffering here in Kali-yuga. Anyone interested in truly jacking out of the matrix check out https://www.yourradicalquest.com/
Trump is a pathological liar and a compelling public speaker, which is a bad combination. I do not believe much of what he says. He got elected because he speaks well, and too many people believed his lies. Some people voted for him because he promised to stop the Russia-Ukraine conflict on day 1 of his presidency. That has proven to be a big lie. Other people voted for him because he promised to bring down inflation, which has also proven to be a big lie. These lies and others that he said about improving the USA and the world were why people voted for him. I knew most of what he said was a lie. It baffles me that many people could not see that he was lying and he is a pathological liar. Yes, fear is a big issue. Another big issue is that many people do not know when someone is lying. Fear can block discernment of truth from lies.
Thank you for speaking out, despite being targeted by the current US administration for the color of your skin and perhaps country of your birth. So many people aren’t brave enough to speak out, but you did, knowing you’d get hate for it.
I am so horrified by what’s happening that I have to look away most days. It’s too much for my tender heart to handle. My stepson is trans and a naturalized citizen and is afraid to travel back to his birth country to visit his grandparents right now. We don’t know if they’d let him back into the country.
I’m interested in the summit because I’m looking for something, anything positive that I can do to help the situation without breaking my heart.
Im so sorry that happened to you and this is what our world has become. We are the change. You are amazing…and I love that you said you are not afraid. More of us should not be afraid as well.
Vishen, this message on unity couldn’t resonate more deeply with me.
Darwin’s “diffusion of sympathy” — the idea that true evolution is the expansion of empathy — reflects exactly why I’m running 50KM in every country in the world, including Antarctica. I’m taking my own leap for humanity with this global ultramarathon mission, showing that unity, kindness, and human connection are still alive in every corner of the planet.
Fear shrinks empathy. Unity expands it.
And every country I run through proves it: despite the noise of division, people everywhere are still generous, warm, and willing to help a stranger.
My perspective shifted even more during the Covid years. Watching how the “system” leaned into fear, control, and division made me realise how easily humanity can be split apart — and how crucial it is to actively choose unity instead of fear.
I’ve also seen profound unity within the Mindvalley community. I’ve volunteered at four in-person events, and I’ve even been accepted to volunteer at the upcoming Spiritual Summit. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be able to attend — not because I don’t want to, but because of U.S. entry rules requiring proof of a return or onward flight. With my current situation, I can’t afford multiple flights or plan far ahead while pursuing this world-first challenge. It’s yet another example of how fear-based policies can create unnecessary barriers between people.
Through this journey, I’ve met communities who welcomed me without hesitation, strangers who became friends, and countless reminders that compassion — not division — is humanity’s natural state.
My mission is simple:
50KM in every country to inspire unity, honour our shared humanity, and remind the world that kindness is still our strongest force.
I would absolutely love to collaborate with you and Mindvalley in some way on this global challenge — our missions are aligned, and together we could amplify this message of unity even further.
If fear is the virus, unity truly is the medicine.
And I hope this global run helps humanity take its next leap — together.
If you would like to discus this further, Gigi Marquez has my contact details.
Thank you for sharing this!❤️