KevinMD January 3, 2026
For the past several decades, Western spiritual culture has been profoundly shaped by the rebranding of Buddhist contemplative practices (mindfulness, presence, and the exaltation of “the now”). As a psychiatrist, I have witnessed the arrival of this movement inside the consultation room. Patients arrive quoting teachers, apps, and books urging them to stay present, to watch their breath, to release attachment to the future or past. Many have tried, often earnestly and courageously. And yet, a large subset sit before me bewildered and disappointed: “I stayed in the present, but I’m still lost.”
Their suffering doesn’t come from distraction or restlessness alone, it comes from the structure of their lives, from the unsolved dilemmas of responsibility, meaning, mortality, and the...
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