I have seen the future of Buddhism: American Buddhism, neo-liberal Buddhism, Western Buddhism, globalized Buddhism, what have you. It’s the IFC’s new comedy show, The Mirror. Slate is running a story on the new show, and tries to analogize it to The Black Mirror  and the Trump regime. But The Mirror is not a take on Trumpism, which is better represented by the nihilistic nightmare of The Black Mirror. The Mirror might be better understood as the yuppie new-age response to fascism and the Trump regime, a satire on how we escape from the nightmare of fascism into solipsistic new-age religions. The Mirror is a satire of new-age yuppie cults like Scientology, and much like many of the Buddhist organizations that are thriving in the west amongst the Creative Class. Think “Buddhist Geeks” with a marketing strategy. It’s a rip on the mindfulness movement. If you’ve spent any time in white-dominated, western sanghas, you will recognize it immediately. The Mirror series is free to watch on youtube, have fun.

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