Seeds Will Grow

Cross-posting this email from Rivera Sun. “He gave away a fortune … and found what truly matters” (Source):

How Much Is Enough?
Imagine if the billionaires gave it all back.

It’s Labor Day Weekend and tomorrow (Sept 1), tens of thousands of people will be taking action with Workers Over Billionaires in 1000+ locations across the United States. I’ll be at a local protest, standing up for labor justice, immigrant rights, economic policies that put people over profits, and a liveable planet where we can all work, live, and flourish. 

As a working artist, activist, and writer, I find my creative thoughts returning to one of my novels – one which many of you haven’t read yet – that delves into the very concept of a billionaire. (Yes, I really do have a timely and relevant novel on just about everything. It’s a side effect of writing non-stop for over a decade.)

Between The Dandelion Insurrection and the first novel in the Ari Ara Series, I wrote a book called Billionaire Buddha. It’s fiction, but loosely inspired by the real story of a man who had hundreds of millions of dollars and chose to give it all away. Now, he lives a low income lifestyle and doesn’t regret leaving behind the luxury homes, private clubs, and fancy cars. Why? Because he found that excessive wealth was a barrier to his happiness, even his humanity.

Billionaire Buddha shares some of his story through the character Dave Grant, a man who awakens to the hollowness of extreme wealth. Akin to the historical Siddartha Buddha, who renounced being a prince to become a spiritual seeker, Dave Grant goes on a journey to find out what really matters. 

Find the book here. 

In a time when billionaire power is gutting democracy, dismantling the social safety net for millions of people, and hurtling us further into the climate crisis, this novel is is intensely relevant. How many of us sense within ourselves the urge to stockpile wealth? How much would you need to accumulate before you recognized that you had too much? Why does our society look at wealth hoarding as a virtue rather than an indication of something aching within a human being?

These are questions the novel stirs within our hearts as we read. Through Dave’s pilgrimage from riches to rags to true wealth, the story examines the unexamined questions haunting our society. The ending will leave you staggered. 

I’m feeling tempted to write a discussion guide to Billionaire Buddha that ties the story to our current struggles around billionaire power and concentrated wealth. Interested? If you have a book group that would want to read this novel and explore these deep questions, let me know. 

Everyone should read this book. Its lyrical prose revolves through a love story, a spiritual awakening, and a journey back to the beginning to find a path toward a new future. 

 Learn more about Billionaire Buddha here. 

Folded into the pages of this story are the burning issues of our time … how much is enough? What makes us truly ‘rich’? And can you imagine a world beyond billionaires?

Toward our collective awakening,
Rivera Sun

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