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Philanthropist Bruno Wang is tackling the youth mental health crisis with a digital-first approach

Philanthropist Bruno Wang is addressing the youth mental health crisis through a groundbreaking digital-first approach with the Pure Land Foundation

Bruno Wang
Photo courtesy of Bruno Wang
Photo courtesy of Bruno Wang

This article is Sponsored Content by Pure Land Foundation

“What is empathy burnout?” is one of Google’s most searched-for queries, and is one that the Pure Land Foundation aims to answer as part of its recently launched animated series on YouTube, which is narrated by philanthropist Bruno Wang

Digital-first advocacy for better mental wellness 

The three-minute video, titled What Is Empathy Burnout and How To Manage It? provides viewers with practical tips on how to manage the issue by applying a secular lens to imparting Buddhist teachings, wisdom and philosophies. The video is one of many across multiple wellness and mental health focused mini-series that have been created and shared by the Pure Land Foundation since it evolved in 2024 to become a digital-first advocacy organisation. 

Founded and supported by Bruno Wang, the Foundation is aiming to help tackle the mental health challenges faced by tech-savvy generations through the creation and promotion of original productions and online content that is shared through social media collaborations. 

A deep legacy of supporting mental wellness 

The digital-focused advocacy organisation has been built upon a deep legacy of supporting real-world initiatives and projects. When Bruno Wang, a prolific arts patron, theatre producer and philanthropist first founded the Pure Land Foundation in 2015, his mission was to support projects, dialogues and events which explored through creative expression and spiritual philosophies, subjects that defined the collective human experience. 

Through projects curated by Bruno Wang, such as The Pure Land Series of talks in partnership with China Exchange, many topics were explored and discussed, from men’s mental health to mindfulness and the effects that music can have on Holocaust survivors. 

How spirituality became a hashtag: Gen Z’s mental health crisis 

But after experiencing the isolating effects of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, Bruno Wang became even more attuned to the evolving global crisis in mental health. More than 970 million people worldwide (one in eight people) are experiencing mental health disorders, according to the WHO; and a disproportionate number of them are Gen Z. The Resolution Foundation also reports that poor mental health among younger people is inhibiting their education and employment. Bruno Wang was moved to respond. It was clear that the same members of Gen Z who were experiencing these challenges were also more highly self-aware than prior generations, and so were increasingly turning to spirituality-based solutions online in their search for answers and guidance. 

A growing online movement in alternative teachings, particularly through digital platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, inversely mirrors a general decline in subscription to organized religion among younger generations, including Gen Z. The popularity of this digital movement is evident on social media, where the hashtag “spirituality” has amassed over 6 million TikTok posts, billions of views, and more than 20 million mentions on Instagram. 

Bringing secular Buddhism to the digital world 

Given all of this, in 2024 Bruno Wang began to evolve the Pure Land Foundation away from in-person projects to instead become a digitally focused organisation, with a mission to help alleviate the mental health challenges faced by young people. 

The Pure Land Foundation continues its digital transformation through a focus on the production of original content, often within collaborations, with most content advocating through a secular lens for the precepts of Buddhism to tackle the youth mental health crisis. 

The focus is a reflection of founder Bruno Wang’s personal experiences with non-religious spiritual teachings, particularly Buddhist philosophies, which he says have benefited his own journey of self-discovery. As he grew up in a strict and conservative household in Taiwan, he initially rejected the austere interpretation of Buddhism which he was exposed to. It was only after living in San Francisco that he learnt about the confluence of creative expression and spiritual teachings, which made him reexamine the positive benefits of Eastern wisdom. 

Bruno Wang believes that understanding your inner self can help you solve the challenges that the outer world throws at you; and that whilst one cannot control the world, one can control how to respond to it. The Pure Land Foundation advocates for the adoption of Buddhism-inspired philosophies into modern life to relieve individual suffering and to support better spiritual and emotional wellbeing and mental health. 

The social impact of digital transformation

A digital-first approach to the mission and purpose of the Pure Land Foundation as an advocacy organisation is helping to make its teachings as widely accessible as possible. 

Founder Bruno Wang has said of the thinking behind the digital transformation: “A digital-first platform has the power of reaching a global audience, and this way, more people can explore the benefits of Buddhism-inspired philosophies, which act like a great psychological tool at this age to combat mental health and other personal challenges we face in humanity. Eventually our platform will help young people to develop inner peace.” 

More original content is currently being produced by the Pure Land Foundation, under the guidance of its founder Bruno Wang, supported by collaborators and spiritual practitioners worldwide. 

For more information and complete access to the digital content, visit Youtube, Instagram, or Twitter

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