Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar

On the morning of Wednesday, August 26, a flash flood was triggered by a glacier collapsing in Nepal’s Langtang National Park, according to the US Geological Survey. The park is about seventy-five miles north of Kathmandu, and the flood and debris traveled more than fifty miles, sweeping away everything in its path. A week later, the death toll in Nepal has reached 1,222 people, and nearly 5,000 people remain missing.

In the winter 2021 issue, I reported a feature story on meditation sickness for Tricycle, inspired by two recent mainstream publications: Harper’s Magazine, a David Kortava feature on the psychological risks of meditation, and Astray, a podcast series hosted by Caroline Slaughter that looked at cases of “India Syndrome”—culture shock, dissociation, delusions of enlightenment, and other mental health difficulties that can occur in Westerners visiting India.

Steve Armstrong, a longtime insight meditation teacher who cofounded the Maui Dhamma Sanctuary and Vipassana Metta Foundation, has died. Armstrong had been living with a brain tumor since 2018, according to updates posted on GoFundMe. He passed away peacefully at home on December 23, 2025, according to a post by his wife and teaching partner Kamala Masters that announced his death in early January. “A private ceremony was held at the Maui Dhamma Sanctuary, our home.