As some of you know I am a student and practitioner of the wisdom traditions, (martial arts, yoga and meditation) inspired by being born in India to an Indian Dad and British Mum, and living there until I was 14 years old, when we transplanted to California with one suitcase apiece, inspired by the values and opportunities for a better life here in the United States.
At that time, America was the exemplary for meritocracy, opportunity, inclusiveness, and modeling values the whole world wanted to emulate.
Not sure that is the case today, but that is a separate matter…
I have been teaching traditional karate at UC San Diego for 43 years, rounding out an academic curriculum for bright minds with a whole-person embodied practice that fosters competence, confidence, and character.
We might think values like respect, honor, humility, benevolence, etc. are ethereal.
This video might invite you to revisit that belief in the context of a mind/body/emotions/energy system:
Scientists Finally Understand How Animals Experience Joy Scientists have known for a while now that animals feel pain. When it comes to other emotions, like joy and happiness, they weren’t so sure. Pain makes sense. Everything feels like it would wince when you pinch it. But to say an animal is experiencing joy felt a bit too close to anthropomorphism, as if we were projecting human qualities onto an inhuman creature. So, the scientific community largely ignored animal joy.
In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew; And then… they came for me. ..And by that time there was no one left to speak up. –Rev Martin Niemoller, January 1946
In current divisive times, I pray we all appreciate the importance of a free and independent press and the criticality of hearing diverse voices and different perspectives, if we are going to counter man’s inhumanity to man (I use male pronouns deliberately here).
With a degree in Mass Communications from UC San Diego from many moons ago, and a high degree of angst from current conditions from as recently as a few hours ago, I prompt engineered AI about the benefits of a free and independent press, given my frustration with how media voices are being silenced or kept out of the broader community conversation, at our own peril.
This was the unfiltered response:
A free and independent press serves as the “Fourth Estate,” acting as a crucial check on power and a cornerstone of a healthy society. Its benefits reach beyond just delivering news—it fosters accountability, protects human rights, and empowers citizens to participate in self-governance.
1. Holding Power to Account
Watchdog Function: An independent press monitors the actions of government, corporations, and other institutions to expose corruption, fraud, and waste.
Investigating Injustice: Journalists conduct deep research to uncover facts that powerful entities might prefer to keep hidden, such as human rights violations or environmental damage.
Encouraging Transparency: By utilizing public records laws and FOIA requests, the press ensures that official actions are open to public scrutiny.
2. Strengthening Democracy and Civic Engagement
Informed Electorate: A free press provides reliable information that helps citizens make informed decisions at the ballot box, from local school board elections to national leadership.
Platform for Dialogue: It creates a “marketplace of ideas,” fostering public debate and allowing diverse perspectives—especially from marginalized groups—to be heard.
Connecting Communities: Local journalism helps communities “know themselves” by telling their unique stories, which strengthens social bonds and local dialogue.
3. Promoting Public Health and Wellbeing
Addressing Crises: During emergencies like COVID-19, independent reporters provide life-saving information, explain complex risks, and counter disinformation.
Stigma Reduction: A free press can bring awareness to sensitive health issues (such as HIV/AIDS or mental health), driving policy changes and reducing social taboos.
4. Protecting Individual Liberties
Safeguarding Freedom of Expression: Press freedom is inextricably linked to individual rights; it ensures that the government cannot control the mindset of the country by manipulating information.
Empowering the Voiceless: By documenting the stories of those without power, the press acts as an advocate for human rights and personal liberty.
Global Impact
The World Press Freedom Index regularly tracks how these benefits correlate with national stability. Countries with a free press often enjoy higher levels of prosperity and more resilient social structures compared to those under strict state censorship.
What can I do about it? For decades, both personally and professionally, I have been a fan, supporter and endorser of many media channels including local public media -KPBS San Diego and NPR.
Here is a recent endorsement I was able to provide, as KPBS celebrates its 65th birthday that is airing now:
What Can the Wisdom Traditions Teach Us About Winning and Losing?
A revisit from 2022. History May Not Repeat Itself, but It Sure Does Rhyme:
If we look at what have become an all-too-common cultural norm, be it in politics, business, or personal life, it seems that winning at all costs has replaced the more humane and wise notion of winning- but doing so following the rules of the game and a moral imperative. When we look the other way, ignoring fouls and other ethical violations, are we tacitly endorsing these behaviors at best, or enabling at worst, behaviors that are antithetical to our own betterment and survival not just as individuals but as a species?
In the wisdom traditions, using traditional martial arts as a proxy, we are trained to strive for personal excellence and the contest whether in the ring of competition on in the ring of life provides a “proving ground” to test ourselves not just versus another player or contestant but against our own best potential. Here there are 4 levels of winning and losing, not just the binary winning and losing we have become all too familiar with today.
The highest level of achievement is an honorable win. Your win is supported by right conduct and if you know you did not win cleanly you self-report the foul or incident rather than hide it under the rug or play to the chorus of if it wasn’t seen, or can’t be proved, then it didn’t happen.
One level down from this is an honorable loss. If you lost but did your best and were beaten fair and square you honor both your opponent and yourself, and learn from the experience by being a gracious “loser”. Here winning still occurs through character development, investing in loss, and remaining focused on long term growth not just short-term outcomes. Honorable losses build resiliency and forge a character of perseverance and grit.
Next comes a dishonorable win, and obviously in last place comes the dishonorable loss where despite trying every dirty trick in the book you still get your clock cleaned! Whether it is in Olympic competition against the best in the world, or a personal competition to better oneself, it would be useful to foster a climate/culture that underscores the importance of honor and humility in the “success calculus” or we find the win meaningless, transitory, and ultimately not supportive of our individual or collective growth, not to mention our humanity.
Daily Practice: This can also play out in our day-to-day choices; doing the right thing for the right reason, the wrong thing for the right reason, the right thing for the wrong reason and the wrong thing for the wrong reason. I will leave it to you to discern the hierarchy and Faustian bargain this path takes us to when left to its conclusion. Much is made of Alpha animals dominating their tribe and being willing to prevail over all contenders both inside and out. (Not a fan) Not as much is understood or appreciated about Alpha leaders, even in primates, modeling empathy and seeing their primary role as caring for and supporting their group not just terrorizing their peers and den members. (Survive of not the fittest but the most adaptable) A real Alpha leader has the capacity to win at all costs but subordinates themselves. I have heard altruism defined as “self-handicapping” for the greater good… What kind of leader do you want to model, follow, or create? Let’s start now!
Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson for MLK Day 2026:
On April 3, 1968, the night before the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a white supremacist, he gave a speech in support of sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Since 1966, King had tried to broaden the civil rights movement for racial equality into a larger movement for economic justice. He joined the sanitation workers in Memphis, who were on strike after years of bad pay and such dangerous conditions that two men had been crushed to death in garbage compactors.
After his friend Ralph Abernathy introduced him to the crowd, King had something to say about heroes: “As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about.”
Dr. King told the audience that if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed. “Now, that’s a strange statement to make,” King went on, “because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” Dr. King said that he felt blessed to live in an era when people had finally woken up and were working together for freedom and economic justice.
He knew he was in danger as he worked for a racially and economically just America. “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter…because I’ve been to the mountaintop…. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life…. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”
People are wrong to say that we have no heroes left.
Just as they have always been, they are all around us, choosing to do the right thing, no matter what.
Wishing us all a day of peace for Martin Luther King Jr. Day/Week/Year 2026.
How small changes to the way you breathe can transform your health: Breathing is something we do unconsciously. But knowing when and how to take conscious deep breaths could unlock a host of benefits. Right now, it feels like breathing is having a moment. Everyone’s at it, but some people are really putting in the elbow grease. Rather than ‘just’ breathing automatically, a growing number of devotees now practice deliberate exercises.
Exercise is as effective as medication in treating depression, study finds New research shows exercise is as effective as medication at reducing symptoms of depression. And you don’t need to run a marathon to see benefits. So how much is enough?
Why pleasure is the key to self-improvement: Forget puritanical self-discipline – the way to really make a new habit stick is to lace it with instant gratification
How to finally silence your inner critic, according to psychologists: The criticism coming from your inner voice isn’t always the most constructive. But psychologists are working on ways to help your negative self-talk. January 10, 2026 I am lazy. I’m a slob. I’m [something that can’t be printed]. These are the thoughts that pop into my head when I’m scrolling senselessly on the sofa, or after finding another bag of withered salad in my fridge, forgotten thanks to the takeaways I chose to have instead of preparing my own healthier options.
Art could save your life! Five creative ways to make 2026 happier, healthier, and more hopeful: Engaging in creativity can reduce depression, improve immunity and delay ageing – all while you’re having fun
The 3 things you should do this New Year to foster a positive mindset: Olivia Remes, a mental health researcher at the University of Cambridge, says these are the three things everyone should do this New Year to cultivate a more positive mindset
Do more, stress less: three secrets for everyday productivity at work: From writing lists to taking a walk, it can be possible to gain clarity and perspective, even when faced with the most daunting tasks
The perfect way to switch off from work: the secret to a daily de-stress routine: The boundaries between work and leisure are being blurred, but it’s vital for your health to learn how to turn off. Whether you do your job from home or not, here’s how to reset and reclaim your private time
Happy Soul Food as We Turn the Corner from 2025 to 2026!
This week:
Seasonal Illuminations from Jack Kornfield:
Dear ones,
This season arrives with lights in windows, familiar songs in the air, and the pull of gathering with family and old friends. For some, it is warm and full. For others, it is complicated, quiet, or heavy with memory and loss.
If your heart is tender this year, you are not broken. You are human.
The holidays have a way of stirring everything—the love we long for, the grief we still carry, the disappointments, the sweet moments we wish we could relive. Sometimes we sit at a table that includes both joy and sorrow.
Sometimes we aren’t at a table at all.
And yet, even here, something luminous can be born.
You do not need to fix your family. You do not need to forgive perfectly. You do not need to feel any special way at all. It is enough to be honest with your own heart.
If you pause tonight, place a hand on your chest and quietly offer:
May I be kind to what I feel.
May I be held in love, just as I am.
May the light find me, even here.
Then gently widen your heart to include those you love, those who are gone, and even those who are hard to be with:
May we all be carried through this season with compassion.
May love be stronger than our fear.
The light does not erase what is difficult.
It simply keeps us company within it.
From my heart to yours, may you feel that you belong—to your own life, to this world, to this imperfect and beautiful human family.
With deep Metta,
Jack
This might make you happier than gifts: It could ‘trigger a release of dopamine’ Acts of kindness have consistently proven to release the feel-good chemicals in people’s brains. Try volunteering this holiday season.
Seven Good News Stories You Missed This Year It wasn’t all doom and gloom in 2025. There were positive developments globally science and climate, in particular.
Try not to smile at these 5 feel-good science stories from 2025 When 2025 got a bit much, science stepped in with the good news we needed to hear. The news can sometimes make it feel like the world is about to end tomorrow. Fortunately, science has been on hand to deliver some much-needed good news. Throughout 2025, researchers have been hard at work protecting us from existential threats, researching ways to improve the health of both us and our planet, and revealing the beauty of the cosmos around us.
2025’s best photos of the natural world, from volcanoes to icebergs A village buried by a landslide, the world’s largest tidal bore and the aftermath of ferocious storms and wildfires appear in our pick of images from environment stories this year.
The 25 best sports photos of 2025 – and the stories behind them From the bottom of the swimming pool to the top of the pole vault bar, photographers reveal the stories behind these amazing shots. And a bonus point if you can spot the photographer in their own image.
21 unique things you didn’t know (or did you?) about Christmas in San Diego: Before boat parades and light festivals, Christmas in San Diego was shaped by war, faith, and a growing city still finding its identity.
Traveling Can Be Stressful. This Will Take the Edge Off!
Watch adorable golden retrievers give cuddles to travelers at airport: Video footage from the airport shows the golden retrievers receiving and giving cuddles and kisses from passengers during the holiday rush.
Here are the best wildlife photos of 2025: From an elusive jaguar to an industrious beaver, photographers captured iconic animal moments around the world.
Care for the Community with the importance of giving back and elevating from me to WE in the social sector and through conscious capitalism
Care for our beloved Planet with a new model for measuring wellbeing applying doughnut economics principles to the San Diego region
Gratitude which Cicero reminds us is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others
And a host of other content to keep you Soul-filled, so you can find your joy and live your purpose
“If you can dream—and not make dreams your master.
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss.
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!”
R. Kipling
Here are some highlights and a few from the “best of list” as we round out the 2025 calendar year.
Hidden brain and The Paradox of Pleasure:
If you want to really understand how chasing pleasure in the digital age where the dopamine hits come fast and furious, but then what was pleasurable becomes addictive and deleterious to our mental health leading to stress, anxiety, depression and a host of new diseases of despair- magnified by the cell phone and other devices, you must listen to The Paradox of Pleasure on the Hidden Brain.
It will change how you think about and behave into today’s world!
Small Things Often:Micro Habits that Foster Macro Competencies
An authentic embodied great reset- in self-compassion and self-care- for conscious leaders and culture transformers
This wellbeing webinar I hosted is a compilation of over 40 years of authentic embodied experience bridging the wisdom traditions from 2,500 years ago and modern science from 2,500 milliseconds ago.
Link and Passcode below…
Even the heart pumps blood to itself first. As leaders and practitioners, we often invest substantial energy in serving others, and as a result don’t always attend to our own needs. Here is an opportunity to provide you, and by extension those in your community, with simple and proven energetic techniques- supported by both western science and eastern wisdom traditions- that reduce chronic stress and upskill resilience and fortitude, particularly in times of challenge and uncertainty.
What you may not know about me:
The wellness of business. The business of wellness.
Neville who was born in India and has invested his lifetime in bridging the east/west divide and synergizing the best of both cultures, brings over 40 years of practicing and teaching the wisdom traditions, including traditional martial arts, yoga, and meditation to this session.
He has been applying these principles in the world of work with conscious leaders as well as deep purpose driven cultures that value all stakeholders in the ecosystem, and are committed to wellness, wholeness, and purpose not just profit. This includes leading and coaching businesses, nonprofit organizations, as well as K-12 and institutions of higher education, while serving in his executive role at Mission Fed. Additionally, he serves on a variety of boards and volunteers his time to uplift those furthest from opportunity in our San Diego community.
Why ‘cyclic sighing’ could be the key to keeping your stress and anxiety levels in check Activate your vagus nerve with the help of this simple technique.
Self-Care Is a Trendy Buzzword, but What Exactly Is It? Self-care is the practice of taking care of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of your life to promote health and wellness.
Why meditation might be the most valuable skill in the age of AI As AI accelerates and economic uncertainty grows, many workers are feeling overwhelmed. Meditation, says mindful self-compassion teacher Scheherzade Rana, offers a powerful way to reset.
A Proclamation from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for Exemplifying the Highest Ideals of Public Service
Happiness expert: These are 3 ‘really powerful ways to be happier’
Dogs trigger biological changes that boost teen mental health
A New Study Revealed Doing This Highly Enjoyable Activity Every Day Could Lower Your Dementia Risk by Nearly 40%:
A Proclamation from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for Exemplifying the Highest Ideals of Public Service:
As you know, like many of you I am committed to putting a little bit of good back out into our community and striving to leave our people and planet better than we found it.
We are judged by the company we keep!
I am currently honored to serve as board President of NCPC (North County Philanthropy Council).
This week, NCPC, which is a convenor of convenors and a nonprofit for nonprofits, known for its annual Volunteer Awards Celebration, San Diego Gives, our frequent community convenings and newly formed Impact Leadership Accelerator to support emerging leaders was proudly recognized with a proclamation from the San Diego Board of Supervisors to celebrate the spirit of giving in San Diego County as part of National Giving Month.
You can see short vid of Supervisor Jim Desmond awarding us the proclamation for Outstanding Service, Leadership and Commitment to the Citizens of San Diego County and my brief remarks here if you are interested:
Thanks to all the NCPC members, board, staff and all the community partners we serve for helping make San Diego America’s Kindest and most Purposeful Region and to all of you for your generosity of spirit and care for our community!
We ARE Better Together.
Happiness expert: These are 3 ‘really powerful ways to be happier’: Feeling happy is all about feeling connected, says professor and happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky.
Dogs trigger biological changes that boost teen mental health: Dogs already comfort us with their warmth and steady companionship. Now scientists say that comfort may also come from our own microbes, which appear to work with dogs to support mental health in young people.
A New Study Revealed Doing This Highly Enjoyable Activity Every Day Could Lower Your Dementia Risk by Nearly 40%: “It engages multiple brain areas at once, acting like a full-brain workout,” experts say.
If your dog doesn’t like someone, there is a very good reason: Dogs can sense more from humans than other humans can. In a Belfast lab study, trained dogs distinguished stressed people from calm people with 93.75 percent accuracy.
The 5 weirdest animal friendships on the planet: Animal pairings that shouldn’t get along but are the best of friends: These unexpected friendships prove that nature’s strangest duos can make the closest companions November 29, 2025 When it comes to survival, nature is often painted as a battlefield – predators versus prey, competition over territory and a constant struggle to stay one step ahead. Yet hidden among the usual dramas of the wild are rare and remarkable partnerships that seem to defy the rules entirely. Have some animals discovered that teamwork can be a powerful tool?
Dog a “CPR Hero” for helping save owner’s life during cardiac arrest: A couple say Polly the golden retriever was so “in tune” with her owner, she helped save his life when his heart stopped in the middle of the night.
Happy Soul Food Friday! 