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Promoters allege that mindfulness will help to save American society. As they do so, an American Buddhist civil religion emerges, which valorises elements of the American past and culture, while proposing Buddhist solutions to problems faced by the country. Espoused by many mindfulness practitioners and embodied in books by U.S. Congressmen, major meditation teachers, and others, this vision aligns with a particular brand of liberal politics, and imagines that society is threatened by mindlessness, a condition of extreme and dangerous distraction. Bringing mindfulness into the schools, businesses, homes, and other areas of the nation will lead to a more compassionate, wise, sustainable, and productive society that can regain its place as a leader of the world. Thus even though much effort is spent on de-religionizing mindfulness, it continues to do religious work in terms of providing values,

The COVID-19 pandemic, a singular disruptive event in recent human history, has required rapid, innovative, coordinated and collaborative approaches to manage and ameliorate its worst impacts. However, the threat remains, and learning from initial efforts may benefit the response management in the future. One Health approaches to managing health challenges through multi-stakeholder engagement are underscored by an enabling environment. Here we describe three case studies from state (New South Wales, Australia), national (Ireland), and international (sub-Saharan Africa) scales which illustrate different aspects of One Health in action in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Ireland, a One Health team was assembled to help parameterise complex mathematical and resource models. In New South Wales, state authorities engaged collaboratively with animal health veterinarians and epidemiologists to leverage disease outbreak knowledge, expertise and technical and support structures for application to the COVID-19 emergency. The African One Health University Network linked members from health institutions and universities from eight countries to provide a virtual platform knowledge exchange on COVID-19 to support the response. Themes common to successful experiences included a shared resource base, interdisciplinary engagement, communication network strategies, and looking global to address local need. The One Health approaches used, particularly shared responsibility and knowledge integration, are benefiting the management of this pandemic and future One Health global challenges.

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