American author Wayne Dyer is credited with the catchphrase, “Be the best version of yourself.” Though it rapidly caught fire, it didn’t mean the same thing to everyone who took up the challenge. Many equated “best” with excitement more than contentment, influence more than inspiration, and control more than kindness. Where the world is right now, we may have made a wrong turn. Let’s retrace our steps.

MAUREEN CHEN
Maureen Chen, or BK Morni, is living her best life after decades of searching, experiencing and then—as a teacher of Raja Yoga meditation for 44 years—sharing with others what she sees and learns. She has been around the world in this pursuit, as narrated in her recent book, “Mystic at the Edge: A Western Woman Coloured by Asia.” She is currently the Coordinator of Yarra Valley Living Centre, a tranquil retreat place that teems with wildlife near Melbourne, within 40 acres of picturesque Australian bushland.

SONYA MENDOZA
“No to waste and pollution!” is Sonia Mendoza’s battlecry. She is a founding member and the committed current chairman of Mother Earth Foundation, an NGO best-known for addressing those escalating issues for 23 years now. She completed training on Zero Waste at the Berkeley Ecology Center in Berkeley, California under the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives program. “We need to conserve our finite resources for the future generations,” she says. “Let us leave behind a living planet for them."