Meditation is to see the truth as it is. In my first formal meditation course in 2001, Vipassana Guru Satya Narayan Goenka shared this wisdom. It’s been almost two decades and I am still learning about the depth of this one simple sentence, to see the truth as it is.

So, how do you see the truth? One of the most highly revered teachers and scripts on the discipline, 1700 year old Patanjali’s Yog Sutra defines Yog as ‘yogascha chitti vritti nirodh’. It means when you stop the clutter in the mind, you’re in a state to see the truth. For normal mortals like me and probably you, dealing with life in today’s time, the task of stopping the clutter in the mind is easier said than done. But turns out there are tons of tools and techniques to achieve that goal. They have all been laid out in scriptures that date thousands of years. The wisdom has all been out there. Yet, life still remains a mess for most of us. Perhaps, somewhere in the process of complicating life, we started looking for miraculous cures that could take care of it all. But these techniques remain simple, even mundane. And it is only by working on them, will we be able to reach a state of mind where we can see the truth as it is. And as the Gurus would say, bliss and healing are the by-products of true meditation!

To me, meditation simply means being absolutely present in the moment, unattached to any biases. For instance, when I took a major fall on a mountain, I was able to be present in that moment. That allowed me to try break my fall without letting panic override.

When I got a nasty email, my fingers raced on the keyboard with nastier reply. Then, I stopped for a moment and tried to see what was really happening if I did not subscribe to the raging anger. The next day I sent a polite response and the same person opened door to one of the biggest opportunities of my life.

In 2015 I was on a hike when a major earthquake hit Nepal. It was the ability to be present in the moment, that helped me and friends arrive to safety. I can share many small and big moments, incidents and aspects of my life where this practice of awareness has saved the day.

I use the practice of awareness for every aspect of my life, be it relationship, meetings, negotiations, healing, finances, or connecting to a deeper source. And, I am happy to share the same with you.