Brief History of My Meditation Practice
It was probably mid to late 1990s that I was first introduced to Vipassana meditation. A friend of mine invited me to go listen to Shinzen Young, a teacher who was then based in Los Angeles and had a small following. Meditation itself wasn’t a foreign activity for me, but I couldn’t say I had a particular practice. The teachings I heard from Shinzen sounded very practical — and I was intrigued. It wasn’t until 2000 as I was turning 40 and my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I decided I wanted to have something to lean on spiritually and sought a meditation practice, which happened to be Vipassana tradition. It is what is popularized as “mindfulness meditation” today.