Buddhism

I attended a two-hour Buddhist meditation workshop last Sunday, held in a church hall by two monks from Sri Lanka. I went with my parents and my girlfriend. We were the only young people there.

The lead monk was surprisingly relatable. He mentioned growing up loving video games and computers, which immediately broke the ice. It was refreshing to hear a spiritual teacher talk about the struggle of a noisy, modern mind.

The core of his teaching was simple but powerful. He focused on the difference between having an emotion and being attached to it. The problem isn't feeling angry, sad, or frustrated. The suffering comes from clinging to that feeling, from letting it move in and take over. The goal is to create a small space between the feeling and your reaction—to observe the emotion without becoming it.

The method he shared was straightforward:

• Acknowledge it. Name the emotion quietly to yourself.
• Feel it physically. Notice where it sits in your body—tight chest, clenched jaw?
• Let it be. Don't feed it with a story. Just watch it rise and fall on its own.

Personally, I found sitting in silence for two hours hard. My mind wandered, and I’ll admit I checked my phone a few times. But in the quiet moments between chants, I caught glimpses of that calm, observant space. It felt real. Sometimes, the most straightforward thing you can do is sit quietly and remember: you are not your thoughts. You're just the one noticing them.

The main takeaway for me was that you don't have to be perfect at this. The monk himself laughed about his own journey. The point is just to practice. So, I’m starting small. My goal is 20 minutes, once a week. No grand expectations. I also want to slowly explore Buddhism as a subject – e.g., I stumbled across the profile of a very interesting investor who found satisfaction in embracing Buddhism.