This is a conversation about the things that matter. About the journey inward. About building technology while searching for the self. The questions are the ones people ask me most often.
On the beginning
When did your journey inward actually begin?
For most of my life I chased the things I was told to want. Success. Money. Status. I built companies. I hit the targets. And one quiet day, I realized something. The outwardly successful life no longer resonated with my soul. That was the beginning. Not a dramatic event. Just a quiet realization.
Was there a single turning point?
Not one. Many small ones. A meditation retreat where I could not run from my own mind. A trip to Tibet where I saw a different way of being human. The slow accumulation of moments where the old story stopped making sense.
On meditation
People think meditation is about relaxing. Is it?
No. Relaxing is a side effect. Sometimes. Meditation is about seeing reality as it is. Not as you want it to be. That is often uncomfortable. The first few days of a silent retreat are not relaxing. They are war.
"Meditation is not an escape. It is an encounter. A direct encounter with reality as it is."
What keeps you coming back to the cushion?
The freedom. Every time I sit, I create a small gap between the stimulus and my reaction. In that gap, I get to choose who I am. That is the only real freedom we have.
On technology and the soul
How do you reconcile building AI with a spiritual life?
They are the same inquiry. When I build a machine that learns, I am studying how intelligence works. When I sit in meditation, I am studying how my own intelligence works. Both are about understanding how a system processes reality.
Has AI changed how you see your own mind?
Completely. It showed me that much of what I call thinking is just pattern recognition. Just the brain running old algorithms on new data. When you see that clearly, you stop taking your thoughts so seriously.
On the future
What are you working toward now?
Integration. I no longer believe in work-life balance. I believe in bringing the clarity of the cushion into the boardroom. And the rigor of the boardroom into the practice. One continuous life. One continuous journey inward.
What would you tell someone just starting this path?
Start with observation. Just watch. Do not try to change anything yet. Acceptance comes after seeing clearly. And action comes after acceptance. Observe. Accept. Live. In that order.