Today is the last day of our week-long retreat in Chiang Rai. The days have been filled with deep silence, reflection, and practice. One of the most profound teachings we explored was Ahangkar or the ego mind , and why we practice meditation in the first place.
Meditation, I’ve come to realize, isn’t just about finding calm or peace for a few moments. It’s about remembering what lies beyond the endless noise of the mind, that quiet, vast awareness that is our true self. We practice to free ourselves from the cycle of suffering, the same patterns we carry lifetime after lifetime.
Life keeps showing us how attached we are to people, possessions, roles, and identities. We hold on tightly, afraid to lose what we have or who we think we are. Yet the tighter we cling, the more we suffer.
The teachings remind us that everything is always changing. Nothing stays the same. Everything arises from conditions and causes, we are never fully in control. And everything is impermanent. Whatever we hold on to will one day pass, just as we will.
When we start to see this clearly, something inside begins to soften. The need to grasp, to fix, to define starts to fade. There’s a quiet freedom in allowing things to be as they are. We learn to release our expectations, to stop fighting what is, and to trust the natural rhythm of life.
Most of the time, we live inside the mind — thinking, judging, replaying the past, or fantasizing the future. Meditation gives us a way out of that loop. It opens a doorway into pure awareness, where we can observe without reacting, see without needing to change, and simply be. And in that stillness, the ego, the Ahangkar, slowly begins to dissolve.
The yoga shala surrounded by lush nature at Museflower, Chiang Rai.
As this retreat comes to an end, I want to share a simple meditation into thoughtlessness that you can try wherever you are.
Meditation for thoughtlessness
Sit comfortably with your spine straight. Relax the right shoulder, elbow by your side, the right hand extended with the palm facing up. The left arm is parallel to the ground, palm facing up and resting lightly on the diaphragm. Close your eyes. Begin the One-Minute Breath: inhale for 20 seconds, hold the breath for 20 seconds, and exhale for 20 seconds. To end, inhale deeply and hold for 25 seconds while pressing the left hand gently into the diaphragm. Squeeze the whole body and exhale. Repeat this three times.
As your breath slows and your mind quiets, notice the space between thoughts — that still, infinite space where the ego disappears and you remember who you truly are.
Tomorrow, I travel to Bangkok for Level 3 Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training. Another step on this long path of self-mastery and awareness. Each level feels like peeling back another layer of the self, revealing both the resistance and the light within. It’s humbling to continue learning, to witness how the teachings always bring me back to the same place, the stillness of the heart.
May we carry this stillness into our daily lives — into every breath, every word, and every moment — until presence becomes our natural state, and the ego gently releases its hold.
