Vipassana meditation reminds me of the movie The Matrix. Morpheus explains to Neo, “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” For those who haven’t seen the movie, by taking the red pill Neo is committing to discovering the real truth rather than to live in the illusion of a false reality.

After my first course I often felt like the character Cypher. Once Neo had passed through the trauma of entering the real world or the world without and delusion, Cypher said to him, “I know what you’re thinking, ’cause right now I’m thinking the same thing. Actually, I’ve been thinking it ever since I got here: Why oh why didn’t I take the BLUE pill?”

Vipassana meditation is like the blue pill. Once you’ve experienced the truth at this level there’s no turning back. You can try all you want to return to your old life but there is something inside of you that’s changed. By trying to escape this newly experienced truth you realize that all you’re doing is burying yourself deeper in misery. The only way to true happiness is to face the difficulties of reality head on until you come out on the other side where you’ll enjoy peace and tranquility. At times it feels impossible. At times it feels ridiculous. But no matter what you do, you can’t escape this little seed of truth so you might as well stare it dead in the eye and keep moving forward one step at a time. It worked out for Neo in the end so there’s no reason it won’t work out for you too.