Good, bad, ugly and zillions of other adjectives try to define the human and inhuman qualities that reside in all of us. This would be obvious if we were to just stop and watch the number and nature of thoughts that go whizzing through our minds every moment of the day. The mind is so mega-faceted that it creates a universe out of every individual. Emotions and the resulting reactions come and go inside out heads all the time.

Most of us, unaware of this natural process, continue to react blindly to the sensations that we ultimately translate to likes and dislikes, wants and not wanting. These desires can be summarised into two categories: attachment and aversion. Attachment to objects, people, feelings and incidents that make you feel good, and aversion towards the same that make us feel uncomfortable or miserable.

How many of us can honestly say that we are happy and peaceful, regardless of the situation we may be in? In reality we are constantly swinging from one end of the pendulum to the other. Perhaps there are rare moments when the pendulum centres itself and the mind is balanced and free of fear. These moments are still moments when the mind feels peace, and joy flows in the blood stream.

The heart knows. Every cell of our body retains memories, experiences. It stores every thought that we indulge in by reacting to the thoughts. The human body is blessed with awareness, it has inbuilt wisdom. Treated right and listened to, it can be your best ally.

Think about the gut feeling that you ignored, only to suffer the consequence of not having followed the warning, or the conscience that screamed at you not to say or do certain things that you pushed aside and ended up having to pay a heavy price for later. Our minds and bodies naturally follow the laws of nature, we instinctively know what is right for us and others without having anybody telling us. We do not need a university degree to know that we must not harm others or ourselves, that we must treat others as we would like to be treated.

So what would be a way to learn to be balanced, be free from fear and remain calm amidst life's storms? How can we be free from suffering?

I found my answer after learning the Vipassana meditation technique. It showed me the way to be focused in the present, to be free from the burdens of the past and worries of the future. Vipassana is pure, simple, undiluted. It is devoid of dogma, rituals and commercialism. It teaches you to look inwards and watch yourself constantly in your thoughts, speech and actions.

It teaches meditation as a way of life that you practice at all times: while sitting with your eyes closed and in every act of living. The two veins have to run parallel concurrently, for your spiritual heart to beat. One doesn't work without the other. There are times when I will fall down hard and suffer. But now I have learned to pick myself up and start walking again. Now I know the way. And I also know that I will go just as far as I walk, not more, not less. It's as simple as that.