The Cycle of Low Points

I've come across this many times: you learn the most during the lowest moments in life. It's unfortunate, but my brain often resists proactive action until I'm cornered. And even more unfortunately, when I'm finally motivated to act at that low point, I lack the resources: I don't have energy; I'm depressed, devastated, poor, lonely, helpless. Yet, I always found a way to come out of it and emerge stronger, happier, and more successful, though it took a lot of time and unnecessary stress along the way.

Having been through this loop a couple of times, I found that many friends have had similar journeys. So why should we allow this to happen? Let's fix the root cause.

With this in mind, I ventured into exploring the key things that accelerated my rebound: sport, hard work, spiritual clarity and peace, and some money.

My Journey

Building and Falling

I embarked on building. One app, then another, and another... I worked on close to 15 projects in 1 year, spanning consumer, B2B, enterprise, finance, marketing, social media, cloud infrastructure, and developer tools. Some projects gained traction, with thousands of users and thousands in monthly recurring revenue. A few even received recognition from well-known founders and experts. But none of the 15 projects worked out. Cofounder disputes, bad ideas, lack of expertise in certain tech stacks, intense competition, lack of funding—many reasons.

But I'm still here. Still building, learning, growing, and hustling.

The Low Point (March 2023)

Around March 2023, I felt very, very bad. For the first time in my life, I felt so low. It was a nightmare turning real... Every time I woke up, I wished I was dead. It was horrifying. At some point, I remember I called up my parents and for the first time in my life, I said I'm not ok, I need some help.

Discovering Vipassana

The help came unexpectedly. A few friends had mentioned Vipassana meditation by that point. But one story, Kate's stood out... She described meditation as something akin to a sport... Wow, that was something very novel.

I thought, 'All right, I'll give it a try.' But then, looking at the Vipassana schedule—10 days, no internet access—I thought: 'No way! I can't do that; I have work. It's just a waste of time!' But the desire to fix my depression overpowered. I ventured onto a shorter 2-day weekend course at Tathagata Meditation Center in San Jose.

Again, another wow moment. This is legit. There's a reason billions have practiced it for millennia. I was simply an ignorant kid undervaluing wisdom from history.

The Breakthrough

The next thing was to sign up for the 10-day course. I did it. I went on it on May 3rd, 2023, and I have never been the same person since... On day 8 of the course, I felt something and realized something that had been haunting me my entire life.

I clearly remember the night... the familiar nightmare stress would roll in... It was so deeply ingrained in me... And for the first time ever, I was able to face it directly and just observe him... It was nothing but a projection of my own fears and insecurities.

OMG, I thought I became immortal or something, haha. After that night, I ran to an interview with my teacher the next morning to boast about my breakthrough. Bruce congratulated me, and my journey began.

Continued Practice and Reflection

In the following 12 months, I spent 60 days meditating full-time on top of my daily 2-hour practice. This seems ridiculous – like running a marathon without prior training. Spending so much time doing 'nothing' seems like such a waste of time and energy, right? It's counterintuitive. It doesn't make sense... well, until it does.

Now, it's exactly 3 years since I moved to the US. I feel happy. I just proposed to my future wife after we finished a joint Vipassana course together (her first, my 7th) along with my co-founder (also best friend and roommate), who turned into a spiritual buddy. We've successfully raised multiple times for our startup. The journey ahead, though still hard, is clear. The immediate thought was: how can I turn my experience into something repeatable?

The 2nd Chance Initiative & Grant

Simple solution: start a non-profit initiative to support people in similar situations in life to go through a similar experience but faster and with less stress. I've officially launched the 1st phase of the 2nd chance grant, a grant designed to help you get a 2nd chance at establishing your success in life, getting on your feet with the support of Vipassana practice and financial assistance.

Grant Terms & Commitment

The terms are simple: you commit to participate in two 10-day Vipassana courses (as taught by S.N. Goenka) and maintain a daily meditation practice. In exchange, you are given a grant to cover your direct expenses for your rent (considering it to be a private room). The grant provides support of unlimited value and duration, contingent solely on maintaining the practice commitment.

Money is transferred to your account every month following a simple accountability check focused on your practice consistency.

No other expectations in return. Use the grant as long as the practice commitment is met. If you found the experience helpful, you are welcome to contribute back to the grant network later, once you feel stable.

Have questions not covered below? Feel free to reach out via email.

Ready to take the next step? Apply for the grant here.