Recently I was interviewed by Michael Ellsberg for his upcoming book on self-taught billionaires (no, I am not one!). He asked me, as many have before him, what prompted me to become a monk for 7 years. I gave my usual reply, which is that I found the pain and suffering of the world overwhelming. At the time, I felt that if I could meditate really, really hard, I’d somehow reduce some of the staggering human suffering I’d both witnessed and felt.