Hong Kong - JMSC - Evander Fong was 30 when she embarked on a spiritual journey. She was looking for something beyond her daily routine life. She found Vipassana Meditation.

"I was a material girl before. I could go around in many parts of the world without fear. I even ended up in the middle of nowhere in Italy. But now I am more considerate to other people," said the 48-year-old former insurance consultant.

A woman at HK meditation center

Born and raised in Hong Kong, she said her jpb put her in contact with a many wealthy people. Many were unhappy. She did not see herself ras eally happy even though she had a good-paying job and a good relationship with family and friends.

"I was okay with my family. I never had a disaster, but actually I was not happy," Evander said.

In 2000, she met a wealthy friend who had declared bankruptcy, but nevertheless remained calm and stable. When a friend told her about the Vipassana meditation, an ancient Indian meditation technique now being taught in S.N. Goenka 's meditation centers around the world, she took her first ten-day course at the Hong Kong Vipassana Center.

After joining several meditation courses in Hong Kong, India and Myanmar, she took her early retirement this year so as to devote more time to her meditation practice. "Some people think I am crazy because I quit a good job," she said, "but I know what I am doing and getting from this practice."

She defines happiness based on her experience from the Vipassana meditation, "By purifying your mind, you are not engaged in unwholesome things. If you're not engaged in those unwholesome things, you would be happier."

"Now whatever I think, whatever I speak and whatever I do, if I think it is harmful to others, I will not do it. I am now calmer and don't have any particular agitation."

Vipassana Meditation Center in Hong Kong

Evander is among 4,978 people to have attended meditation courses at the Hong Kong center between 2003 and 2008. Founded by S.N. Goenka, it is one of a number of Vipassana meditation centers around the world. Vipassana, meaning "special insight" or "seeing things as they really are," is one of the meditation methods of India.  Goenka says Vipassana is not a religion but a process of purifying the mind. The goal is to liberate the self from suffering in order to live a happy life.