Strategic roadmaps. Quarterly targets. Back-to-back meetings and the immense responsibility of leading a large, talented team at Adobe. My world was a complex ecosystem of people, projects, and products. By all external metrics, I was doing good —navigating the challenges of a leadership role in a top-tier tech company.
But internally? A persistent 404 Error was flashing: Connection Not Found. I was connected to my teams, my stakeholders, and a global network, but I felt a growing chasm between the relentless demands of my role and my own inner sense of purpose.
This wasnt an entirely new feeling, and I had previously sought tools for a better inner life. My journey into self-exploration had started with the Inner Engineering course, a foundational program offered by the Isha Foundation, an organization founded by the yogi and visionary, Sadhguru. His practical, logical approach to well-being had already initiated a positive shift in my life and diet.
So, when a slot for the advanced Shoonya Meditation program—a program also designed by him—opened up at the new Sadhguru Sannidhi in Bangalore, it felt like a direct invitation to dive deeper. I accepted, ready for a challenge but not quite prepared for the reality of it.
The Leader’s Ultimate Test: Surrendering Control
Arriving at the ashram, the “terms and conditions” for the next five days felt less like a retreat and more like a radical experiment designed to dismantle a leader’s entire framework:
- Total Digital Disconnect: My phone—the command center for my personal and professional life—was surrendered. For a leader used to being constantly available, this felt like willingly cutting the power to my own control tower.
- Dissolving Hierarchy: My title meant nothing here. I was one of 70 people sharing a single large hall, a stark contrast to the structured environments I was used to.
- The Food Shock: I thought I was prepared. I was wrong. My 40% salad habit was child’s play. Here, the diet was 100% raw salads. It wasn’t just part of the meal; it was the meal. Just once a day.
- An Unrelenting Schedule: From 6 AM to 9 PM, the days were packed with powerful yoga practices and long stretches of meditation, leaving no room for the mind to wander to pending emails or project worries.
The first two days were a profound struggle. My mind, conditioned to manage, strategize, and solve problems, was in revolt. “How is my team managing?” “What fires are breaking out?” The urge to take control was immense. The silence wasn’t just an absence of noise; it was an absence of the familiar chaos I had learned to thrive in.
“For a leader, the greatest fear isn’t losing a deal; it’s losing control. This program was designed to make me face that fear head-on.”
The Breakthrough: The Power of Nothingness in a World of Everything
And then, on the third day, the shift happened.
It wasn’t a sudden epiphany but a gentle, pervasive clarity. During a deep meditation, the frantic internal monologue of a manager—the anxieties, the planning, the endless to-do lists—simply dissolved. In its place was not a void, but a profound stillness. A space.
This is the essence of Shoonya.
The word, from Sanskrit, translates to emptiness or nothingness. In our hyper-stimulated world, nothing sounds negative—unproductive, a void to be filled. But the program revealed a profound truth: this nothingness is the most potent tool a modern professional can possess.
For a technology leader, our minds are our primary asset. They are constantly running—processing data, debugging problems, strategizing roadmaps, and managing human dynamics. We operate in a state of perpetual fullness. Our mental RAM is always at 99% capacity, leaving us prone to decision fatigue, reactive leadership, and burnout.
Shoonya is the practice of consciously creating a space—a moment of true nothing—in that overloaded mind. It’s not about becoming vacant; its about creating a conscious emptiness from which clarity, creativity, and profound solutions can emerge. It is the ultimate system reboot for the mind, clearing the cache of stress, biases, and preconceived notions.
When you operate from a place of “nothingness,” you stop reacting to the endless noise and start responding from a place of deep stability and insight. You can listen without the filter of your own mental chatter. You can see a problem without the baggage of past failures. This is not inactivity; it is the highest form of effective action.
The Human Edge in the Age of Agentic AI
This shift from reactive noise to responsive stillness feels more critical than ever as I look at the seismic changes in our industry. With the rise of Agentic AI, machines are no longer just tools; they are becoming autonomous partners that can handle complex logic, coding, and data analysis with superhuman efficiency.
This is forcing a fundamental career shift for us all. For decades, a high IQ—the ability to process information like a machine—was the gold standard. But as AI masters this domain, our unique human value is pivoting towards what machines cannot replicate: a high Emotional Quotient (EQ), deep-seated creativity, and the mental agility to constantly learn and unlearn.
This is where Inner Engineering becomes a strategic advantage. The practice of creating inner silence does more than just reduce stress. It builds the very foundations of these essential human skills. By quieting the computational part of the mind, you unlock:
- Profound Clarity: To see the bigger picture beyond the obvious.
- Emotional Stability: To lead teams with empathy and poise through turbulent changes.
- True Adaptability: The inner stillness makes you less resistant to change, allowing you to navigate the necessary ‘thought shifts’ in your career with ease and embrace continuous learning.
Inner Engineering, therefore, is no longer just about personal well-being; it’s becoming a crucial part of our professional toolkit for navigating the future of work.
An Indian Blessing, Realized
The true depth of this experience didn’t fully crystallize until I was on a call with one of my onshore counterparts. As I described the intensity and transformation of the Shoonya program, she fell silent for a moment. “You are so incredibly fortunate,” she said, “to have authentic programs for your inner self just… available.”
Her words made me see my own country through a new lens. For millennia, the land we call India has been a fertile ground for the science of inner exploration. Visionaries like Sadhguru JV and organizations like the Isha Foundation are ensuring that the purest, most potent forms of yoga are alive and accessible right here, in the heart of modern India.
This reflection itself is a gift for me. I’m writing this on a designated wellness holiday at Adobe today, and I feel deep appreciation for a company culture that genuinely values employee well-being. It’s this space that allows us to integrate such life-altering experiences.
Of course, a journey inward like this is never truly taken alone. The silence I found at the ashram was built on a foundation of absolute trust at home. My deepest gratitude goes to my family, and particularly to my wife, Sunanda Singh. While I was disconnected from the world, she was more connected than ever—managing our kids and our lives with incredible strength and grace. Knowing she was there, holding everything together without any channel of communication, was the unspoken support that allowed me to truly let go. This experience was as much hers as it was mine.
So, if you are a leader navigating this new era, I invite you to consider this. In a world that will soon be saturated with artificial intelligence, your greatest asset will be your own stable, clear, and balanced consciousness. The journey inward is no longer an escape; it is the most essential step forward.
Don’t just seek more skills or more data. Seek the space between the thoughts, the silence beneath the noise. For in that potent “nothingness,” you won’t find a void; you’ll find the clarity, creativity, and balance to lead with true impact. That’s the power of ‘Nothingness’!
Thank you!