Practice Outside the Lines

About this episode

Jerry Roy discusses his journey through meditation, identity, and the search for liberation beyond rigid traditions.

Episode #550: “There was something inside of me that was calling me,” says Jerry Roy, a long-time Vipassana meditator and early student in the Goenka tradition. “Not a thought, but something pulling me.” He argues that liberation comes not from rigid adherence to technique or authority, but from direct understanding of the mind—especially craving and aversion. Raised in a Jewish household, Roy felt pressure to conform to a shared identity he experienced as restrictive. He rejected its religious element early, identifying instead as a “cultural Jew,” and developed a lasting determination not to live “in a box.” That impulse aligned with the 1960s counterculture, where he immersed himself in experimentation and activism. Psychedelics presented a spiritual potentiality, yet, as he later reflects, “It opened a door, but it didn't show me how to walk through the door.” Disillusionment with activism, along with the suicide of a housemate, pushed him toward a deeper inquiry into suffering. That search led him to India. He rejected both the hedonistic hippie scenes and guru-centered traditions he came across, but then discovered Vipassana meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka. “I realized…

People in this episode

Guest: Jerry Roy

Topics covered

• meditation
• spirituality
• personal growth
• counterculture
• suffering
• identity

Keywords

• Vipassana
• meditation
• spirituality
• identity
• counterculture
• suffering
• Goenka

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Goenka tradition, Vipassana meditation

Places: India

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