Way Out There

For most of us, modern life doesn’t afford the same hardships it used to. Instead of toil and pain, we face anxiety, depression, and addiction—the ills of a distracted, disconnected, overly stimulated population. Sometimes the antidote to these maladies is choosing the right hardship, such as Vipassana meditation.

I was out shoveling snow off the front walk after one of last winter’s foot-deep dumps when a neighbor drove up with his window down. …