Without a clear understanding or expectation of where her explorations would lead, Usha Sita Sundaram began to look within for peace, understanding, and compassion. That quest for a better life introduced her to the many benefits of meditation. Now, two decades later, she knows profound gratitude for the many gifts she has received. Mind: The Journey into the Expanse presents the diary-based expression of her travel through what she calls the "egoic self" into a higher thought-yielding place of clear and purposeful action. In stark contrast to our culture's obsession with instant gratification, she has come to appreciate the unfolding of wisdom at its own pace. Awakening, ironically enough, is not the result of an overnight epiphany, but rather a reward that is brought to fruition slowly and purposefully. Awakening is what happens despite the overwhelming frustration. It is the knowing that the truth is within reach-and well worth the effort.