Overlooked is a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times. The project began in 2018 with a focus on women, but it’s widening its lens this year.

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In 1955, Satya Narayan Goenka, a successful Burmese industrialist, began experiencing intense migraine headaches. Conventional medicine didn’t provide relief, so, at the suggestion of a friend, he sought out a meditation teacher.

At the time in Burma (now Myanmar), it was uncommon for everyday people to meditate, an activity typically reserved for Buddhist monks and nuns. But Goenka took to the practice, studying with his teacher, Sayagyi U Ba Khin, for 14 years.

Then, in 1969, Goenka renounced his business, moved to India and began teaching meditation full time, focusing on a style known as vipassana, or insigh t meditation.

Instead of teaching monks and nuns, Goenka aimed to teach lay people, like himself. Even more, he was radically inclusive for his day, accepting students regardless of caste or gender.