A Spiritual Memoir

I Am Water,
Not The Wave

A memoir of losing himself and finding what can't be lost.

Mohit Mishra  ·  Foreword by Paula & Frank Spronk

A called-off wedding. A startup to build. A man negotiating terms with God at 3 a.m. — and expected at a pitch meeting the next morning.

Pre-order Now
I Am Water, Not The Wave by Mohit Mishra

"As a little wave in the ocean of waves, know that you are water, Mohit — and not the wave."

A called-off wedding. A startup to build. A man negotiating terms with God at 3 a.m. — and expected at a pitch meeting the next morning.

When Mohit Mishra's life pressed hard reset, he wasn't on a retreat. He was building a company, chasing investors, walking out of rooms where he'd been called names, and grieving a future that had just vanished. "I wasn't just heartbroken," he writes. "I was existence-broken." And in that breaking—before he had any words for it—the knot of who he thought he was quietly came loose. The collapse was not only the wound; it was the key. What looked like an ending unlocked the one question that could set him free: Who am I, really, without the story I've been selling to myself?

What follows is intimate, funny, disarmingly honest, and quietly rigorous—part travelogue, part inner therapy, part spiritual memoir. Following the Upanishads, the Buddha's inquiry, Rumi's longing, and the Gita's surrender down to their shared root, Mohit finds every tradition arriving at the same living silence. Unexpected "lanterns" light the way: a Dutch couple who point him to what he is beneath thought; a monk in Kerala who turns scripture into a living mirror; an octogenarian in California whose dining table reveals the oneness beneath religions; ten days of total silence in a German village; a monastery in Rishikesh where the lineage first caught fire; and a Himalayan camp where the highest thought becomes lived clarity.

And at the centre of that silence is one image, first heard from his Dutch lanterns, that lodged itself in the cave of his heart: "As a little wave in the ocean of waves, know that you are water — and not the wave."

Mohit Mishra

Mohit Mishra

Technologist · Entrepreneur · Seeker

Mohit Mishra is an India-born technologist and entrepreneur living in the Netherlands. Educated in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT (BHU) Varanasi, he co-founded a civic mobility startup that was later acquired.

While building his company, a personal crisis drew him inward — into the living traditions of Advaita Vedanta, and the timeless question: Who am I, really?

I Am Water, Not The Wave is his debut book.

A rare blend of clarity, humility, and depth. This book doesn't preach; it quietly reorients the way you see yourself.

It takes one on a journey and makes one drop everything. Water, not the wave. There is nothing to forgive, only to thank. Eye openers.

Honest, tender, and authentic. A companion for anyone standing at the edge, wondering what comes next.

Another day has gone by
Without seeing You
I see Your beauty in this world
But when do I get to see You?
You gave this world to me
I give up this world for You
A great silence is coming over me
I wonder why I use language
The tongue knows not how to speak
The heart sings in a thousand silent ways
Another day is going by
I cannot wait anymore
Take me to Your furnace
Burn me, melt me away
Make me Your flute
And play it as You wish
The touch of Your lips
The dance of Your fingers
The warmth of Your breath
The sweetness of Your music
Now I say no more
Words obstruct You
Now I think no more
Thoughts veil You
Now I desire no more
Desires ignore You
Now I undress
To just be
Silence
I am That
I am That
I am That

Releasing July 2026

Be the first to know when the book is available. Foreword by Paula & Frank Spronk.

Get Notified