Live, Work, and Play, Better.

On one hand, you (meaning, your self) doesn’t exist at all. On the other hand, you do, because you have to live here, in the practical, material world.

You are not floating around immaterially all day, astral traveling across the universe. You have a job to do, bills to pay, and a family to love.

So, how and why is it helpful to look inward? To see behind your thoughts? To dissolve your ego? To realize your oneness with the rest of the universe, and the falseness of the notion that your identity is somehow separate? To spend time meditating, or in other practices, going deeper into the transient, non-material world?

For me the answer is not ‘astral travel’. I haven’t gone that far yet.

The benefits are much more practical than that.

In fact they are so practical that I put I them to use every day, as best I can.

Of course I do not always ‘succeed’ at this. I get angry. I get jealous. I guard my own identity.

But more and more each day, I am able to notice myself doing these things, and many times I am able to respond thoughtfully before ‘default ego defenses’ even happen.

Not just in relationships, but also with food. The more that I practice being still, quiet, and listening to my body, the better able I am to hear its signals.

I’m not really hungry right now; I’m actually thirsty, or bored, for example.

If your goal in meditation is enlightenment or out of body experiences, I won’t stop you. Those things do occur.

But any enlightened person will tell you that it’s the improved daily experience, the way you are better able to live, work, and play, that matters.