Meditation Matters? Quote from author Tom Robbins

I remember hearing in a meditation retreat that if you are worried about changing your personality, you better do it now before you get enlightened, because once you are enlightened you won't care. I just finished a book in which that sentiment was echoed.

"There are Westerners who practice [meditation] as a relaxation technique, as a device for calming and centering themselves... but that is like using the Hope diamond to scratch grocery lists onto a bathroom mirror.

"Meditation hasn't got a damn thing to do with anything, 'cause all it has to do with is nothing. Nothingness. Okay? It doesn't develop the mind, it dissolves the mind. Self-improvement? Forget it, baby. It erases the self. Throws the ego out on its big brittle ass. What good is it? Good for nothing. Excellent for nothing. Yes, Lord, but when you get down to nothing , you get down to ultimate reality. It's then and exactly then that you're sensing the true nature of the universe, you're linked up with the absolute Absolute, son, and unless you're content with blowing smoke up your butt all your life, that there's the only place to be."

--Tom Robbins, Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates