Let me start by saying I don't meditate and think it's value is grossly overstated by nearly all it's proponents most of whom claim it has great value because they make money or ego out of it or it's part of their religion.

I don't make these judgements because of my personal experience of meditation but because of the experience of people I have known or of the many that are attested to in public discourse. The outcomes of the tens or hundreds of thousands or more of the 60s youth cohort who joined the many groups making new waves then has nearly all turned out unfavourably with barely a Guru, a Rinpoche, a Zen Master, a Pir, a Perfect Master, a Maharishi, a Siddha or any other self-proclaimed spiritual guide not turning out to have feet of clay dirtied by hypocrisy, lies and materialism of a Trumpish level. I don't mean the experience of the chelas has necessarily always been negative but it has certainly not lived up to the hype, a hype which usually promises far less these days than it did 60 years ago when there was no local history or evidence.

As far as I can see on short notice Mike Roark is the go to man on this Forum for making positive statements about meditation. It's quite difficult to make positive personal statements about the benefits of long term meditation in yourself without sounding like an arrogant arsehole or what we call in Australia a wanker. I think he avoids these pitfalls though others may differ. At my age I can only imagine that the death of a child or grand-child could make me so depressed that I would try meditation but I'd try it as a long shot. I can no longer picture a situation where a positive reason for meditation could arise in my life.

Roark seems to have suffered no ill effects from his practice but who knows what he might have attained or achieved otherwise.

Some Roark Quotes:

Personally, I love sitting meditation and trying to cultivate 'mindfulness' during the day, which I have been pretty diligent with for over forty years. These days, I typically sit for an hour or so daily, and besides the clear awareness I get to 'rest in', I find it very helpful, even efficient as a way to re-focus and re-energize and help me be creative as I go through the day. I call it 'defragging the hard drive'. I haven't practiced the 'Knowledge' techniques for decades, BTW.

I feel that, rather than engendering disassociation and pathology, continued meditation practice over the long term tends to reorganize the brain in a positive way. It also offers a way to deal with latent psychological issues in a proactive, conscious manner, issues that might otherwise be left unattended but remain in place and guide our behavior and the relationships we form. It is not meditation itself that is scary, the accumulated psychological pathologies we hold inside are.

In other words, meditation practice has my whole-hearted vote, not as a panacea, but as a way to reconnect with the fun of being alive.

Inner stillness seems to enable inherent, natural intelligence. Also passion for living as it turns out (oddly enough). Us funny little humans that take sooo much credit for everything, as if we really create all that much (except for our suffering and our contributions to to that of others).

For myself, I think meditation enables me to sleep less, and also makes my mind more efficient in my complex work and life.When I first sit down, I tend to let my mind 'scroll' to clarify and resolve what to do about the issues at hand if it feels the need, before I clamp down on it. Typically, the things that are bugging this Roark character the most surface first, followed by those in diminishing order.

I think the extent that premies and ex-premies have tied their idea of meditation practice to Rawat is a shame, when meditation could be a simple, nourishing and exciting exploration of one's 'inner' world.