If everything humans do is about survival, then why are humans inclined to meditate?

[Ulax]

Surely meditation is anti survival.

People have all their emotional dysregulation and suffering because of a mix of genetics and survival adaptions to external conditions. Surely if everything humans do is about survival then humans would either focus on changing the external circumstances that cause their suffering or just do nothing. Why would it help human’s to survive to regulate their emotions via meditation and in effect get rid of the impetus to deal with their survival challenges.

Doesn’t make sense to me

[Leo Gura]

Who is inclided to meditate?

No one other than Gods.

[Princess Arabia]

Survival is not just about staying alive, eating, paying bills, etc. It's also, for the individual, about surviving an identity. See Leo's survival series, it made me aware of this and I've seen it to be the case all around. If one identifies as a spiritual seeker or it could be anything pertaining to meditation or spirituality, then that's what is being survived, not just the body. This also applies to any identity one has ascribed to. This is why addictions are so hard to quit. A smoker that identifies as a smoker, "I am a smoker", that's an identity and it's the death of the 'entity' if it quits. Understand the nature of things and it becomes evident. I know when I say there's no one in these bodies it sounds woo woo and shit, but it's this that allowed for better understanding of behaviors or things in general.

[CARDOZZO]

You can turn meditation into survival. You do not want to suffer. You want to feel good - so you meditate.

[Ulax]

1 hour ago, Princess Arabia said:

Survival is not just about staying alive, eating, paying bills, etc. It's also, for the individual, about surviving an identity. See Leo's survival series, it made me aware of this and I've seen it to be the case all around. If one identifies as a spiritual seeker or it could be anything pertaining to meditation or spirituality, then that's what is being survived, not just the body. This also applies to any identity one has ascribed to. This is why addictions are so hard to quit. A smoker that identifies as a smoker, "I am a smoker", that's an identity and it's the death of the 'entity' if it quits. Understand the nature of things and it becomes evident. I know when I say there's no one in these bodies it sounds woo woo and shit, but it's this that allowed for better understanding of behaviors or things in general.

Ooooo intriguing answer imo

[aurum]

Adding to what others have said, a lot of people turn meditation into survival.

Owen Cook convinced a bunch of pickup artists to start meditating on the premise that it would improve their pickup. Silicon CEO-types can get into it, looking at it as a way to regulate themselves to be more effective at business. And some might do it just to fit in with a culture or feel like they're on their grind-set.

There's also people doing trauma healing who are into meditation, which is mainly about creating a stable sense of self.

Almost no one does meditation for the primary purpose of truth-seeking.

Edited June 19 by aurum

[UnbornTao]

It might be that most forms of suffering - not physical in nature - are not caused by external circumstances to begin with, and therefore aren't imposed on us against our will. Each of us plays a central role in the generation of this kind of suffering.

As for meditation, I'd say the practice is about healing and training the mind - which are also aspects of survival. You meditate to calm down, improve your state and experience, sharpen your concentration, and so on. Contemplation, on the other hand, is the sincere pursuit of truth through questioning.

We might say that seeking what's true is a different pursuit from the survival of the self - though it doesn't necessarily contradict or negate it.

As an analogy, survival is like the kernel of your operating system. We often see 'survival' as something beneath us - but it can also be viewed simply as life. In that light, rather than resisting it as something negative, we can learn to embrace it more fully.

Edited June 25 by UnbornTao

[Carl-Richard]

Spirituality is survival until you let go of your life.

[Jirh]

On 6/19/2025 at 5:10 PM, Ulax said:

Why would it help human’s to survive to regulate their emotions via meditation and in effect get rid of the impetus to deal with their survival challenges.

The answer is literally in the question.

[hyruga]

No one is inclined to meditate except for those who have nothing better to do after surviving.

Edited June 22 by hyruga

[chess_king]

On 6/19/2025 at 5:19 PM, Leo Gura said:

Who is inclided to meditate?

No one other than Gods.

I was going to say this as well

[Ajay0]

On 6/19/2025 at 7:40 PM, Ulax said:

Surely meditation is anti survival.

People have all their emotional dysregulation and suffering because of a mix of genetics and survival adaptions to external conditions. Surely if everything humans do is about survival then humans would either focus on changing the external circumstances that cause their suffering or just do nothing. Why would it help human’s to survive to regulate their emotions via meditation and in effect get rid of the impetus to deal with their survival challenges.

Doesn’t make sense to me

Not at all.

Meditation and devotion develops the intuitive abilities which can enable one to avoid danger and choose best case scenarios.

I have personally witnessed people acting under the guidance of intuition and saving themselves from unapparent danger later on. It showed me then the limitations of logic and reasoning.

[kavaris]

if you look at nature, animals understand English in a meta way, as well as a literal way, thereby showing how they communicate w/ nature—experiencing something that is primary next to survival—and as such, there are many areas of experience that we dont understand, such as there existing a way to receive language beyond what you hear, cause what you hear is just sound, one mode. In that way, we also dont understand reality, nor ourselves as participants in it. We can encounter paradoxes, but do we understand them. There is no limit to the amount we dont understand and may never understand. We dont understand more than we think we already do understand. Survival is also a way to speak about the ~ not dying (everyones got a personal definition for it tho), but its not necessarily death that you want to avoid is it? its being staggered to death you want to avoid, cause if you got shot in the head, then it wouldnt really matter, Thats one way to look at it. I could go on.

Edited June 23 by kavaris

[Hojo]

They probably do it naturally. Someone has to stay awake all night.

[Oppositionless]

Because at a certain level of development survival and truth become synonymous. Living in illusion is anti-survival because illusion is death and truth is immortality.

[LordFall]

I'm inclined to meditate because it helps with emotional regulation which helps in my survival in day to day basis and connect me more to my spiritual self which is my "infinite survival" so I don't really even understand the foundation of your question. Seems pretty self explanatory to me. 

Makes me connect with everything is gonna be okay.