I'm 22 and broke. Do I meditate??

[SimpleGuy]

19 hours ago, Hojo said:

Get a job

ahh. gift of unemployment is so sweet..

[Davino]

Watch it, this is perfect for you.

Come back and post your reflections

 

[jacknine119]

@Davino ok I will see

[PenguinPablo]

Personally my relentless striving and psychotic drive has dissipated.

I cannot do it any more.

The best way I have found is to do a simple relatively high paying job.

Or something you are really passionate about.

I don't think meditating endlessly will cut it for most people. 

You have to take some degree of action. Not just do vipasanna in your bedroom.

[Lyubov]

Sure do it but don’t let meditation and spirituality become a thing which you use to avoid responsibility and living your life. 20 minutes a day is plenty if you have other responsibilities. 

[WonderSeeker]

On 1/4/2026 at 7:24 AM, jacknine119 said:

I've read topic about your regrets in life in this forum.

So many people wrote about meditation and yoga but guys if I'm broke and don't have girlfriend why do I care to make yoga and meditation. 1year daily I made kundalini yoga but for several months I stopped it. I just make sometimes Joe Dispenza's meditation. Will I regret it?

Let me take your title and put a spin on it (tell me what your gut instinct advice for me would be):

I'm 27 and haven't had sex. Should I lift weights?

What would you tell me?

"DUDE, GO MEET SOME GIRLS!!!!!!"

For you, make money and get a girlfriend. Clearly you want those things. Then if you have time AFTER, meditate/do yoga. Easy.

[Leo Gura]

I would say focus on improving your material situation. You are too young to be worrying about Awakening. You have time. I didn't start meditating till like 27. And that was shit meditation worth nothing.

Edited 21 hours ago by Leo Gura

[SimpleGuy]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

I didn't start meditating till like 27. And that was shit meditation worth nothing.

What do you mean by that shit meditation? You mean meditation that is not for Awakening?

[Joshe]

No. Put all effort into financial stability and worry about self development later. Spirituality and self improvement in general is something that I wish I would have ignored early on. I can’t tell you how much time and energy I squandered trying to “improve” myself. 

Edited 18 hours ago by Joshe

[nerdspeak]

I think going all-in on spirituality for a bit could be a cool idea at 22. (1) your brain is much more plastic than it will be later so it’s easier to learn; (2) you have way fewer responsibilities and opportunity costs. 

Most meditation instruction in the west is a garbage money-making operation so if I could do it again, I would have gone to Thailand and temporarily ordained for a few months.  All financial problems are solved while you’re a monk, that’s part of the point, so by definition you’re financially stable while ordained. 
 

But if it’s something you think you “should” do as part of orange self-development or something—serious spirituality is basically the opposite of that mindset, and so forget what I said above and focus on getting financially stable. 

[Leo Gura]

9 hours ago, SimpleGuy said:

What do you mean by that shit meditation? You mean meditation that is not for Awakening?

I mean it was not effective.

Meditation needs to be done seriously for it to be effective. Otherwise you are just wasting your time.

[Rigel]

There’s a lot of time in a day if you drop every distraction. You can pursue money & meditation at the same time. The question is only if you’ll be able to stomach that much conscious effort. Stop all the obvious bullshit & you’ll be surprised of two things: 1- How fucking hard it is.

2-How much time is actually available to you in a day.

We don’t lack time. We lack emotional stability.

[Joshe]

34 minutes ago, Rigel said:

We don’t lack time. We lack emotional stability.

Fa sho. That's the biggest factor with self-development. We have bad habits for a reason - they stabilize us. 

[integration journey]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

I mean it was not effective.

Meditation needs to be done seriously for it to be effective. Otherwise you are just wasting your time.

When did you discover Vipassana? I found it to be the most effective meditation technique for me. 

[Leo Gura]

47 minutes ago, integration journey said:

When did you discover Vipassana? I found it to be the most effective meditation technique for me. 

Maybe 2-3 years in.

Edited 7 hours ago by Leo Gura

[Kid A]

6 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

I mean it was not effective.

Meditation needs to be done seriously for it to be effective. Otherwise you are just wasting your time.

Depends though. I’m probably one of the worst meditators on Earth, and I pretty much always end up sitting there daydreaming for over 90% of the time. Still, I’m definitely more focused on the days when I’ve done mindfulness meditation than when I haven’t.

[Leo Gura]

16 minutes ago, Kid A said:

Depends though. I’m probably one of the worst meditators on Earth, and I pretty much always end up sitting there daydreaming for over 90% of the time. Still, I’m definitely more focused on the days when I’ve done mindfulness meditation than when I haven’t.

That does not work for me.