With all respect, I would encourage you to investigate this more deeply, and the swipe is unnecessary.

I realize it sounds preposterous. I spent the majority of my life holding a similar view. I mentally categorized meditation as another religious affect not much different than prayer or the bliss people report about their personal relationship with some deity.

My view changed when a confluence of life circumstances led to an experience that opened my mind to the possibilities and I ended up going down a meditation rabbit hole where I found that I could access those states at will. What I found was entirely unlike my preconceptions, and made me realize that I’d been summarily dismissing (and judging) people for something I did not understand.

There’s a reason that many people find meditation through prior drug experiences. More commonly psychedelics, but dissociative anesthetics as well.

Certain drugs basically guarantee you’ll experience these states, while learning to meditate “properly” is something that most people find difficult or confusing. I think this confusion comes from the baggage people associate with it and from the frankly terrible meditation and mindfulness apps, books and gurus that have flooded the market, and the “do thing, get result” framing that is common in western contexts. I don’t think most people’s pop understanding of meditation even scratches the surface.

I’ve experienced the bliss of anesthesia drugs. Achieving similar states through meditation is a real thing. This doesn’t have to be “Buddhism” per se. It just happens to be one of the most well known and structured paths for exploring this.

For the record, I’m a materialist and agnostic atheist. My views were formed based on experience, not belief. I think Buddhism is useful in a utilitarian sense, but there are paths of practice that don’t require all of the religiosity.

I try to respond to comments like yours because I see an earlier version of myself in them. I take some issue with how the original comment was framed, but meditation is the real deal and worth exploring.

That's right, no amount of therapy or Buddhism will make you an addict who might overdose at any moment with deadly consequences. I think it's quite sensible to care about that.

I find your lack of faith, curious. I’ve experienced stronger and more intense joy from meditation than from 200mg of MDMA