I now have a routine where every Tuesday and Thursday I fast for 24 hours. Breakfast the following days breaks the fast; so on Wednesday and Friday before breakfast I take a thorough shower, chant Tara mantras, and then meditate for a while.
Since they're Tara mantras, I find myself a bit in a Tibetan tradition, which is awkward because I'm a naturalist. Nonetheless, I find that my meditations are indeed directed towards the dissolution of ego, abolishing neurotic ways, and gaining access to reservoirs of awareness, compassion, and joy that otherwise seem to be buried inside of me.
This means that the best summary is "it's productive, but I can no longer use that as an excuse to do it. Rather, I do it precisely for no other reason. We don't need to justify love; we just love, for its own sake."
Since they're Tara mantras, I find myself a bit in a Tibetan tradition, which is awkward because I'm a naturalist. Nonetheless, I find that my meditations are indeed directed towards the dissolution of ego, abolishing neurotic ways, and gaining access to reservoirs of awareness, compassion, and joy that otherwise seem to be buried inside of me.
This means that the best summary is "it's productive, but I can no longer use that as an excuse to do it. Rather, I do it precisely for no other reason. We don't need to justify love; we just love, for its own sake."