[Marty GMember]

Hi Sergey, you have received some good feedback there, brother. Changing your diet can impact you on many levels, more energy and also emotionally, a good high nutrient diet may allow you to feel ‘better’ at least much of the time. The same with very regular exercise. It helps you to become more grounded, more vital less internalized ( in the negative sense).

So in that sense meditation alone may not be enough, to keep a fundamentally happy life. There is the relational vehicle, in the traditions this is developed through service and devotion. In Theravada systems you are not going to find much devotion. Though if you read of the old Thai Masters (do a search for Mun Bhuridatta Thera if interested, much online in pdf), they often used devotional practices such as mantra and devotion to their teacher and profound surrender to the Buddha(s) in faith (in the sense of openness to great spiritual help rather than a belief system).

That deeply emotional connection to life and all things can be missing (some have found) in the dry system of “pulling your self up by the bootstraps”, alone. There are always many openings for self transcending service in the community around, this type of service, tends to be an unexpected cure for many negative states. Community healing of your own state on some level.

Insights tend to come and go (in my experience) so don’t be too concerned about the no-self insight. They tend too be overrated in their long standing impact, and soon enough you may find yourself trying to recover that very understanding. All the best.

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