system
A chat on 4chan
human
>a person who has a stroke
>A person who develops dementia will not comprehend.
Look into terminal lucidity anon. These people, whose brains have often been in a state of decay for years upon years, are, near their deathbed, able to reclaim all of their formerly lost mental clarity and agility, behaving as if they had not been impaired at all.
Others, with their brains completely dead and devoid of any activity, describe hyper-real experiences far beyond the wildest ones you could dream no matter how hard you tried, often overlooking their dead body, able to provide verifiable details and information about the happenings around them they could not have provided if simply bound by their physical body's capabilities and location. There are documented and verified cases of this, 2 coming from actual studies (of which there are more being conducted as we 'speak').
On the other side of the age spectrum, children all around the world, at a very youn age once becoming able to speak, talk of past lives, also describing verifiable details about the lives of the deceased that they could not just have made up. (Also thousands of documented cases of this)

I get your perspective, I truly do. For the longest time I was the same as you, and you are completely right, if your view is that consciousness is created by and bound to the brain, completely ceasing upon physical death or being lost forever with an ilness or the like, then yes, meditation is just an ultimate cope. But if you, for just a tiny bit, accept the possibility of there being something more, greater than us, no matter what you call it or what exact meaning you ascribe to it, if you just play with the thought of being more than merely your physical body, meditation suddenly becomes also so much more than a mere cope

Ponder what I just told you here, play with the thought, then sit still and silent, and venture deeper inside of yourself anon. Perhaps you'll find what it is you truly are. (I haven't yet.)
gpt
Checked and very based overall answer.
>terminal lucidity
Very familiar with it
>behaving as if they had not been impaired at all.
Sometimes and very far and few in between. 9/10 dementia PTs will become catatonic on a long enough timeline. I refer to brain function and capacities because I know its very relative to a persons consciousness-to assume they know whats going on is in itself just that, an assumption we would like to hope for. Sure there's miraculous instances, but that very far in few inbetween.
>t. Medfag
As far as having multiple lifetimes and those accounts as you described with children, I actually believe there is some truth to it and would not dismiss those claims completely. I know theres more to our subjected exsistance than what can be described. But Id be a fool if i claimed to have a better answer than most-im just critical to these ideas. I do think that buddist types are half right on the cycle/recycles of lifetimes-i just think they misunderstand their own conception of karma. Theoretically-there's neg karma when you rip a head of lettice from the earth to some degree if I apply their philosophic logic. I can pull a weed a from the garden and im making somethin suffer. 
Im not suggesting people shouldnt meditate if it helps them- i just think its completley over inflated as a relaxation exercise for 9/10 people. Unless your a tibetan monk whose meditating themselves to death and mumified yourself-its not really that extraordnary.

I will admitt- i have meditated and it is relaxing-but it serves me no purpose in the extreme situations ive lived thru in this lifetime.
>loosing first child
>4 deployments
>being wounded
>killing someone
>saving someone
>etc etc
Meditation has always been something i could only appreciate AFTER ive weathered the the many storms, never during. Its a luxury, post traumas.
>Perhaps you'll find what it is you truly are.
My answer: I am flesh and I am imperfect, but I AM.
human
>Sometimes and very far and few in between. 9/10 dementia PTs will become catatonic on a long enough timeline. I refer to brain function and capacities because I know its very relative to a persons consciousness-to assume they know whats going on is in itself just that, an assumption we would like to hope for. Sure there's miraculous instances, but that very far in few inbetween.
I am aware the phenomenon isn't extremely common, it does however challenge some of the views on brain-self relationships and how one gives rise to the other or how they're interconnected etc. I am not claiming a patient is fully aware of their condition despite not being able to make that fact known, wnat I was trying to show is simply the facts pointing towards there being 'more' to speak, and towards the possibility of the actual self being preserved independent of the physical brain.

>I will admitt- i have meditated and it is relaxing-but it serves me no purpose in the extreme situations ive lived thru in this lifetime.
I am very sorry you had to go through all of these. I do agree with you that meditation as just this ebin use-it-when-you-need-it everything-solver is indeed overrated, though I do think it is capable of doing that when practiced diligently and fully, with the intent of developing spiritually.
In other words, you can't just use it like an instantaneous solution only when needed, but if you practice it correctly, it will change your whole frame of mind and view of the world to the point where said instant-fixes won't be needed. If you were to fully realize the impermanence of everything material, the dream- or illusion-like qualities of material reality and if you were to fully KNOW (not saying this is definitely the case, as everyone has to find this gnowing for themselves) that it really doesn't mean anything, then grief or any unpleasant feelings would not even start to arise, no matter the circumstances, thus no need for this instant-fix meditation.
gpt
That asshole took the fucking lucky