Wow... you nailed it! What can I say, I love this. It sure is tough to shake that transactional/benefit mindset. I noticed for myself that my benefit seeking becomes an expectation, which morphs into a rigid attachment that eventually gets bent and broken when life doesn't line up with my desires.

Going into mediation openly without expectation is difficult for a lot of people, myself included when I started it and even sometimes now. But the freedom in it... it's amazing. Trying to carry that state over into life outside of formal meditation is what I would consider "flowing" with life.

The way you wrote this though has me thinking and considering the way I write about mindfulness and meditation.

I needed this today. Thanks Rick for sending me the link to your article! I'll be reading more of your stuff, that's for sure.