How does a person today differ from a person two hundred or two thousand years ago? He differs in his level of egoism. This level of egoism constantly grows in a person, and this egoism constantly demands that we develop. Technologies, industries, and culture are all a result of egoism. This is very good. But if you follow methodologies that tell you to suppress it (“sit in the lotus position, don’t think about anything, or focus on one particular thought and nothing else exists”), you are hence suppressing yourselves, you are not developing, you are escaping into some inner state and everything stops there. In other words, although you feel well by doing so, you are tuned out of reality. As a result, in the next generation, or your next reincarnation, you will be forced to work for two—for your previous and present lives. Let’s try to avoid this.
Courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf_IZ_Xo1BQ