I never said we didn't. If you read my last post again I made it very clear that our narratives are legitimate and useful to reflect upon in order to understand the causes of our feelings, thoughts and behaviors. I was talking about distancing myself enough from my narratives not to let them run my life because I find that coming from a more objective, reality based place puts me in a better position to make best decisions for myself.

I never argued otherwise. That's why I said that I think it's important to recognize and to understand the story but not to identify with it. In fact, it is only when we are fully identified with the story, we are not aware of of it and it runs our life instead of us being in a driver's seat.

Mine too. But it depends on how exactly you define "meditation". If you think of it in a way the popular culture portrays it as sitting in a certain position and using certain techniques, this is a very narrow view of meditation. Any activity can become a meditation. Any moment can turn into a meditation. When I knit it is my meditation. When I play with my cats it is my meditation. I can turn anything into a meditation if I want to. "Meditation" in a large sense is simply allowing yourself to be intensely present with whatever experience, both internal and external, you have at the moment and to be able to observe it from a distance while still experiencing it.

I assure you that I confronted my core issues much more than most people I know and that includes those who, unlike me, have been in therapy for many years.

But you are correct in pointing out that those practices may be used more as defenses by many people rather than the tools of awakening. I've met those who used them to avoid their darkness and vulnerabilities rather than to face and deal with them. Those people just didn't understand what they were doing and why. They didn't grasp the real purpose of those spiritual practices.

Actually, the same could be said about therapy. I've met too many people who were using therapy as a shield to avoid facing their real problems head on and their therapists often become complicit in this process. I'd say that in those cases too, they and their therapists both don't understand the real purpose of therapy.

So, I wouldn't make a generalization about any particular practice. Whether it's effective or not depends on how it is understood by those who engage in it, how it's done and the kind of people that engage in it.

Again, I didn't say it wasn't necessary. Of course, it's necessary for our daily functioning. All I said is that when this self-representation is all there is for the person and when they can't experience themselves beyond it then this self-representation controls their life rather than the other way around.

No one argues with this either. You keep making the same point over and over again. I never argued this point. My point was completely different but it seems like you've missed it.

I am not challenging the usefulness of narratives and I am not invalidating the value they hold for you or anyone else. But it seems like you feel invalidated for some reason. It was very helpful to me to recognize and to understand my narratives, but once I did I put enough distance between myself and them to know that I am not my stories while still staying connected to them enough to be able to function and to fulfill my life purpose.