There are wars, there's pestilence, there are plagues, there is corruption in religious circles, corruption in the government, when was it not?
Our thinking can create liberation or it can create imprisonment. It depends on how we use our mind.
As my lama always told me, I learned that I practice better when I'm by myself.
Meditation is a way to take us to a deeper level of awareness.
We are educated. We can think. We have the freedom to think.
The Buddha himself said, "I still use conceptual thinking, but I'm not formed by it." And that's the Buddha.