Bob, I couldn't agree more that spirituality shouldn't be about self-indulgence but rather making us better people so we can be better and more helpful to others. That's why I wrote the following sentence in the piece, when talking about the benefits of practice: "And hopefully more compassionate, the ultimate benefit this work bestows on the universe." Compassion is the ability to feel for and do for those that are suffering. When a spiritual practitioner becomes more conscious their benefit to humanity increases exponentially.

--David