> The original purpose of meditation is to become a monk? That's a bizarre hot take; how did you come to that conclusion?

https://vividness.live/theravada-reinvents-meditation

It was invented to disconnect you from your desires and sense pleasures - not just in a therapy way but so you won't accidentally enjoy food or sex or any of those non-monk things.

Milder forms and "mindfulness" are modern inventions and it's actually rather surprising they turned out to be beneficial.

If you just sit there and do vipassana cold for days it can easily make you depressed or in some people leads to psychotic breaks.