Why should one meditate? Can't we live without it? Yes, you can.
There are many of us who have no goal in life other than mere subsistence. Yes, we definitely can survive, but do we survive in good health? Are we not dogged by mental disease? Are we we happy? Are we well? Are we in peace with ourselves and with our neighbour? Is our world peaceful?
Who does not need physical health? Who does not need mental health? Who does not want to live in peace with his neighbour? Who does not want to live in a peaceful world? Who does not want to live happy? Who does not want to be rich? And who does not want to enjoy life? No, one. Then who does not need to meditate? No one.
Do you have an ultimate reality? Do you have a passion? If you do, you definitely should meditate. Even if you don't have a passion in life, you still need to meditate to stay physically healthy, mentally healthy, happy and well. If you live in a community, you need to meditate to know how you should behave towards the others in the community. If you live on an island, you still to meditate on how to deal with your loneliness and learn to love your only companions: yourself and the environment which the island presents if you do not to die of boredom with the monotony of your own company and that of the island.
We take many things in life for granted. We take our own health for granted. Others die of disease, we will live healthy without disease for ever. Others live with mental disease, we will live with mental health and happiness for ever. Others keep fighting but we are peaceful. Others pollute the environment, we don't. Meditate and know your life, health, happiness, role in the community, etc. You will find the reality.
We need to ask ourselves a big question? Seeking to answer a big question becomes a passion transcending mere survival. Our quest after our passion looks after survival in its wake which otherwise we take for granted. If we want to contribute in the world with research, knowledge, skill, creativity, love and compassion, we all in fact need to meditate. There is no research without attention, there is no knowledge creation, skill, creatuvity love and compassion either. Moreover, there is not much of a survival also.
Paying attention is meditation. We may not know it but we do meditate although we may be meditaing inefficiently, ineffectively and without achieving results in proportion to our effort. We need to learn how to be efficient and effective in paying attention to our passions or we just keep going in circles without achieving much.