Nihilism vs Eternalism; Meaning in life; Is Awakening worth it? How long does it take?

My original question (which was more of a rambling post) is posted below as a pinned comment. Thanks to Culadasa for allowing this to be published on his channel. The topics we ended up discussing were: How I should deal with the Eternalism vs Nihilism views How to work with meaning in life How to “practice like your hair is on fire" Is Awakening really worth it? And what does it really take? His meditation routine before 1st path How much time it takes to Awaken (a retrospective after the publication of TMI) The Eightfold Path in conjunction with TMI Books he's working on Health update http://culadasa.com/about/ Culadasa (John Yates, Ph.D.) is a meditation master with over four decades of experience in the Tibetan and Theravadin Buddhist traditions. He taught physiology and neuroscience for many years at the Universities of Calgary and British Columbia. Later, he worked at the forefront of healthcare education and therapeutic massage, serving as the founding director of the West Coast College of Massage Therapy. Culadasa retired from academia in 1996, moving into an old Apache stronghold in the Arizona wilderness, where he deepened his spiritual practice. Culadasa’s book, The Mind Illuminated, is the first comprehensive guide to Buddhist meditation for a Western audience. It combines age-old teachings with the latest research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, providing meditators with step-by-step guidance for every stage of the path – from your very first sit, all the way to mastery of the deepest states of peace and insight. This is the clear, friendly, and in-depth meditation manual that people have been waiting for. In addition to teaching meditation, Culadasa is the author of the groundbreaking book, A Physician’s Guide to Therapeutic Massage, which has been through several editions and is still frequently used in classrooms today. He is also a lifelong sitar player and an amateur woodworker, with several hand-carved canoes hanging from the ceiling of his workshop. http://culadasa.com/   / culadasa.john.yates     / culadasa