This _is_ really good and instructive, so much so that I have to ask follow up questions. There are surely many different types of meditation, and I think that not just the means, but also the goals, can be widely divergent. From some things you've said, it sounds like this is the case with our respective experiences/intentions, and so I'm curious.

In particular, you mention that your goal that became clear was the understanding of your mind. The purpose of my chosen style of meditation is not any kind of learning, or gaining knowledge, (although discoveries do invariably occur) or in the doing of anything, in fact. Rather, it is an active pursuit of non-doing, to borrow from the Taoists (I think). The non-doing is not the end in itself, but rather, is the vehicle to transcending the sphere of the self, to tapping into the state where my self is indistinguishable from the what-else-that-there-is. And this all sounds rather abstract, of course, since I'm trying to say it, but the experience is really that of bliss, of deep connection, and resolution.

So, yes, it does facilitate relaxation and de-stressing, but that is really just an inevitable consequence of tapping into sources/underlying realities, as I have experienced it.

But what I want to ask you is this: what kind of knowledge of the self can be harvested in your style of meditation? And what, if you are willing to discuss, are its methods?

Regarding the crutch, I think that's apt. However, I would also like to point out how incredibly useful crutches can be for those with atrophied muscles/lack of skillsets. Training wheels might be another apt metaphor. They get you going fast enough so that two wheels is all you'll ever need thereafter. The important thing is remembering to take them off when they start to become a hindrance, rather than an aid.