The Dalai Lama distinguishes here between what we might *think* sustains us spiritually and what actually keeps us alive as social creatures—a sly reordering of priorities that challenges the religious hierarchy we expect from him. Rather than defending meditation's importance, he's saying our deepest survival need isn't metaphysical at all, but rooted in the warm, messy fact of being known and cared for by others. A person can build a meaningful life without formal faith, but isolation—even a comfortable one—erodes us in ways we don't initially notice; we see this in how elderly people decline rapidly after losing their closest companions, their bodies simply giving up when the threads of affection loosen. The real radicalism here is his insistence that human connection isn't a luxury we add to a spiritually complete life, but the foundation itself.