Simply put, meditation is union with the Absolute. The art of yoking your awareness to that most highly refined of all energies—that which permeates all of existence.
But that definition is rather lofty. So let’s be more practical…
For those on a spiritual path, it is standard protocol to say, “I have a meditation practice”. But, in actuality, real meditation does not occur until one has clocked many years of practice. It would be more truthful to say that we practice concentration for many years in order to finally enter a state of meditation.
Because the mind is so undisciplined, we must first learn to still it through concentrating on one point. We may choose to focus on a dantian center/chakra or on a mantra. Perhaps we do an open-eye meditation where we gaze on the center of a flower. Maybe we do a Zen meditation where we concentrate on the breath moving in and out. But in all classic forms of meditation, there is a point of concentration.
We engage in our concentrative task in order to slow our thoughts, to observe our mental tendencies, and ultimately to gain control over our unruly mind. Because the more we still our thoughts, the more we merge with our True Self—that which is beyond this relative world and yet encompasses it at the same time.
In this fast-paced, technological world, only the rare few seek to learn the lost art of meditation. Who can set aside time in their busy life long enough to sit and concentrate, with the intent to move through tranquility into Nothingness?
And yet, to succeed on our spiritual path, we must learn to do just that. It is one of the foundational building blocks in our journey to Self Realization.
Meditation may begin with concentration exercises, but it eventually leads to unparalleled states of expansion, refinement, and exaltation. It produces heart openings, amplifications in our personal power, and the ability to see into the other dimensions. It allows one to live in a state of equanimity. Even in a world gone mad.
It is an art, albeit a lost one. Perhaps the most refined art on the planet. And it is there, underneath all of the chaos, quietly waiting to take you Home. Home to the emptiness and fullness of Source.