What's Meditation?

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Meditation cultivates self-awareness, and provides the optimum conditions for practicing the skill of mindfulness. Generally, the goal of meditation is to support personal and spiritual growth. Training the mind through meditation dramatically improves mental strength and focus, in addition to calming the mind. A common misconception of meditation is that its sole purpose is to empty the mind of thoughts. While some traditions such as Zen and Yoga do teach the no-mind states as an ultimate objective, it is widely acknowledged that the practice of meditation itself involves contemplations and awareness of thoughts as part of the process. Each time the mind becomes distracted, the practitioner is encouraged to come back to an object of concentration, such as the breath, a sound, an image, bodily sensations, mantras, chakras, a drishti, or a philosophical/ spiritual concept. This is also referred to as dhyana in Sanskrit, concentration. It takes years of practice, dedication, and discipline to reach true meditative state known as dhyana, in which it is no longer possible to perceive the act of meditation separate from Self, you become fully unified with the experience of presence through meditation. Generally, what is taught as ‘meditation’ is the practice of dharana (c0ncentration / contemplation) to further develop the techniques to focus and concentrate the mind in preparation for dhyana (full meditation) leading towards samadhi (liberation or absorption of self).