What is meditation?
Meditation is simply a state in which one consciously direct one's attention to alter the state of consciousness of the mind, usually from that of agitation to that of focused concentration and contemplation. Done properly and consistently, one can eventually attain self-awareness and insight into the true nature of things.

Why should one practice meditation?
There are many benefits from meditation practice.

Traditionally, meditation is practiced for spiritual growth, with the aim of attaining insight into the true nature of things. However, most people practicing meditation these days are happy just to achieve a degree of relaxation and freedom from the daily stress of life. Through meditation, one can deepen concentration and insight, develop clearer intuition, unlock creativity, find inner guidance, explore higher realities and achieve emotional cleansing and balancing. Spiritual, emotional and even physical healing can often be achieved through meditation.

How to meditate?
There are many ways one can meditate. Meditation methods of various types are found in different religious and healing practices. However, they can all be grouped into two big categories; concentration and insight meditation. Therefore, before one decides which type to practice, one should have some understanding of these two groups.

Concentration meditation hopes to achieve a focused and one-minded concentration on a single object of meditation. This is useful for someone with a very agitated and unfocused mind; a mind that is running from one object to another, like a restless monkey jumping from one branch to another. Thus, this is usually the meditation recommended for a beginner who has not had the experience of focusing his/her mind on a single object.

The aim of insight meditation, on the other hand, is to attain clearer insight into the true nature of things. This is achieved by noting the mind, body sensation, and feelings that arise from time to time. Through proper practice, one is able to realize the rising and passing of all thoughts, physical and emotional sensation, and the realization that nothing is permanent or fixed. Change is the nature of all states and things.

What happens in meditation
The Meditation Society of America has a website that gives a good explanation as to what happens to our mind when we meditate, complete with illustrations. Below is an extract from this website.

"Meditation is a three-step process that leads to a state of consciousness that brings serenity, clarity and bliss. Our "normal" state of mind is actually quite abnormal. We receive sensory stimuli and react in a completely uncontrolled way (although we tell ourselves we have great control). We bounce from one thought to another and follow with our emotional and physical reactions. The same thought can bring about diametrically opposite reactions at different times. For instance, we may see a dog and then start a thought process that reminisces about a pet dog we once had and loved. Emotionally, we then start feeling all warm and cuddly and physically we feel relaxed. Another time, we may see the same dog and fear it may attack us and start thinking paranoid thoughts, get fearful and uptight physically.

Concentration is the first step in meditation, and is the start of regaining control over the mind and thereby life. The procedure is deceptively simple and seems like it would be very easy to do, but there are few tasks more difficult to master. The idea is to pick an object/subject to place your attention on and then to focus exclusively on it without diversion. An example of this would be if you decided to focus on your emotions and begin repeating the word "love" over and over. The problem is that your mind has been your master your whole life and won't easily relinquish its position. To trick you back into obedient slavery, your mind will divert your attention, often by giving you a tantalizingly interesting distraction. It usually goes something like this: You're sitting there repeating love, love, love when your mind suddenly ads "I love candy. They sell the candy I love at the Seven-Eleven up the road. I can get into my car and drive there and get that candy. I know it will be delicious when I bite into it" and so there you are instead of concentrating on love, you're eating an imaginary candy bar. What you are supposed to do is to witness your being distracted and return to concentrating on the object of your meditation. Concentration is well worth persevering in and ultimately liberating, spectacular and a blessing.

In Meditation, we achieve unbroken attention. The classic deion of the difference between concentration and meditation is given in the example of pouring oil from a bottle into a bowl. At first the oil drips out a drop at a time. This is concentration. Then the oil comes out in a steady stream. This unbroken pouring out is meditation. If you really examine the process closer, you would notice that when the oil was coming out drop by drop, each drop caused a splash and the droplets of the splashing can be considered analogous to the distractions that interrupt our concentration. Once the stream starts becoming steady it flows effortlessly. Similarly, when concentration flows into meditation, the attention paid to the object of meditation becomes deeper and deeper effortlessly and spontaneously. Eventually, true knowledge about the object presents itself.

Using love as an example again, you would concentrate on love, love, love, love. You might then find your mind filling with thoughts of love…motherly love, fatherly love, love of country, love of money, qualified love, unqualified love, puppy love. Everything in the universe that love is connected to will come to you; every feeling of love, every sensation, every thought. And since, as Albert Einstein tells us, everything in the universe is relative to everything else, ultimately your meditation on "love" will connect you to everything. At this point, the unity of the object of your meditation and your mind occurs. This is the state of Contemplation and is the penultimate state of consciousness. Where we usually are only conscious of our body and ego and consider ourselves apart from the rest of the universe, with this experience of contemplation we become conscious of the cosmos and know ourselves to be apart of it and realize our unity with all of it. This is realization, cosmic consciousness. It is our birthright and destiny to know this exquisite state first hand and enjoy the truth, consciousness and bliss that are our eternal true nature. Thus the justification in expending whatever energy is necessary to learn to meditate and to begin to make meditation an important aspect of our life."

Choosing a meditation method.
Most beginners find it easier to start with concentration meditation; choosing an object of meditation and focusing single-mindedly on it. There are many objects of meditation to choose from, but the most common ones are your own breath, love, light, a person of reverence, etc. It is important that the object you choose to meditate upon brings out the positive feelings in you, or is neutral. It should not bring out negative feelings. Concentrating on your breathing is perhaps the easiest and commonest object of meditation.

It is beneficial for those who are familiar with meditation, or those who have achieved a degree of concentration, to practice insight meditation. This is because insight meditation, apart from the other benefits one derives from concentration meditation, will eventually lead you to greater self-awareness and insight into the true nature of things.

General Guidelines for Meditation.
The Worldwide Online Meditation Center has a website that provide valuable general information and guidelines on meditation. Below are some of them.

1. Put your expectation aside, and don't worry about doing it right. There are infinite possibilities and no fixed criterion for determining right meditation. There are, however, a few things to avoid. They are:

· Trying to force something to happen
· Over-analyzing the meditation
· Trying to make your mind blank or chase thoughts away
· Putting too much emphasis on doing it right

2. It is not necessary to meditate on a completely empty stomach. If you're hungry, eat a little something.

3. Find a quiet, comfortable place to meditate. You can sit in a comfortable chair, on the bed, on the floor…anywhere that is comfortable.

4. Eliminate as much noise and as many potential distractions as possible. Don't worry about those things that you cannot control.

5. When you sit to meditate, sit comfortably, with your spine reasonably straight. This allows the spiritual energy to flow freely up the spine, which is an important aspect of meditation. Leaning against a chair back, a wall, headboard, etc. is perfectly all right. If, for physical reasons, you can't sit up, lay flat on your back.

6. Place your hands in any position that is comfortable.

7. If it does not go against your beliefs, call on a "higher source" for assistance in your meditation. Any form is all right. This can be quite helpful, but is not absolutely necessary.

Some Misconceptions about Meditation.
Misconception # 1:
Meditation is turning off your thoughts or making your mind a blank.
Answer: Inner quietness is experienced in meditation, but not by willfully turning off thoughts. Quieting the mind results naturally from the effectiveness of the method used, and from a force beyond our own efforts.

Misconception # 2:
Meditation is difficult and takes tremendous discipline.
Answer: Meditation can be easily learned, and can be quite enjoyable. Meditation is only difficult if one tries to do it perfectly, which is not really necessary.

Misconception # 3:
Meditation is not successful unless we see interesting things in our mind.
Answer: Although some meditations are specifically for visualizing, many are not. In those meditations, seeing things may be entertaining, but is not essential. Even visualization does not necessarily require seeing. Some people sense or feel things inwardly, and that is all right.