Meditation!
What it is and what it is not
The Oxford Dictionary defines meditation as “The practice of thinking deeply in silence, especially for religious reasons or in order to make your mind calm.”
However, meditation is simply known as Dhyana, which means awareness or to be aware, through total concentration. But the question is: aware of what? You could be mindful of almost anything.
For example, you can be aware of your breath or surrounding sound, internal thoughts, or external work. As long as your focus or attention remains intact with the activity, such as breathing, listening, thinking, working, etc., you are meditating. In short, meditation is engagement with yourself through any possible activity.
Nevertheless, over the years, many misconceptions emerged regarding meditation. One such misconception is that we need a proper time and place to meditate. But such an assumption is not valid, for one can meditate anytime, anywhere. All you have to do is be aware.
For example, if you are traveling on a train, you can close your eyes (or not) and be mindful of its sound — you are meditating. Similarly, you can meditate while walking — just count the number of steps, and you are meditating. The same meditation can be done while eating as well — by being aware of the chewing process.
Likewise, since your mind continuously chatters or thinks, you can also be aware of your thoughts process, and thus meditate. The point is — you can meditate anytime, anywhere; all you need to do is retain your focus on one single activity at a time.
In other words, by drawing attention inwards, we can meditate. And as attention can be drawn towards any activity, it can also be drawn towards ‘true self’ (satya-swarupa); and for that, there is the entire science of Yoga.
