A Spiritual Explainer — Part 1 of a 4-part series

Meditation Explainer — The What, Why, & How of Meditating

[Updated June 22, 2022] Meditation is central to contemporary spirituality, but just what is it?

by Angelos Konstantinidis (Flickr.com, cc-by)

“I have tried meditating, but I couldn’t really get into it.”

I heard the quote above, or something like it, from relatives at 2 recent family get-togethers. I have also seen similar comments on Facebook spiritual groups, along with a lot of suggestions on how to meditate.

Part 1 (this article) is an Introduction & Overview

1. What is Meditation?
   — [1.1] The Goals of Meditation
   — [1.2] The 3 Forms & 9 Types of Meditation
   — — [1.2.1] Nuances & Overlaps Among the 3 Forms
   — [1.3] General Guidelines on How to Meditate
2. Examples of Popular Meditation Practices (links to YouTube)
   — [2.1] Vipassana Buddhist Meditation
   — [2.2] Nonduality Meditation
   — [2.3] Transcendental Meditation
   — — [2.3.1] Christian Centering Prayer
3. My Meditation Practices — An Overview & Intro to Part 2

Part 2 (the next set of 3 articles) has detailed examples of…