Meditation: What It Is and What It Isn't

What actually happens when you meditate

You sit down, close your eyes — and there it is: a thought, some restlessness, a feeling that just shows up. The first instinct is usually to fight it, or to grip onto it, depending on what shows up. Gurudev turns this around: it's not thoughts and feelings that bind you, he says — you're the one holding on to something that's already naturally in motion and wants to keep moving.

In fact, nothing is binding you. You are binding what is already moving. This is the irony: the elements are not binding you — you are binding them. A fly is trying to get out of your room, and you’re holding the door shut — “No, don’t go!” You are shutting the door. Something wants to escape, but you don’t want it to move — you’re trying to stop it. You are binding them. In fact, it’s the other way around.

From a talk on the Ashtavakra Gita — "The Secret of the Elements", 00:28:15

So for Gurudev, meditation doesn't begin with forcing anything — it begins with leaving the door open and watching what's already passing through anyway.

When thoughts refuse to be chased away

A lot of people start meditating hoping to finally empty their head. This, for Gurudev, is exactly where a common misunderstanding lies — and he likes to explain it with a story. A farmer is given a mantra by a saint, on one condition: while repeating it, he must never think of a red balloon. What had never crossed his mind before suddenly becomes the only thing he can think about.

In three days, he was so disturbed by red balloons that on the fourth day he ran back to the saint, pleading, “Please take away your mantra—and your red balloon too! I don’t want either!” “Just free me from this red balloon business—I’ve gone crazy, I can’t function!”

From a talk on the Ashtavakra Gita — "The Nature of the Mind", 00:06:40

The point of the story hits a common misunderstanding about meditation: the harder you try to force a thought away, the more power you actually give it. For Gurudev, inner practice doesn't mean getting rid of thoughts by force — it means learning to relate to them differently.

Becoming a witness, instead of being swept along

But what if thoughts and moods are there anyway, right in the middle of your practice? Gurudev compares this to a cloudy sky. For a while the sky looks dark and gray — but that's not its true color, just what's passing through right now. If you fix your gaze on the clouds, you travel along with them. If you look at the space behind them, you stay where you are.

Though it appears that there are clouds in the sky, and the sky appears dark — that’s not the color of the sky. For a few moments it remains like that. It appears very dark and gray or whatever — and then they move away. Fix your eye on the space, not on the moving clouds; otherwise you will travel with the clouds. Wherever they go, your eyes go along with the clouds — but you see that —

From a talk on the Ashtavakra Gita — "Drop All Conflicts", 00:31:43

This exact stepping back — watching the clouds instead of moving with them — is what Gurudev describes as the heart of being a witness in meditation. It's not looking away, and it's not suppressing anything. It's calmly noticing what comes and what goes.

A presence that reaches beyond the sitting

For Gurudev, inner practice doesn't end when you open your eyes at the end of a sitting. What you train in meditation — being fully with one thing — belongs in everyday life just as much. He describes this through completely ordinary moments: washing dishes, gardening, planting a small tree. It's not the size of the action that counts, it's how fully you're there for it.

You are 100% cleaning the dish. At that moment, you are with the dish—the soap bubbles on it, the water flowing over it— and the sponge moving across it—just that, just that. You’re gardening—working in the garden—with that shovel, whatever it is— and then around you, planting a small tree, putting it in the pot, the mud and the roots and your hands — and that is it. At this very moment, you are totally there.

From a talk on the Ashtavakra Gita — "Uncovering Bliss", 00:07:10

Seen this way, meditation for Gurudev is less an island in your day and more a quality that can spread out from your sitting practice into every single action.

What you can do

1. Let thoughts come and go, instead of holding on to them. When something comes up while you sit, you don't need to hold it or push it away. Watch it move on by itself, like a fly wanting to get out of the room.
2. Don't fight intrusive thoughts. The harder you try to get rid of a thought, the louder it often gets. Instead, gently bring your attention back to your breath or your mantra, without pushing.
3. Look at the space, not the clouds. When a mood colors how you feel, remind yourself: this isn't your whole color, just weather passing through. Stay with what remains, instead of what's moving.
4. Practice witnessing outside your sitting too. Pick an ordinary activity — washing dishes, gardening, walking — and deliberately stay fully with it, without letting your mind drift to something else at the same time.
5. Come back gently, as often as your mind wanders. That's normal. Every calm return to the practice is already the practice itself — not a sign that something's going wrong.

Questions on this topic

• Do you need guidance to really learn to meditate?
• Does the mind have to become completely empty during meditation?
• How do I bring inner stillness into a day full of obligations?
• How do I deal with feeling ashamed of my spiritual experiences in front of others?
• How do I find inner stability when everything around me is chaotic right now?
• How do I find more inner peace in everyday life through meditation?
• How do I find my way back to my practice after neglecting it for weeks?
• How do I know if my meditation is actually doing something?
• How long does it take for meditation to work?
• How often do I need to meditate for something to change in my life?
• Is meditation more of a practice or a state?
• What does it mean to simply witness your own thoughts while meditating?
• What does it mean when I experience moments of deep connection during practice that I can't hold onto in daily life?
• What does letting go have to do with meditation?
• What does meditation actually mean?
• What does meditation do for you inside in the long run?
• What helps when I keep thinking about my to-do list while I'm practicing?
• What is guided meditation and how does it differ from silent meditation?
• What is meditation, really?
• What is the difference between concentration and meditation?
• What is the real purpose of meditation?
• What types of meditation are there?
• Why do I sometimes feel restless instead of calm after meditating?
• Why do I sometimes feel, after years of practice, like I haven't learned anything at all?
• Why do my thoughts keep wandering to the people I love while I meditate?
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• zweifel-an-der-praxis

Sources

The quotes on this page come from:

• Ashtavakra Gita — "The Secret of the Elements" (AG 03), 00:28:15–00:29:36
• Ashtavakra Gita — "The Nature of the Mind" (AG 12), 00:06:40–00:06:59
• Ashtavakra Gita — "Drop All Conflicts" (AG 14), 00:31:43–00:32:15
• Ashtavakra Gita — "Uncovering Bliss" (AG 32), 00:07:10–00:07:56