What is meditation, really?

What Gurudev says

You know the feeling: for a few seconds you just feel good. Not excited, not straining for anything - just quiet and content, right in the middle of an ordinary day. Gurudev says that was already meditation, even if you never called it that at the time.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Meditation is not concentration. Meditation is a deep relaxation, and it is happening to us many times but we don't realize it. Little meditations have happened to all of us here and there, now and then when we felt some happiness. Every time you felt a deep sense of happiness, fulfillment or satisfaction, know that you have somewhere touched that level of meditation.

From the official Art of Living website — “Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar”

So if meditation has already been quietly part of your life, what turns it into a conscious practice? For Gurudev, it starts with consciously turning your mind inward for a short while - away from the chaos and conflicts that usually keep it busy.

Turn your mind inwards for a short while. You have to come out of the chaos and conflicts that are clogging your mind. This process is called meditation. Just for a short while, feel that the past, present and future is a dream. When you know that everything is changing, you will be able to get a glimpse of something that is not changing.

From the official Art of Living website — “To experience the Divine you have to withdraw your mind” (Dec 18 2011)

Gurudev goes furthest when he describes meditation not as a technique but as immersion in your own loving nature - and explains why a practice that repeats itself doesn't have to bore you, but can actually bring you closer to what love really is.

And meditation is immersion in your own nature, which is unconditional Love. How can meditation be boring? Is love boring? If love is boring, then you must redefine "boredom." You must redefine boredom itself. Boredom is lack of juice—and love is the juice of life. Yet boredom and love share one thing: repetition. When you love someone, you repeat their name— again and again, saying, "I love you, I love you," over and over.

From a talk on the Narada Bhakti Sutras — “Love Cannot Be Expressed”, 00:29:29

Three angles, one core: for Gurudev, meditation isn't some far-off goal - it's something already familiar to you. You don't have to manufacture it. You just turn your mind inward for a while and let what's already there show itself.

What you can do

1. Take a few minutes to turn inward. You don't need to achieve anything special for this - it's enough to step out of the day's mental chaos for a short while, instead of letting it keep running.
2. Don't expect a performance - let it happen. For Gurudev, meditation isn't something you do, it's something that happens. The more you strain to achieve something, the more it gets in your way - effortlessness is the real key.
3. Watch your thoughts instead of binding yourself to them. Good thoughts and difficult ones come and go on their own. You don't need to chase them, and you don't need to push them away either - simply watching is enough.
4. Give the practice a fixed, short place in your day. A few minutes before or after work are enough to come back to stillness regularly, instead of waiting for the "perfect" free moment that rarely comes.

Frequently asked questions

What does meditation actually mean? For Gurudev, meditation isn't the same as concentration - it's a deep relaxation you've likely already met before, in unnoticed moments of real happiness or fulfillment. He also describes it as becoming fresh again, a return to the serenity that's your original nature anyway, not something completely new that you first have to create.

How do I get rid of my stress? Gurudev doesn't see being stress-free as a state you first have to earn, but as your actual nature, which becomes visible again through relaxation and dropping false self-images. For him, stress happens when too much to do meets too little time and energy - and since your workload and your time can rarely be changed much, the real solution is to raise your own energy level.

What do I do when my mind keeps wandering during meditation? Gurudev warns against forcing a thought away - that usually only makes it stronger, much like the story of a farmer who ends up thinking about exactly the thing he told himself not to. He also names what typically blocks the mind during meditation: things that already happened and are still lingering, and things that still need to get done.

How do I get started with meditation as a beginner? As a basic rule, Gurudev points to a measure of food, activity and rest that's neither too much nor too little - that balance helps the mind settle down in the first place. For getting started, he also recommends practicing with guided meditation recordings at first, until the practice becomes something you can increasingly do on your own too.

Related questions

• What does meditation do for you inside in the long run?
• How long does it take for meditation to work?
• Why do I sometimes feel restless instead of calm after meditating?
• What is the difference between concentration and meditation?
• Does the mind have to become completely empty during meditation?
• Meditation & Inner Practice — overview

Sources

The quotes on this page come from:

• Official Art of Living website — “Question & Answers with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar”
• Official Art of Living website — “To experience the Divine you have to withdraw your mind” (Dec 18 2011)
• Narada Bhakti Sutras — “Love Cannot Be Expressed” (BS 10), 00:29:29–00:30:29