I have come to understand meditation as a constant state of mind. My state of awareness lingers in and near the unconscious, sub-conscious or whatever you want to call it. My state of mind is a state that lets me meditate, in my understanding of the concept, whenever I need to meditate. It is intermeshed with the fabric of my being and the texture of my consciousness. I meditate when I work, sleep, play, or just plain exist. It does not make any sense to me to put myself, or try to put myself (something I have never been able to do because I am only now after 58 years realizing that I am already where I need to be and no further adjustments are necessary because I was born this way) into another state of awareness and then have to come out of it to exist in the everyday world. Why not just realize the deep awareness principle that lies sleeping inside all of us just waiting to be awakened. As a matter of fact as this thought just occurs to me, traditional meditation just puts you to sleep, puts you into a more dazed state than you already are. Realizing your full meditative state as everyday awareness or existence sharpens the sense, makes your conscious awakening awareness keen, and lets you tap into the energy or life force that flows through and around you during every second of your existence on whatever plane it happens to occur. In this existence, the next one, or any previous existence. I “meditate” all the time. I am tuned or attuned to the energy that surrounds and flows through me, and I am particularly susceptible to its influences.

When I played sports in high school and college, I would find a song running through my mind over and over again as the practice or event transpired. Not a day went by when I did not have some sort of tune, phrase, or melody running through my awareness, repeating itself over and over again as I became attuned to the energy, rhythm, and pace of the particular event. Even today I golf my best when I am tuned into a stimulus, usually not of my choosing but given to me of its own accord. Even when I do manual labor or my everyday work day, I am presented with things that well up from my unconscious that I go over and over again until I have it sorted out. It is a way of taking myself out of the situation and acting on “automatic pilot” so to speak. It divorces me from any unpleasant stimulus involved, such as pain or discomfort from the physical exertion, and puts me into a higher state of awareness on all levels. I am not aware of any pain or discomfort, only the action. It took a long time for me to realize that this is my natural state of being, or existence.

Meditation in the popular vernacular or language or meaning has come to signify a person with a robe or some kind of meditation clothing sitting on a meditation mat in the full lotus position (a yoga position) with hands resting on the knees, palms facing upward, head either tilted back or held upright (depending on the degree of affectation of the practitioner), with or without incense smoke floating off into the air and far Eastern music playing in the background. Something like the pictures below.

The dictionary defines meditation in a different way. “Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. Meditation often involves turning attention to a single point of reference. It is recognized as a component of many religions, and has been practiced since antiquity. It is also practiced outside religious traditions. Different meditative disciplines encompass a wide range of spiritual and/or psychophysical practices which may emphasize different goals -- from achievement of a higher state of consciousness, to greater focus, creativity or self-awareness, or simply a more relaxed and peaceful frame of mind. Giving this sense of relaxation and peace, meditation ultimately leads people to find peace within themselves.”

Modern

Meditation