What is Meditation?

The word meditation is used often, with different meanings, so we define what we mean here.

Meditation is deep concentration and observation of just one thing, so intense that you are no longer aware of your body or your mind as separate from that thing. You can meditate on anything – for example, a fruit, a flower, a colour. In Blissabli, ‘meditation’ generally means a meditation on your own inner energy or awareness. Meditations on other topics will have that in their name, for example, a ‘colour meditation’ is a meditation on colour.

Meditation uses and creates energy yet your mind must become quiet so that it does not distract you from your meditation. When you are meditating on your own awareness, it can be described using the Tamil practice of  ‘Summa Iru’ which translates loosely to ‘just be’.

Many of the visualisation and guided practices in Blissalbi will not be ‘meditation’ as strictly defined above but they are helpful to build skills and become familiar with concepts that help you meditate. An example, is the guided  version of  ’River of Life’. Similarly the’10 Thoughts’ series is for developing attention, a necessary skill.