What Is Meditation?

Before we can say what meditation really is, we need to gain certainty about our mind and meditation through the process of hearing and contemplating. Through engaging in hearing and contemplating, we develop some certainty about what the mind is, and what meditation is. If we can develop that certainty, then we can move forward and start becoming familiar with the actual process of meditation itself. That process of meditation is simply one of becoming more familiar with one’s mind.

It’s interesting: in Tibetan, the word “meditation” is described with the word for “becoming acquainted,” or familiar. Milarepa, Tibet’s greatest yogi, a mountain yogi, sang a song that says, “It’s not meditation, it’s familiarization.”

It’s not meditation, it’s familiarization. Very interesting, isn’t it? So, if we try to meditate on something, that’s a problem. It’s a matter of familiarizing, of becoming acquainted, with your mind.

The idea of meditation here is very beautiful.  You’re becoming acquainted with your mind, with its mental processes. You’re getting familiar with yourself – who you really are. And then you’re working with your own mind and mental factors through that. It’s a wonderful process.

Meditation is not about doing something else, over there. It’s not a matter of leaving your mind or your world. That’s how we do it sometimes. But that’s the wrong approach. That’s why sometimes your meditation doesn’t have any effect on your daily life. Because when you separate your daily life from your meditation life, that becomes a big problem. There’s no need for such separation.

Meditation helps us transform our neuroses

So meditation is simply becoming acquainted. You’re beginning to know yourself, your own mind. You’re beginning to know your neuroses, if you have any. And you’re also beginning to know how to work with these neuroses, slowly. And the more you know about your mind, the more you know about how to work with them. It’s like in The Art of War. I’m sorry, that’s a very non-Buddhist example. But in the art of war, you need to know your enemy. The more you know about your enemy, the more you know about how to defeat them. 

In the same way, the more you know about your neuroses, the more you know how to transform them. We’re not talking about killing here; we’re Buddhists. But we want to transform them. It’s not about destroying the neurosis – it’s about changing our habits around it. And of course, you cannot change your habits without knowing who you are.

So, when you become familiar, or get acquainted, with your mind in meditation, you get to know who you really are – your habits, your mind’s various movements. And then you know how to work with them and transform them. To do that, as you can see clearly, you need to focus inwardly, bringing your attention inward through meditation.

This is a really interesting phrase: turning one’s attention inward. In Tibetan, we call Buddhists “Nangpa” which means “inside person.” A person who works on internalizing things is called a Buddhist. It’s not about becoming a member of a church or something like that; it means becoming focused on internalizing things. 

So,  in the beginning, what we need for meditation is to turn our attention inward.

And gradually, we get acquainted with the process of turning our attention inward. This is an important process in meditation. Because our mind is so used to placing our attention outward, always outward, never inward. So the first thing we need to become familiar with is turning inward. 

When we say “meditation” these days in the West, people seem to think it means sitting with barely any pulse. Or facing the wall and sitting. But meditation has different aspects. That is one of them, but there are others as well.

Different Kinds of Meditation

First, you get acquainted with bringing your attention inward. Then you also get acquainted with the process of inner examination – examining your thoughts and your neuroses. There’s also meditation on impermanence, or change. And meditation on the Four Immeasurables: the aspiration for sentient beings to enjoy happiness and the causes of happiness, to be free of suffering and the causes of suffering, to enjoy the great happiness free of suffering, and to abide in the equanimity that is free of passion, aggression, and prejudice. There is meditation on loving kindness and compassion, or bodhicitta. There are all kinds of meditation. So, meditation is not just one thing.

Overall, we can condense Buddhist meditation into two main categories: Shamatha and Vipashyana. Shamatha, or calm abiding meditation, is resting meditation – focusing inward, and resting. And Vipashyana, or insight meditation, is analytical, intellectual meditation – in which you’re analyzing, internalizing, and contemplating, such as when you meditate on the Four Immeasurables.

Learn how to do Shamatha, or calm abiding meditation here. 

This article is based on a teaching given by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche at Nalanda West in Seattle, Washington, on March 16, 2025.