"WHEN you meditate, you are not doing something; you are ceasing to do everything that hides the Light within you," once said the great German Christian mystic Meister Eckhart. Indeed, meditation has always been at the heart of mystical practice, the very gateway through which the most ardent seekers of the world's great religions and spiritual traditions have glimpsed the One in the many — that ineffable Ground of Being that is none other than our very True Self. Across cultures and ages, humanity’s quintessential method for waking up to who we really are has always been to still the mind so that it can, in time, empty itself into that shoreless ocean of pure being that we’ve come to call by different names — Pure Consciousness, Ultimate Reality, the Absolute, Truth, Suchness, God, Brahman, Divine Love, Sunyata, Tao, Ain Soph, Paramatman, and so on.

   Hence, meditation is not just a practice that we engage in for a certain period of time now and again, but a profound transformative journey, in its fullest sense. If practiced consistently and with sincere intent, together with spiritual disciplines that center on self-emptying — or surrendering the self to God, as one might say — it eventually enables us to shift from the surface restlessness of ordinary thought into a direct, unmediated experience of Reality, of the Divine. No wonder then that many a monk, nun, and contemplative have become mystic saints — and sages even — describing this moment of transcendence as "divine union." Ultimately, meditation has less to do with difficult techniques that we would do well to master and has more to do with the steady and devoted practice of opening ourselves to what is always present and is always waiting, like the vast blue sky behind the ever-changing clouds above us. Indeed, "God always loves us," to borrow the often-used words of religious devotees — and He surely does so unconditionally and without measure at that.

   Those who have walked this path — saints, sages, mystics, seers, adepts — describe meditation's most cherished fruit as awakening: a direct experience of who we really are, where boundaries dissolve and we glimpse the Unity behind all things. Spiritual traditions may speak of it in various terms — enlightenment, liberation, divine union, fana, nirvana, realization of the Tao, salvation, and so on — but at its heart, it is none other than the discovery of our True Self or True Nature where we realize that, as the Chandogya Upanishads puts it, "Thou art That."

   This may sound quite lofty, not to mention that giving up the ego is no mean task, but the journey of awakening really consists of simple, rather easy, steps. Again, meditation does not require elaborate rituals or complicated procedures. All it takes is a firm willingness to still the mind and to be present to what is. After all, we are all already buddhas in the timeless infinity of the present moment — or to put it in a Christian manner of speaking, "The Kingdom of God is within us," here and now. With that in mind, here are some basic steps for practicing seated meditation: 

   1. Find your place. – Choose a quiet, uncluttered space where you can avoid distractions. Sit on a mat or cushion on the floor or on a chair. Let your body be alert, but at ease.

   2. Posture – Sit with your spine straight, shoulders relaxed, chin slightly tucked, and eyes half-closed. If you are sitting on the floor, cross your legs in a manner that is most comfortable to you — full lotus, half lotus, Burmese, and so on. Whether sitting on the floor or a chair, rest your hands on your lap, right over left, with thumbs lightly touching (cosmic mudra). You may also place your hands near your knees like you normally see in a yogic pose, if you wish.

   3. Breathing – Breathe naturally through the nose. Bring gentle attention to the breath: feel its entering and leaving, its rising and falling. Just be fully aware of your breathing and allow the breath to anchor you in the present moment.

   4. Focus and awareness – When thoughts arise, just let them come and go like passing clouds in the sky or leaves on a stream. Do not cling to them nor push them away. Maintain a soft, open awareness, returning gently to the breath as the activity of the present moment whenever the mind wanders.

   5. Counting (optional for beginners) – To stabilize attention, you may count each exhale from one to 10, 50, or any number you like, then start over. If the mind drifts, simply return to counting without labeling or judgment.

   6. Duration – You may begin with short sessions of a number of minutes like 5, 10, or 15. Gradually extend to sessions of 25 minutes each, as your concentration and comfort grow.

   7. Ending the sit – Slowly open your eyes fully, noticing your surroundings with renewed clarity and presence. 

   8. Sitting again (if circumstances allow it) – If you have the chance, you might want to repeat the sit. Sit again after, say, a period of walking meditation or some other interlude. You may even sit multiple times a day. Practice makes perfect. 

   9. Transitioning – As you end your period of sitting, carry the calm, mindful awareness, and compassion cultivated during your sit(s) into each moment of daily life

   As we sit daily on our meditation seat and carry our practice of inner stillness to our everyday round, the habitual sense of separation and duality that is the source of most of our world's troubles eventually dissolves, unveiling our intimate connection with all-that-is and with all beings at the most fundamental level of self. This is why meditation matters so much in our time. In today's world of widening divides, this technology of awakening that is as ancient as it is timeless, restores us to wholeness and Oneness, bringing us from the intimacy of the breath and the present moment to the boundlessness of who we really are.