What is meditation?
Meditation is the practice of stilling or quietening the mind to bring us into presence. The purpose of meditation isn’t to become good at sitting still or to have no thoughts arise—that’s not the goal. When we first come to meditation, we often think it is. The real purpose is to help us become more present in our everyday lives. In that sense, meditation is a practice for the real world—for the everyday.
It is also a tool for learning about your own mind. During your practice, you might begin to notice certain recurring themes or thought patterns—for example: judging, attaching, self-criticism, planning, or controlling. You may see that your mind tends to wander into the past or project itself into the future, ruminating on what has happened or what could be. Whatever you notice offers insight into how your mind works. Over time, through this practice, you may begin to realise that you are not your thoughts or your mind. This is pretty epic—quite the game changer for life, in my opinion.
The mind is a thinking machine; generating thoughts and ideas is its function. So of course thoughts will arise during meditation and throughout daily life—the mind is simply doing its job. But when the mind is constantly moving from one thought to the next, we can miss the present moment (where the good stuff is). When we become completely absorbed in our thoughts—attached to them—we lose contact with what is here: what’s around us, within us, unfolding right now.
In today’s world, our attention is constantly being pulled in multiple directions, often all at once. This can leave us feeling scattered, unfocused, or exhausted. Not all of these pulls are negative, of course—some are exciting, stimulating, energising, even amazing. But these experiences are fleeting; they don’t last and rarely allow space for rest, stillness, or peace.
Through a daily meditation practice, we gently turn our attention inward. We practice being more present—during meditation, and as a result, more aware and better connected to the here and now of our everyday lives. I think that’s really beautiful, and it’s a big part of what invites me to sit in meditation each day.
When I visited a monastery in southern Sri Lanka, I asked the monk guiding us through meditation and self-enquiry whether he still experienced thoughts during his practice. He smiled gently and answered, yes — some days his mind is busy. This was a man who had been living at the monastery for more than 25 years, dedicating his days to meditation, chanting, and prayer. He explained that his life is quieter and simpler than that of us living in the world, yet even after decades of disciplined practice, there are still times when his mind becomes active and restless.
What matters is not achieving a perfectly silent mind, but continuing the practice with patience, steadiness, and compassion. Each time we notice the mind wandering and gently return to our object of meditation (our anchor), we are strengthening awareness. Over time, this steady practice allows more moments of clarity and presence to arise — not by force, but through consistency and understanding.
Written by Yoga and Meditation Teacher, Tarren Hehir
Based in Fitzroy and Melbourne’s Inner North.
I’ve previously written a blog with meditation techniques.
You can read it here.
