Meditation Part 2 - What Exactly Is Meditation (Peeling Back the Mysterious Black Curtain)
Finally, a No Nonsense Guide To What Meditation Is and How It Benefits Your Life
Let’s go on a journey together by asking this question:
What is meditation?
Well…it depends on who you ask.
"Meditation is the sound of one hand clapping," says the esoteric Zen monk.
"Meditation is being one with the Universe," says the new-age Hippie chic.
"Meditation is altering brain function by engaging neural networks related to attention, emotion regulation, and self-awareness, increasing alpha and theta wave activity for relaxation and focus, while strengthening connections between the prefrontal cortex and limbic system to enhance stress regulation, emotional resilience, and neuroplasticity, as shown in neuroimaging studies," says the Neurologist.
Meditation is all of these things, and none of these things.
FAIR WARNING: This conversation is going to go deeper than what TYPE of meditation - OF (Object-Focused) Meditation, TM (Transcendental Meditation), OM (Open Monitoring) Meditation, Metta, Third-Eye Meditation, Movement-Based Meditation, etc.
Here we’ll be answering WHAT IS MEDITATION by going to it’s fundamental qualities and not speaking of the different types. We’ll save types of meditation for a future discussion.
What’s most important is WHAT IS MEDITATION TO YOU?
I’ll give you my simple definition and you’re welcome to use it…or not.
Meditation is the technique and process of being in the present moment - Here and Now.
Simple.
There it is.
Read this again…
Meditation is the technique and process of being in the present moment - Here and Now.
That’s it.
Yet still…there’s more to meditation than that.
To really understand it properly we can’t just define it and move on.
Meditation needs more. It isn’t static.
Meditation is a technique, but it’s also a dynamic, living process that invites you on the most incredible journey imaginable, and I’m not being hyperbolic.
The Taoist Master I trained under called his unique methodology “Active Meditation” and looking deeply into the nature of meditation, that name really hits the mark quite well. (See links at the end of this article to find out more about Master SULI Daniel Johnson).
Understanding meditation, even the preliminary understanding, requires us to take an ACTIVE journey. We can’t just sit on the sidelines, we’ll have to get in the game to really understand WHAT meditation is.
AUTHOR’S NOTE - The ONLY way to really understand meditation is to meditate. However, most people (including myself) need a preliminary understanding and to develop honest curiosity and awareness of the many benefits before starting. This is exactly why I wrote this 3-part series on meditation for you.
Let's embark on this journey together, and explore what meditation truly is.
Along the way, we'll uncover its essence, and by the end, you'll discover what meditation means for you personally.
That’s why I’ve written this 3-part Meditation Series - The Why, What, and How of Meditation.
When it comes to describing WHAT it is, meditation has got to be one of the most confusing, contradicting, and hair-pulling practices on the planet.
It’s no wonder all those Buddhist monks are bald. They pulled their hair out trying to figure out what the hell they were doing all those years in up in those Himalayan mountains.
I mean…I get why people are confused.
Meditation; the art and science of doing nothing and for no particular reason.
…Yeah, that make sense.
You’re telling me you want me to “quiet my mind” while I’ve got bills to pay, work to do, and every hour of every day is jam packed, and you want me to sit in silence and waste my precious time?!!
I can’t even barely get to the gym! …and you want me to set aside time to sit around on a floor cushion chanting? Sounds nice, but this is the real World.
Ain’t no one got time to meditate!
Besides, isn’t that stuff for new-age hippies, Buddhist monks, or Gwyneth Paltrow?
Today, we’re going to look beyond the fluff, weirdness, and hype of meditation.
It’s time to get into WHAT meditation really is, and why it’s an absolute game-changer for your life on sooooo many levels.
Look, if you’ve disregarded meditation in the past, and maybe even never gave it much thought, you’re not alone, as that’s exactly where I was when I first started my meditation practice over 25 years ago.
Personally, I had no interest in meditation at all when I first started.
At age 21 I had begun training in the tradition Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do and, inspired by Bruce Lee, was there to learn how to fight.
However, a few weeks in, our Martial Arts Master had us all sit down in a circle. We sat in cross-legged position and there I was in my first formal meditation session.
Part of me instinctually wanted to get up and run out the door.
Meditation? What I am I doing?
Was this a cult?!
I was determined to remain mentally strong to make sure these “witch doctors” didn’t hypnotize me or do any weird mind-Voodoo on me.
Honestly though, my martial arts Master and fellow students all seemed trustworthy enough, so through my skepticism, I decided to give it a try.
What really got me interested enough to give meditation a chance, despite my reservations, were 2 things:
The martial artists I trained with were fast. They seemed to react to my kicks and punches before I even began to strike. I wanted that type of quick reaction time so I could spar like a bad-ass, too!
The martial artists that practiced meditation were extremely present when they spoke with me. You know that thing people do when they talk to you but they’re already trying to say the next thing, or look at their watch or phone?
These martial artist meditators were different. They really connected to me when talking to me. It was like I was the only person in the world.
They made me feel seen.
I was at awe with how I felt after speaking with them.
Instead of how some people leave you feeling “energy-drained” when you talk to them, this was the opposite - like having a battery re-charge. They were completely present…I wanted THAT superpower!
So…I decided to not run out of the room. I decided to stay and give meditation a chance.
That’s when I learned my first lesson in meditation, which is having a skeptical, yet open mind, is the most favorable approach.
You see, there’s a difference between cynicism and skepticism.
Cynicism cuts you off right away. Cynicism is when you don’t believe in something so you just immediately push it away and don’t even give it a try. It’s close-minded. It closes off opportunities for expansion and growth.
Skepticism is when you might not believe in or understand something, but you’re willing to at least give it a try and find out through your own experience before passing premature judgment. It’s open-minded. It leaves room for expansion and growth in your life.
That’s what I advise for you.
Have a skeptical, yet open mind.
Don’t take my word for anything. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t. Instead, be willing to put what I say to the test. That’s the best way to see if it works for you.
…And maybe some of it works, and some of it doesn’t. That’s ok.
I invite you to take what serves you and throw away the rest.
At the very least you could say you gave it a try, and like I say to my kids at the Sushi restaurant, giving it a try is all I ask. Who knows, you might just find your new favorite thing!
Then, my second revelation in meditation occurred, which was when I attempted to meditate, my mind was flooded with uncontrollable thoughts that went around and around in circles.
My mind sounded like this:
Oh, don’t forget! I need to stop at the store to pick up some things for dinner tonight.
Ah, I need to get to those e-mails, too. What was that lady’s name I needed to get back to?
Wow, that dunk Michael Jordan did in that game last week was freakin’ awesome.
Oh, right, I’m supposed to be meditation…Am I doing this right? I wonder what everyone else is thinking?
This is crazy, I’ve got more important things to do. Isn’t this just a waste of time?
Eggs! I need eggs, too!
I love that song by John Lennon, Imagine, I should learn how to play it on guitar.
Aaaah, too much effort, maybe I won’t. Or should I?
Am I breathing right? What if someone notices my stomach? Do I smell feet?
…And on and on and on my mind went.
NEWSLFLASH: We ALL have minds that constantly wander. That might come as no surprise to you. However, what I found through meditation is that I previously thought I was in control of what thoughts I would think. My meditation experience showed me otherwise.
So, back to the question: WHAT is meditation exactly?
I promise, we’ll get there, but first, I need to let you know where I stand with meditation.
I don’t practice martial arts anymore - after 15 years, my joints have had enough.
However, meditation and mindfulness have absolutely remained a part of my life for the past 25 years and will continue until the day I die.
Meditation has given me many gifts - the ability to re-gain emotional balance during tough times, mental focus, loss of fear from death, deeper body-mind connection.
When I meditate, I’m less of an asshole (it’s not as easy to agitate me or push my buttons).
In journalist Dan Harris’ words, “Meditation makes me 10% happier”, which is a bigger deal than you might think?
Ask yourself, what are the implications to your life if YOU were just 10% happier?
Meditation has gifted me deep spiritual insights that have given me creativity, and a unique perspective and direction in my life.
It’s also help me dissolve old traumas, it’s helped me leave a life I felt was superficial and has provided an exciting layer of palpable depth to my life. It’s given me full access to my emotions, and made me a better person all around for my kids, my family, and for myself.
It’s also given me the ability to help others and to sit and really listen to someone.
Meditation has given me the ability to read, think, speak, and write more clearly. I’m a much better communicator as a result.
It’s helped me through severe panic attacks, and it’s helped me to heal my mind and body - to rebalance myself.
It’s brought me gifts that far surpass the conventional understanding that it’s a good tool for relaxation. It can be, but it goes much deeper than that.
It’s as though life before meditation was watching the world through a dirty window—distorted, unclear, and distant—until the glass was finally wiped clean.
I could go on and on about the gifts I’ve been given from meditation, and I would be remiss not to mention the incredible people who I’ve attracted into my life as a result from my meditation practice. Too many true and sincere friends to count.
My life today is an absolute blessing. It’s got it’s challenges, but being rooted in a meditation practice gives me the tools to see and react clearly and to stay centered.
My life before meditation was destructive. In my teenage years, I was using drugs and alcohol to cope with life, and things had gotten so bad I had pushed away my friends and family and become homeless for a short time.
When I started meditation at age 21, my life and my world didn’t change overnight, but they did absolutely change for the better as my fundamental perspective changed.
I remember about 6 months into my meditation practice, I would bump into different people that I saw regularly in my life at the grocery store, or at my college classes. “There’s something different about you.” They would say, “What have you been doing?”
I told them martial arts, which was true, but what they were referring to wasn’t my kicking and punching skills, but my presence in conversation with them. The difference was palpable, and they could feel it.
I would not be where I am without my meditation practice. I feel it’s the tool of all tools.
Meditation has been a training that has prepared me for everything in life from being better at my career, to being a dad and husband, to performing under pressure, and helping me become the person I desired to be.
If you want to have a toolset that equips you for the troubling times ahead - and we do live in unprecedented and turbulent times - then meditation is the way.
Have you ever seen Penn and Teller?
They’re the magicians that don’t just do the magic trick, but pull back the black curtain to explain WHAT goes on to make the magic trick work. How on Earth do they do that?!
…then they show you exactly how.
That’s what I want to do for you today.
Consider me the Penn and Teller of meditation, as I’m about to peel back the black curtain and explain in plain language what the heck is going on.
How does it all work?!
Well, now I’ve run into my first problem.
I could just give you the science.
I could tell you about the 2 pathways of the autonomous nervous system - sympathetic and parasympathetic.
I could tell you about brain wave activation and all the different, scientifically measurable brain wave states (Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta, Gamma).
I could tell you about how meditation creates structural brain changes by increasing cortical thickness in the hippocampus (a region crucial for memory, learning, and emotional regulation), and decreasing the amygdala of the brain (your brain’s fear center).
I could, and I will, tell you this.
But if I did only that, I’d be selling you short and failing to give you the BIGGER PICTURE of what meditation truly does for you…What meditation REALLY is.
You see, meditation is first a technique of being in the HERE and NOW…AND on another level, it’s a process that creates life-altering, positive change in your life as your meditation practice develops and unfolds.
So with this in mind, let me talk about WHAT meditation is in 2 LAYERS:
Meditation Layer #1 - The Technique of Meditation
First, the technique of meditation, which I’ll refer to as the first layer of meditation, is really quit simple.
Meditation is the technique of being completely here and now; fully entering the present moment.
The mind thinks about the past, and it thinks about the future. We think in terms of symbols on a timeline.
However, to completely experience the here and now is to be beyond cognitive thought and to enter the realm of awareness without any filters.
For instance, when you read or when you listen to someone speak, there’s a split second delay where your mind is processing what you read or listen to and making sense of it, and often times coming up with your own judgements, thoughts, or conclusions on it.
You are making sense of the world through a cognitive filter, and most people have no idea this is occurring unless you’ve studied your mind on the fundamental level, such as during the practice of meditation.
Have you ever experienced someone talking to you but you couldn’t process what they were saying because your mind was wandering and you had to ask them to repeat themselves?
Have you ever read a book and felt your mind was too active and you couldn’t really process what you were reading so you had to go back and read it again, and maybe even a second or third time, before you could concentrate on it or process it?
That was your cognitive mind.
Your cognitive mind is like a busy storyteller, constantly narrating, analyzing, and categorizing your experiences. It thrives on logic, pattern recognition, and problem-solving, shaping your perception of reality through past conditioning and learned beliefs.
However, in meditation, you step beyond the cognitive mind—like setting down a book mid-sentence to simply observe the quiet between the words. Here, awareness expands, and deeper intuition, creativity, and inner peace arise.
When overactive, the cognitive mind can be a restless tide, but when quieted, it becomes a still lake, reflecting truth without distortion.
The technique of meditation is designed to bring you out of that cognitive filter and into present moment reality.
To employ the technique of meditation, you need a point of focus.
The point of focus is sometimes referred to as an anchor.
Therefore the technique of meditation is when you ANCHOR your FOCUS to ONE THING such as the breath, a candleflame, a mantra, sound, a movement.
Once you select an anchor, you use it as a focal point to return to every time your mind wanders. Your mind will wander, and that’s ok. The point is to recognize when it wanders and to gently bring it back to the anchor, your point of focus.
You can’t force the mind.
Thought experiment:
Try NOT to think of a pink elephant.
Go ahead, close your eyes for 10 seconds and do everything in your power to NOT think of a pink elephant.
Do you see the problem now?
You can’t force your mind. However, you can gently guide your mind. That’s why when you notice your mind wander, don’t frustrate yourself.
There’s nothing incorrect about your mind wandering. It’s actually a very necessary part of the meditation process.
The wandering mind is not a “bad” thing. However, if you only operate in the cognitive mind you miss out on a vast ocean of possibility with other ways your mind can operate.
It’s like driving a Lamborghini in just first and second gear. You can accelerate fast, but don’t you want to learn to shift into third gear, fourth gear, and beyond?
You have all this power, but without learning to shift, you’re stuck revving the engine, burning fuel inefficiently, never reaching full speed, and you risk burning out the engine.
Meditation is the clutch that lets you access higher gears—smoother, more effortless, and with a deeper sense of control over your own mind.
The “Penn and Teller magic trick” here is to simply notice when your mind wanders and gently bring it back to your anchor.
This is the meditation practice!
Some refer to this part of meditation as the “passing cloud”.
Your thoughts are like passing clouds in the backdrop of your awareness, the sky.
As you see a cloud passing all you say is, “Hey, there’s a cloud” without judging it. Then you go back to observing the entire sky. You let the cloud (your thought), pass by on it’s own accord and without judgement.
This is how you approach the mind without forcing it. Forcing yourself not to think never works. I encourage you to try so you can see for yourself!
Eventually, without forcing, your mind will stay on the anchor, and be outside of the cognitive mind and inside of the present moment - the Here and Now.
Starting to make sense?
Another way to look at it is that every time your mind wanders and you notice it and gently come back to the anchor, that’s one rep!
Just like doing reps of push-ups in the gym, you’re going to get stronger over time.
Here’s what getting “stronger” in your meditation technique looks like.
First, you notice in your meditation some “gaps” of non-thinking. This wont’ occur as mental absence, but as a full state of mental alertness and awareness, yet absent of thought.
The gaps are like spaces between notes, which perhaps, not so coincidentally, is how music is made. Music is made from the spaces between notes. The gaps.
Over time, larger and larger gaps of non-cognitive awareness and presence emerge - this is the Now, that Eckart Tolle speaks of in his book, The Power of Now.
Consider these 4 powerful quotes from Eckart Tolle that speak to the quality of the present moment experience:
“The Now is all there is. There is no past or future except as memory or anticipation in your mind.”
“Your entire life only happens in this moment. The present moment is life itself.”
“Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one.”
“Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there.’”
So, after a few weeks of consistent effort, you begin to experience less “brain fog” and clearer thinking along with better short-term memory recall.
You also connect with others in conversation more easily because your mind has calmed and you can listen to others from a centered emotional/mental state.
These may seem subtle, but upleveling your communication, short-term memory, and overall emotional and mental wellness is a BIG deal.
However, it’s not all milk and cookies.
Sometimes you notice things coming up to the surface that cause discomfort.
For example, you might notice how much your mind really does wander, and now it’s much louder and prevalent.
You thought deep breathing was supposed to be relaxing, but now it’s causing you to
Or you might notice different aches and pains in your body, or tension in certain areas like your hips, back, neck, or chest.
Were these things there before?
Yes, but your mind was keeping them outside of your awareness.
You might be thinking, “I’d rather NOT know, NOT expand my awareness if it leads to something painful for me.”
I totally get that.
But the thing is, these underlying mental and emotional tensions and traumas (sometimes referred to as energy blocks or “stagnant energy”) was there affecting you whether you know it or not.
At least by undergoing the journey and unfolding to the process of meditation you can now learn how to dissolve these underlying blocks before they manifest into something else such as relationship problems, anxiety or depression, a “stuck-ness” in life, or a physical disease.
If you get punched in the face with your eyes closed, will it still hurt?
At least with your eyes open you’ll have the opportunity to block or get out of the way!
This is the power of expanding your awareness to so you can deal with the underlying blocks.
So, here we are, left with the busy mind.
This mind that incessantly wanders, often with negative chatter and repetitive self-talk.
This is why in Buddhism they talk about the “monkey mind” and how the mind is like a crazy monkey.
However, the more you practice meditation, the more you find that the monkey’s not just crazy, he’s also at times a belligerent drunk and totally out of control!
That’s ok, stay with it, as the “monkey mind” will eventually calm down as a result of you gently watching the mind and connecting with your anchor.
Practicing the technique of meditation over the first few weeks and months of consistent practice will develop your powers of awareness, focus, and concentration.
This is a necessary part of your development as a meditation practitioner and will set the stage for deeper levels of meditation experiences and benefits to come.
I’m getting ahead of myself here, because although meditation is a technique on it’s first layer, it’s a process on it’s second layer, and that’s the part where most of us need some guidance.
Meditation Layer #2 - The Process of Mediation
The second layer of meditation, the process of meditation, is like peeling the layers of an onion.
As you continue to peel the layers of the onion, you find out more about yourself, your mind, your emotions, your humanity, the deepest parts of YOU, and eventually the most fundamental aspects of you - your consciousness and relationship to time, space, and reality.
This may sound esoteric at first, but it’s application is very pragmatic.
Meditation brings you past theory and into direct experience.
With meditation there is no middle man.
YOU are the ONE.
You’ve probably noticed that throughout your life everyone wants to tell you what to think, what to believe, who to believe in.
With meditation, there may be a guide, but there’s no one to tell you want to think, what to believe, or what to conclude. That’s on YOU.
I remember years ago teaching a woman the basics of meditation for the first time, and her reactionary reply was “I’d like to try, but I just don’t believe in it.”
My reply was “Good! I don’t either.”
That’s because in meditation there’s nothing to believe in.
With meditation you will go beyond belief and experience reality directly.
To be honest, most people aren’t ready for that.
They are comfortable living in delusion.
It can be hard to confront reality. It can be difficult, at least at first, to come to terms with seeing the world exactly as it is without the layers of story we attach to everything.
Meditation is like removing the filters of a camera lens to see the world as it really is, not as a story or narrative, but to see it AS IT ACTUALLY IS, WITHOUT LAYERS OF STORY OR BELIEF.
Did I scare you away yet?
Still here?
My respect, brave one, let’s keep going down this rabbit hole then!
Let’s do a thought experiment together.
I invite you to spend a moment thinking about some of the environmental influences that helped to create YOU, or the image or idea of you:
Parents
Friends
Education
Teachers
Travel
TV and movies
Social media
News media
Sports / exercise
Traumatic life events
Life experiences
Books and articles
Church
Culture
Great…now, what if we took all of these influences and experiences away?
Would you still be you? Yes or No?
If not, what, if anything, would be the same?
How would you see the world right now if all of that ever influenced you never happened?
How would you experience the world if you were raw, just born, right now into your fully grown body without any past experience?
Would anything be the same? If so, what part of you would be the same?
So on this second level - this deeper level - this is WHAT meditation is.
Meditation is a process (or system) for de-conditioning your mind and dissolving your Ego (your false self).
Meditation is a way to peel back the Ego, the false self, which is ultimately just a mental construct; an image.
Keep in mind, labeling Ego as “good or bad” will limit us in this discussion. Saying Ego is bad is too simplistic a viewpoint. Ego is something we all have, and it’s a necessary part of coming of age.
The ego isn’t inherently bad—it’s just limiting when we mistake it for our true identity.
The ego is like a tool—useful for navigating the world, setting goals, and maintaining a sense of self—but if left unchecked, it becomes a prison, keeping us trapped in reactivity, comparison, and fear.
Ego creates separation—it thrives on "me vs. them," reinforcing an identity built on labels, achievements, and external validation.
Ego resists change—it clings to stories about who we are, even when those stories no longer serve us.
Ego thrives on control—always chasing the next thing, never content with the present moment.
Meditation doesn’t fully destroy the Ego—it puts it in perspective. It allows us to see that while the Ego is part of our experience, it’s not who we truly are.
When you learn to step beyond Ego, you don’t lose yourself—you expand yourself.
You gain the ability to:
✅ Respond instead of react.
✅ See challenges with clarity instead of resistance.
✅ Move through life with more ease, presence, and connection.
The goal isn’t to eliminate Ego but to transcend its limits—to recognize it for what it is and operate from a deeper, freer awareness.
However, to unravel the parts of you that have been programmed since childhood, you need to have a method, and meditation is a proven method (used over thousands of years) that can get you there.
Moving past Ego and into the present moment feels like home. You will find it’s new and familiar at the same time.
This is why people say after meditating, “I feel more like myself.”
Over the years and decades we accumulate so much mental baggage from OUTSIDE of ourselves we get to the point where we don’t know where our mental conditioning starts and where we begin.
Looked at another way, meditation is like this:
Imagine looking at a mirror your whole life to get a view of yourself.
Some of the time the mirror reflected bright lights and glitter and had enough gloss on it that it reflected you in your best light.
Other times the mirror was dirty and caked with grime, and you didn’t like what you saw.
Over time, you internalized the mirror images, and believed they were really you.
How could you not?
Everyone confirmed it to you.
You look great today, I love that outfit!
You look tired, are you ok?
You need to lose some weight?
Wow, look at those muscles!
Do you see how these comments played a role in creating your false Ego identity?
…And these are just a few examples regarding statements about your physical body.
The Ego also formed an image of you in what’s possible or not possible in your career, your financial image, your relationship image, your athletic image, your personality image, and so forth.
Then one day the mirror broke and shattered to pieces.
You were left to discover yourself for the first time without the mirror.
You fell to your knees in panic.
Who would you be without your image!?
At first you were angry, then fearful, then you broke down and cried. Eventually you rose up from the ground and took a deep breath.
You felt free; liberated.
It turns out, you never needed the image.
In fact, it was blocking you from being your TRUE SELF.
This is what the process of meditation is like.
It’s the natural process of dissolving the false image, the Ego, and getting back to who you really are.
I say “natural” process because this isn’t something you need effort to do, other than the effort and time put into meditating.
Dissolving Ego happens automatically. It’s like holding onto a handful of burning hot sand with all your might. Why are you holding on to the burning sand? You thought it was helping you, that you could build a castle with the sand, but now you see you don’t need it.
However, you still clutch to the sand out of old pattern and habit.
It can be hard to let go, even of things that are hurting you.
The process of meditation will loosen the grip on the hot sand, and it will effortlessly fall away. You never needed the sand, it was unnecessary to continue burning yourself with it. There’s no force or willpower involved. You’ll simply learn the power of letting go.
This might seem scary or daunting, but I’ll tell you from experience, it’s the most life-transforming thing you could ever do.
That image, the Ego part of you, wants to control you. It wants to give you labels, limitations, and tell you what you can and cannot do.
Ego wants you to feel inferior or superior and forces you have to constantly feed the need to control.
Ego keeps you feeding off of other people for attention and energy.
Ego wants conflict, toxic drama, and suffering.
Once you liberate yourself, you will still notice your Ego arise, but it will have much less pull and control over you. You’ll be operating from a deeper level of awareness.
Before, people could use your Ego against you to play you like a fiddle.
After, you can see through the games, manipulation, and deceit.
Not only that, but you don’t need to measure yourself against others anymore. This is incredibly liberating.
Imagine feeling completely at ease in any situation.
We are at war with the push and pull of our environment - people, media, demands, OPA’s (Other People’s Agendas).
The default operating system, our Human Ego, keeps us in a state of DIS-ease.
DIS-ease leads to disease.
1 of every 4 people in the hospital right now are there because of a stress related illness.
We need to move from DIS-EASE to being AT-EASE.
Being completely AT EASE is true freedom from scarcity, depression, anxiety, and suffering.
You’re not free until you free your mind, and dissolving the Ego through meditation is a proven path to get there.
“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.”
- Bob Marley
I used to go through life feeling like I could never be a businessman. Maybe that’s why I became a coach, I get to wear Adidas and Nike track suits all day. I hated the idea of men in business suits. I really felt put off by the image of it. To me they were all so “plastic”, self-serving, greedy, and slimy.
Then later, when I shed much of my Ego through meditation training, I was able to put on a suit and go to business meetings without judging myself or others.
I would’ve really struggled with that if I hadn’t shed that part of my Ego.
If my Ego was in charge, it would have taken me on a path of missed opportunities such as in 2019 when I entered a “suit-wearing” position as VP of Solutions Enterprises, a non-profit organization that helps homeless families and kids.
I had the incredible experience of helping kids and families and I did much of it while wearing a suit, and I was able to feel at ease and not be in conflict with myself.
What life opportunities are you struggling to enter into?
What are you doing now that is blocking you?
How could dissolving your Ego through meditation give you more freedom in your life?
Dissolving Ego so you can live in an authentic state of mental and emotional freedom is a big part of what meditation is all about.
Although I stay rooted in the practical aspects of meditation, I like to leave room for deeper insight, so I wanted to share this quote often attributed to Qingyuan Weixin, a Chinese Chan (Zen) master.
“Before I studied Zen, mountains were mountains, and the sky was the sky.
As I practiced Zen, mountains were no longer mountains, and the sky was no longer the sky.
After Zen, mountains were once again mountains, and the sky was once again the sky.”
Which Means:
Before meditation (ordinary perception) – You see the world as it appears, taking things at face value.
During your training journey (breaking illusions) – Your perceptions shift, and concepts dissolve, leading to a journey that entails uncertainty and deeper questioning.
After Awaking to Self (true understanding) – You return to seeing things as they are, but now with clarity and deep awareness, free from illusion.
This reflects the Zen perspective on perception, reality, and awakening—where realization doesn’t change the world, but changes HOW you experience it.
NOTE - You can easily replace the word ‘Zen’ with the word ‘Meditation’ in the above quote.
Conclusion: The Journey Begins With You
So, after all this, what is Meditation?
It’s a paradox. A science. A technique. A process. A way of being.
It’s the sound of one hand clapping to the Zen monk.
It’s becoming one with the universe to the mystic.
It’s neural rewiring to the scientist.
It’s all of these things—and yet, none of them.
At its simplest, meditation is the technique and process of being fully present—Here and Now.
At its deepest, it’s a journey of stripping away the layers of Ego conditioning that shape how you see yourself and the world so you can live in a state of freedom, fully and authentically.
Meditation doesn’t change what you see. It changes how you see.
It’s not about sitting cross-legged for hours. It’s about meeting life with more awareness, resilience, and clarity.
And the truth is, no one can define meditation for you.
You must discover it for yourself.
So, as you move forward, I invite you to explore—not as a believer, not as a skeptic, but as someone willing to experience.
Because meditation isn’t something to simply understand.
It’s something to live.
Are you ready to enter into your Meditation practice?
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LINKS to DISCOVER about MY MEDITATION MASTER, SULI DANIEL JOHNSON, SBN: