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Meditation is a quality of being that you bring to the act.

The essence of this quote lies in the understanding that meditation is not merely an action one undertakes; it is an embodiment of a certain state of being. Ordinarily, in the West, meditation has been treated as a technique or an exercise – something you do for a certain time during the day. But that is just the beginning, not the end. Real meditation spreads into your whole life, and then meditation is not something that is done in the temple or the church or the mosque, but something that comes into every moment, every act that you do.

To expand upon this, consider a river flowing effortlessly towards the ocean. The river does not flow only when observers are present or during certain times of the day; it flows continuously, unrestricted, and without conscious effort. Similarly, meditation should be a continuous flow, a quality that one embodies and brings to every action – whether it is eating, walking, talking, or even working.

Meditation, then, becomes synonymous with mindfulness or presence. It is about bringing a total quality of awareness to the present moment, whatever you are doing, without being lost in thoughts of the past or the future. It is being here, now, fully and completely.

When you drink your morning tea or coffee, drink it meditatively. Taste it fully, be with it fully. When you’re walking to your workplace, walk meditatively, feeling the earth under your feet, the air touching your skin, the birds singing around you. This is bringing meditation to act. Your whole life becomes a prayer, a meditation unto existence, and that is the goal of the spiritual path.